Figure 1.-- This classic ivory cabinert card shows an unidentified child. The child certainly looks like boy. He wears a fashionable checked dress with velvet trim. He looks to be about 3 years old. The photograoh is undated, but we woukld guess was taken in the early-1890s. The photographer is Warmkessel in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Checks or checkerboard is a fashion pattern of stripes crossing horizontally and vertically which form tidy squares and repeated endlessly. The typical check consists of two colors, normally chosen for contrast--here white is often used. Red and black are the two colors most commonly used. Each square is known as a checker, meaning a square within the check pattern. It is surrounded on all four sides by a checker of a different colour. The British term is chequer. Tartan is a complicated variation, often with more than two colors. There was varition in the size of the checks. The checjks tended to be pn the small side. Check fashion has no definite origin, The pattern has existed in various forms with multiple variations in many different cultures chronologicl periods. It has been used for both genders, but seems more popular for boys' and men's clothing. We also see it used for caps, shirts, jackets vests, and pants. Boys' check shirts are the most common. We virtually never see check blouses for girls.

Created: 1:11 AM 6/22/2022
Last updated: 1:11 AM 6/22/2022