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The Daguererrotyoe was invented in France (1839). It was an immediare censation in Aamerica. By 1840-41 we begin to see the first photographic studios opening in the larger cities. There are relatively few early Dags as the industry was just getting started, but the number of stuidios and portraits taken very quickly increased. The industry quickly soread in America because peoople opening studios simplyb ignored international patent laws. Our confirmed images from the 1840s are very limited, but we are gradually expanding our archive. Photography had been invented, but portraits were expensive and the number of children's portraits are relatively small. Still Daguerreotypes gained great popularity and there were many more portraits taken than had been painted earlier. Our major problem is that while Daguerreotypes appeared in the 1940s we can not reliably differentiate between thise taken in the 1840s and 50s. Almost all photographic portraits taken in the 40s were Dags. By the mid-50s, however, we begin to see Ambros and tin-plates. Only Dags were taken in the 40s so if the portrait is a an Anbro or tin-tyoe, it had to be taken in the 1850s or later. Suits were not as common in the 1840s as they were by the 1860s Civil War period. We think economic was a factor here. And we notice quite a range of different jackets. The boy on the previous page wears a very short jacket that looks like the skelton suit jackets still worn through the 1830s. We also note very long jackets and lengths in between. This mid- to late- 1840s sixth plate Daguerreotype potrait shows a boy wearing a very short dark jacket and light-colored pants. Our images from the 1840s are very limited. Photography had been invented, but portraits were expensive and the number of children's portraits are relatively small. Still Daguerreotypes gained great popularity and there were more portraits taken than had been painted earlier. Of course we still have traditional sources of information, especially paintings and fashion magazines. We notice suits with short jackets and often contrasting pants in the 1840s. At this time younger boys began wearing fancy suits, often heavily embroidered jackets. The standard for men was the somber frock coat. Not many boys wire frock cots, but we do see teenagers wearing them. A good example is Clarence E. Summer, we think in the 1840s. A major problem here is that we are not yet able to descriminate between Daguerreotypes taken in the 1840s and 50s. This makes it very difficult to assess the styles of the suits worn in the two decades. The sewing machine invented (1846). It was not widely used, however, until the late-1860s. This men that suits in the 1840s continued to be hand made. We see boys wearing shirt-like garments and tunics. Suits were still relatively expensive and thus not as widely worn as later in the century. We notice boys wearing short jackets with military styling, although we are not sure precisely when this became stylish. Boys at At about 12 years of age began wearing vests (waistcoats) with stiff collars and cravats like adult men.
The Daguererrotype was invented in France (1839). It was an immediare censation in Aamerica. By 1840-41 we begin to see the first photographic studios opening in the larger cities. There are relatively few early Dags as the industry was just getting started, but the number of stuidios and portraits taken very quickly increased. The industry quickly soread in America because peoople opening studios simplyb ignored international patent laws. Our confirmed images from the 1840s are very limited, but we are gradually expanding our archive. Photography had been invented, but portraits were expensive and the number of children's portraits are relatively small. Still Daguerreotypes gained great popularity and there were many more portraits taken than had been painted earlier. Our major problem is that while Daguerreotypes appeared in the 1940s we can not reliably differentiate between thise taken in the 1840s and 50s. Almost all photographic portraits taken in the 40s were Dags. By the mid-50s, however, we begin to see Ambros and tin-plates. Only Dags were taken in the 40s so if the portrait is a an Anbro or tin-tyoe, it had to be taken in the 1850s or later. The originals are simple to identify, buy when we just have the images itvis more complicated. taken in the 1840s .(Some but far fewer were taken in the early-60s.) One dead give away is the narrowed waist jacket seen here (figure 1). One helpful but not definiyive indicator is matching jackets and trousers. Thus was not very commion in the 1840s, but in the 1850s we begin to see this concention being afopted. We will try to to assess the decade, but would be pleased if readers have abythiughts as to the correct decade. Of course we still have traditional sources of information, especially paintings and fashion magazines.
Both boys and girls wore similar dresses until about 4-5 years of age. The precise age of breeching varied from family to family. Once younger boys were n\breeched they wore shirts which buttoned on to ankle-length pahnts. We see this very clearly in the Daguerreotypes. The buttons on the shirts could could be lowered as the boys grew taller. We see very few boys wearing what muight be called suits with jackets.
Suits for boys were not as common in the 1840s and 50s as they were by the 1860s Civil War period. We seev many boys in the studio portraits of the day wearing just print blouses and button-on long trousers. While as in the later 19th century boys are more commonly wearing suits of some kind, including kilt suits, when they are dressed up for portraits. A substantial part of the portaits wec see show the boys in just blouses and not suits. We think economics was a factor here. Boys were increasingly better dressed as the American economy steadily expanded at mid-century. Thast is not to say that boys never wore suits. We see a range of different suits, only most boys were not wearing them. And it is likely that if they are not wearing a suit for a studio portrait, they probably did not have a suit. The suits are notable for quite a range of different jackets. The boy here wears a long jacket (figure 1). The suit pants were more standard. American boys at the time wore long pants.
The major suit components are the jacket and the pants. One destictive feature feature of 1840s suits is that the jacket and pants often did not match. This was the case of many of the skeleton that were worn in the eraly-19th century. So it is only natural that the suitsb worn in the 40s coinsisted of items that did not match. Vests were also important at mid-century and commonly were in sharp contrast to the other items, especially the jacket. Headwear was aldo imprtant at the time, but we do not notice any headwear especially associated or matching the suits. And we rarely see the boys wearing suits pictured with the headwear worn with the suit. We do not know much about the blouses worn wuth suits because they are covered up with the jackets and vests. For the most part we only get to see the collar and any neckwear. As the boys were wearing long pants, we are unsure about hosiery. We also do not know a lot about footwear, in part because relatively few boys were posed sanding up in full frame. They are usually posed sitting down wih their footwear out of the frame.
The sewing machine invented (1846). It was not widely used, however, until the late-1860s. This affected clothing manufacturing. Clothes in the 1840s were commonly sewn at home or in millenaries if the family could ford it. This meant that suits in the 1840s continued to be mostly hand made. We see boys wearing shirt-like garments and tunics. Suits were still relatively expensive and thus not as widely worn as later in the century.
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