Figure 1.--The brother and sister in this cabinent card are unidentified. The boy wears a collsr-buttoning jacket with knee psnts. The jacket which has a collar is detailed to look like it was double-breasted. The giel wears address with a fefined waist done in a diamond pattern. The children look about 9-12 years old. We do know that the photographer was Herman & Kopp in Red Jacket, Michigan. There is no date, but it looks like the early 1880s. Note the dark long stockings which look like the boy was wearing long underwear as well. That was probably common in Michigan.

The pants worn with collar buttioning jackets were notable for two variations. One was the type of pants. The photographic record suggests that collar buttoning jackets were almost always wotn with two types of pants, We note collar-buttoning jackets being worn with both knee pants and long trousrs. The tyoe of pants was largely a chronological function, but age factiors were also at play. When they first appeared in the mid-19th century, knee pants were not yet very common. Thus we see them bring worn mostly with with long pants during the 1850s and 60s. Gradually knee pants became fashionable and thus more common, esoecially for younger boys beginning in the 1860s. These collar-buttoning jackets were primarily worn by younger boys. During the period when knee pants were popular, the length of knee pants varied. They tended to be quite long in the 1860s and gradually became shorter until they were knee-length by the 1890s. They were almost always worn with long stockings which also varied during this period. By the 1890s almost all boys wearing collar-buttoning jackets were wearing knee pants. We don't see them commonly being done with knickers. This was because knickers became popular suring the 1910s in America after collar-buttoning jackets had gone out of fashion. Another variation was matching the jackets and pants. We note that in the early- and mid-19th century, the jackets and pants did not match. We often see pants done in rather loud patterns. The loud patterns were not common with the jackets. After mid-century we see boys mostly wear suits with matching jackets and pants.

Chronology

Pants Type

One variation in the pants worn with collar-buttoning jacketrs was the type of pants. The photographic record suggests that collar buttoning jackets were almost always wotn with two types of pants, We note collar-buttoning jackets being worn with both knee pants and long trousrs. The tyoe of pants was largely a chronological function, but age factiors were also at play. When they first appeared in the mid-19th century, knee pants were not yet very common. Thus we see them bring worn mostly with with long pants during the 1850s and 60s. Gradually knee pants became fashionable and thus more common, esoecially for younger boys beginning in the 1860s. These collar-buttoning jackets were primarily worn by younger boys. During the period when knee pants were popular, the length of knee pants varied. They tended to be quite long in the 1860s and gradually became shorter until they were knee-length by the 1890s. They were almost always worn with long stockings which also varied during this period. By the 1890s almost all boys wearing collar-buttoning jackets were wearing knee pants. We don't see them commonly being done with knickers. This was because knickers became popular suring the 1910s in America after collar-buttoning jackets had gone out of fashion.

Matching Pants

Another variation with collar buttoning jackets was matching the jackets and pants. We note that in the early- and mid-19th century, the jackets and pants did not match. We often see pants done in rather loud patterns. The loud patterns were not common with the jackets, but we often see rather loud pants. After mid-century we see boys mostly wear suits with matching jackets and pants. We note skeleton suits in the early-19th century with both matching and non-matching pants, but they were often worn with open collars. The Eton suits appearing in the early-19th century first in Britain did have collar-buttoning jackets and were worn with jacket and pants done in non-matching colors and fabrics, We tend to see mostly collar buttoning jackets by the 1840s and non-matching pants seem to be the primary convention. This was the case during the 1850s as well, This did not change untiln the 1860s. It is a little difficult to establish the time line here as many Dags and Ambros are not dated. It is realtively easy, however, to date the CDVs which appeared in the 1860s.

Created: 12:48 AM 12/4/2009
Last updated: 7:36 PM 8/2/2013