Figure 1.-- This unidentified boy in a CDV portrait was probably photographed in the 1870s. He wears a corduroy jacket I'm not sure what the neckwear was called, perhaps a stock. The photographer was J.C. Scott in New Brunswick, New Jersey. |
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We note boys wearing corduroy suits in the late-19th century. Corduroy is a little easier to identify in old photograsphs than many other fabrics. Corduroy suits might have been worn earlier because the fabric was first made in the 18th century. Just when it became popular in America we are less sure. We have not yet found examples from mid-century. We see quite a few cord suits in the late-19th century. Boys in the early 20th century wore knicker suits to schools, including cord suits. Suits became less common in the 1930s, but cord knickers were still a school staple. We do not yet have a complete chronology. We note cord sport jackets in the 1950s-70s. A reader writes, "I remember wearing a maroon corduroy jacket about 1950. I believe I wore it with gray pants. As to corduroy knickers, I wish I had them instead of the coarse, itchy wool that I had to wear."
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