Figure 1.--Unfortunately, most of the photographic record consists of portraits which do not indicate the ages of the boys. We thus have to estimate ages. This in inprecise, but we believe can be done within a year or so. We welcome reader input here. A good example is an unidentified Pennsylvania boy with his grand mother. We think about 1905. While he looks quite young, we think his height suggests he may be about 15 years old. The studio was Bonine in Altoona, Pennsylvania. Altoona was a railroad town located in central Pennsylvania.

Teenagers in the 19th century mostly wore long pants. Shortened=length pants appeared at mid-century, but were only worn by younger boys, mostly city boys from fashionable families. We only see younger-teens beginning to wear them in the late-1880s/early-90s. But by the turn-of the 20h century, some older teems were wearing knee pants. Unfortunately, most of the photographic record consists of portraits which do not indicate the ages of the boys. We thus have to estimate ages. This in inprecise, but we believe can be done within a year or so. We welcome reader input here. A good example is the unidentified Pennsylvania boy here with his grandmother (figure 1). We think the portrait was taken about 1905. While he looks quite young, we think his height suggests he may be about 15 years old. We need to mention at the time children reached puberty a little later than modern children, so heighth is probably a better indicator than facial characteristics. And boys byabout 14-15 years old begin to surpass mothers/grandmothers in height which is occuring here. Of course this varies greatly and is just a general indicator. The knee pants and the mount style date the portarit to about 1905. Given the length of the jacket sleeves, this boy is due for a new suit.

Created: 9:00 AM 11/23/2024
Last updated: 9:00 AM 11/23/2024