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The Norfolk style was primarily worn by school-age boys. This appers to have been the convention from the time the Norfolk style appeared after the mid-19th entury. Our inuiial assessment is that Norfolk suits were most common for boys about 8-15 years of age. This is just an initial assesment but most of the images we have archived so far falls into that range. We notice New York boy, Austen Fox wearing Norfolk suits in the 1880s and early-90s. He looks to be about 8 years old in the first oortrait we hasve found. We hope to develop our age assessment more precisely as HBC expands.
Norfolk suits were roughly contemoporaneous with the better known Fauntleroy suit, but worn by mostly older boys. Many boys, however, wore Norfolk suits with Fauntlroy items. We do see see some younger boys wearing Norfolk suits, at least in the early-20th century. This often meant adding a large collar and floppy bow. A good example is Floyd Van Horne about 1915. He looks to be about 5-6 years old. The Norfolk suit was a style for school age boys, albeit usually a year ir two asfter they begsn school. Younger boys wore skirted garments and fancy suits like Fauntleroy suits. The Norfolk style was also worn by teenagers, especially younger teens. This varied over time.
We mostly see older boys wearing Norfolk suits. By older boys we do not just mean teenagers, but older primary children. This was especially the case of the 19th century. We do see 7-year olds wsearing Norfolk suits in the 19th century, nut not as mny as in the early-20h century, especiall the 1910s. This changed a little in the 1910s. Large numbers of Catholics emigrated to the United States during the late-19th century. And thus by the 20th century, the United States had a substantial Catholic population. This was especially the case of many large industrial cities in the Northern states. This meant that First Communion was an important event in the lives of many American children for the first time. And beginning in the 190s his began to man 10-year olds. The idea that First Communion should be given to children around age 7 is rooted in a 1910 papal decree — Quam Singulari — issued by Pope St. Pius X. This document clarified that children should receive the Eucharist when they reach the 'age of reason', which in Catholic teaching is roughly 7 years old, when a child can distinguish between good and evil and understand the difference between ordinary bread and the Eucharist. Before this decree, in some regions First Communion was delayed until ages 12 or 14, and in some cases even later. The Quam singulari aimed to prevent children from growing up without the grace of the Eucharist, aligning with the Church’s teaching that the sacrament is both a remedy for human frailty and a means of spiritual protection Wikipedia. It also emphasized that the Eucharist is not a reward for virtue but a gift for all, especially for children, to strengthen them against the challenges of life. As a result, we begin to see more younger boys doing First Communion. Which mean that mothers bought new more boyish-looking suits for 7-year olds. And in the 1910s Norfolk suits were in style. Which is why we see a lot of Norfolk suits for 7-year olds (1910s).
The Norfolk style was primarily worn by school-age boys which means boys beginning about 6 years old. But we begin to commnly notice Norfolk suits with boys about 8 years old, a few years after beginning school. This appears to have been the convention from the time the Norfolk style appeared after the mid-19th entury. Our iniitial assessment is that Norfolk suits were most common for boys about 8-15 years of age. This is just an initial assesment but most of the images we have archived so far falls into that range, but we have found a few showing younger boys. We see Ohio boys wearing classic collar-butoning Norfolk suits, we think in the 1990s. Another cabinet card shows New York boy, Austen Fox wearing Norfolk suits in the 1880s and early-90s. He looks to be about 8 years old in the first portrait we have found. We hope to develop our age assessment more precisely as HBC expands. We can esimate within a fair degree of accuracy, but we seek to find dated images to get a more definative age assessment.
Boys' 11 years old commonly wore Norflk suits. The children here are Ethelwyn and Lillian Gelder (figure 1). They were 9-11 years old. We see a boy here looks to be about 11 years old. We think Ethelwyn is the older child, but we are not sure. Ethelwyn wears a bold checked Norfolk knee pants suit with an Eton collar and small bow. Lillian wears a long-sleeved white dress with a huge back bow. Both children wear dark lond-stockings and high-top shoes. Note the jewelry, Ethelwyn has a ring and Lilian has earrings. We do not know much about the children, but Ethelwyn appears to be associated with the Howe family. He married Isabelle (Belle) A. Bradbury (1879-19??) also from Colorado. The portrait is undated, but was probably taken in the late-1880s. Note his floppy bow, albeit a small one. Eton and Peter Pan collasrs were common, lace and ruffle collars woen with Fasuntleroy suits less so, depending on the boy's age. We note New York boy (Austen Fix) boy wearing a Norfolk xuit, we think about 1888 (figure 1).
We see some older teenagers wearing Norfolk suits in the 1910s. The same was true of the 1920s, but somewgat younger teens. A good example is 14-year old Raymond Uferte in 1921. A factor here is that Norfolk suits were commonly done as knee pants or knicker suits which affected the age range of the boys wearing them.
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