Figure 1.--Here we see an unidentified French school boy in a CDV portrait. The portraiy is undated, but looks like the 1870s to us, but could be the late-60s. Notice the military-style uniform and cropped hair. we are not sure when these military uniforms and cropped hair styes were first intrduced.

We have just begun to assess French school hair styles. Our chronological information is limited, especially for the 19th century. We know next to nothing on the early-19th century, but with the advent of phoography we know much more about the second-half of the 19th cenury. Photgraphy was invented in France (1839). It is not until the advent of the CDV that we have been able to find any substantial number of photographic images. We see qute a few schoo-age boys with cropped hair and wearing military styled uniforms. We are not sure when this began , but after the Franco-Prussian War, many French authirities decided that boys needed a stricter education, more enfused with patriotic values. The new Third Republic also expanded public education and this health concerns may have also been involved. Both clothing fshions and hair styles were affected by Wold war I. We no longer see cropped hair, but we do see what might be called childish styles becoming increaskngly popular. The losses of thewar seem to have caused the French to cherish their children as never before. As far as we can tell, the hair styles French boys wore to school in the 20th century were essentially the same as the popular styles of the day and not influnced by the schools, except in the post-World War II era when school administrators attempted for a time to discourage long hair. The Government also banned students from wearing head scarves whch were a public display of religion. School portraits are a good reflection of popular hair styles, allowing us to assess chronological trends.

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Created: 11:32 PM 7/14/2014
Last updated: 11:32 PM 7/14/2014