Figure 1.--This cabinet card portrait is a school class at or near Lancaster, New Hampshire. The school looks like a substantial building, at least in rural termns. But it is clearly not a city school because of the dirt frontage. Lancaster was a small town in an agricultural and forestry area which had a range of mills. The children all look to be about the same age, 12-13 years old. They would have been the oldest or next to oldest grade (class) at the school. Notice that there are more girls than boys. At the time boys were bmore likely to leave school early, especially in rural areas. The boy are weaing hats and suits. We see different kinds of suits, both collar buttoning and lapel jackets. We see both knee pants and long pants. The girls wear different styles of dresses with long skirts. None are wearing pinafores which were common at the time. The portrait is undated, but looks like the early-1880s to us. Reader assessmebnts are welcome. The studio was J.P. Hazeltine in Lancaster.

We begin to see many more school portraits in the 1880s but the number is still relatiely limited, compared to the 1890s when we see many more school photographs. Finding dated images is especilly difficult. The cobvention of the school portrait was just beginning to become established, but it was clearaly becoming an established school tradition. Not yet the individual shots we see in the 20th century, but more and nore schools were having photographs taken in front of the school. We even see a few cabinet cards especially made for school photography. We are not entirely sure why this did not occur earlier. We suspect that the technology of operating outside studios was still fairly complicatedm but as the industry expanded we see more anore school photographs. This made the portraits still fairly expensive. Eaelker portraits seem more common at private schools than public schools for economic reasons. This presumably reflects the fact that the school portrait was still a fairly new feature and children at private schools were more able to pay for it. There were, however, realtively few private schools. So we most see public schools. School photographs are a treasire trove of information om children's photography because we see both biys abd girls from about 6-19 years of age. Thus we see all of the various garments children were wearing at the various age levels. Because most of the portarits were taken outdoors we even see headwear on some of the portarits. We mostly see boys wearing hats. Some of the boys were weraring caps, but hats dominated. Thevpoeratit here is a good example. We see boys wearing a range of outfits, but mostly suits. This was the standard wearm even in rural schools. This reflects thr fact that casual styles were not yet very commom. We see both collar buttoning and lapel jackets. Many were worn with vests. We also see jackets that look like short tunics. We see larger white collars. Fauntleroy suits begame a major style, but we do not see mamy at schoolngiven the age range. We do begin to see some sailor suits. Boys mostly wore long pants suits, but younger boys especially in the city might wear knee aopnts. As the century developed we see older boys wearing knee pants. By the end of the decade knee pants were becoming standard, but not yet common for teenagers. The girls all wore dresses, often wih a pinafrore. Knee pants were worn with long stockings, mosthy black long stockings. We primarily see high-top button shies for both boys and girls.

Prevalence

We begin to see many more school portraits in the 1880s but the number is still relatiely limited, compared to the 1890s when we see many more school photographs. Finding dated images is especilly difficult, but we can usually estimate the dates to be relatively confident about decades.

School Photography

The convention of the school portrait was just beginning to become established, but it was clearaly becoming an established school tradition. Not yet the individual shots we see in the 20th century, but more and nore schools were having photographs taken in front of the school. We even see a few cabinet cards especially made for school photography. We are not entirely sure why this did not occur earlier. We suspect that the technology of operating outside studios was still fairly complicatedm but as the industry expanded we see more anore school photographs. This made the portraits still fairly expensive. Eaelker portraits seem more common at private schools than public schools for economic reasons. This presumably reflects the fact that the school portrait was still a fairly new feature and children at private schools were more able to pay for it. There were, however, realtively few private schools. So we mostly see public schools.

Location

America was a largely rural country in the early-19th century. There were only a few cities and tghgey were not very large. Urbanizatiob seadily expanded, but at first at a realtively slow pace. Urbanizatio increased as the industrial revolution began to take hold in America (1830s). America had achieved a substantial degree of industrialization, mostly in the North (1860s). This was a major factior in the Civil War. After the Civil War, industrialization and urbanization picked up. It was only after the Civil War that the developmebt odf tghec states west iof the Mississippi began in earnest. This and the still open frontier attracted increasing numbers of European immigrants. As a result, the rural population was still nearly 70 percebnt of the population. This mean that most Americans were still being educated in small rural schools. These schools offered an 8 year priogram. Thiswas not yet a problenm because only a small number of Americab children contunued their educatiion beyond the primary level. And American educatuinal policy mean that feee public education was privided chikldren even in ruralareas. These schools in the stillopen frontier could be very basic, but were more developed in thecscghools further east.

Ages

Most if the images we have found are from primary school which in Ameriva came to be called grammar or elementary schools. They offered 8 year programs for children bgimnning about 6 years old. This would thus mean children 6-13 years old. Rutal schools often had older teenagers. This is because vhildren especially the boys were needed on the farm and thus they dis not attend as regularly as city chilfren and often tool loinger to complrte the program. Actually the school year was built around the farm schedule. School began in September after the harvest and included the winter years during which little farm work ws possible. The school year ended adter Spring when farm work was picking up. Some city primary schools may have offered only 6 year programs as secondary schools were appearing for older children. A relatively few American children, however went on for a high school education at the time. High school was a 4 year program, grades 9-12 for teenagers ages about 14-18 years.

Garments

School photographs are a treasire trove of information om children's photography because we see both biys abd girls from about 6-19 years of age. Thus we see all of the various garments children were wearing at the various age levels. Because most of the portarits were taken outdoors we even see headwear on some of the portarits. We mostly see boys wearing hats. Some of the boys were weraring caps, but hats dominated. Thevpoeratit here is a good example. We see boys wearing a range of outfits, but mostly suits. This was the standard wearm even in rural schools. This reflects thr fact that casial styles were not yet very commom. We see both collar buttoning and lapel jackets. Many were worn with vests. We also see jackets that look like short tunics. We see larger white collars. Fauntleroy suits begame a major style, but we do not see mamy at schoolngiven the age range. We do begin to see some sailor suits. Boys mostly wore long pants suits, but younger boys especially in the city might wear knee aopnts. As the century developed we see older boys wearing knee pants. By the end of the decade knee pants were becoming standard, but not yet common for teenagers. Knee pants were bot as common in rrural areas, esprcially for older boys. The girls all wore dresses, often wih a pinafrore. We are not sure id the portarits without pinafores were because the girls took them off for the portrait or actually did nit wear them. Bith biys andvgirks wore long stockings, mostly black long stockings. Boys wore knee pants worn with long stockings, mosthy black long stockings. The girks wire rgeir dresses with long stockings. We primarily see high-top button shies for both boys and girls.

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Created: 11:21 AM 10/24/2019
Last updated: 2:58 PM 8/31/2023