Figure 1.--This snapshot shows three barefoot boys weaing flat caps and knickers. Behind them is a sign that reads "room in exchange for light housekeeping". While the boys were not iudentified, the snapshot came out of the Susie Wilock (or Wollock) album from Louisville, Kentucky. It was robably taken in the early-1920s. The boys look to be about7-9 years old.

Boys going barefoot in America was very common during the 19h century. This was much more common in rural than urban areas. It was also much more common for younger children, especially boys, to go barefoot. Wearing shoes for many country boys had a city look. Mark Twain writes in Tom Sawyer, "The summer evenings were long. It was not dark, yet. Presently Tom checked his whistle. A stranger was before him -- a boy a shade larger than himself. A new-comer of any age or either sex was an impressive curiosity in the poor little shabby village of St. Petersburg. This boy was well dressed, too -- well dressed on a week-day. This was simply astounding. His cap was a dainty thing, his close-buttoned blue cloth roundabout was new and natty, and so were his pantaloons. He had shoes on -- and it was only Friday. He even wore a necktie, a bright bit of ribbon. He had a citified air about him that ate into Tom's vitals. The more Tom stared at the splendid marvel, the higher he turned up his nose at his finery and the shabbier and shabbier his own outfits. This seemed to him to grow. Neither boy spoke. If one moved, the other moved -- but only side wise, in a circle; they kept face to face and eye to eye all the time." The photographic record does not shows off how common it was to go barefoot. This was because photography in the 19th century was almost entirety studio photography with the boys all dressed up. So this does not tell us how boys dressed in rural areas. We do know where the photographs was taken and we can tell that it was not just the big cities. Of course in the many small towns, many would have been farm families coming into town to have a portrait taken. At the turn of the 20th century, the Kodak Brownie brought photography out of the studio. This created the family snapshot which provided us images of how boys dressed when not done up for a portrait. We see that it was very common for boys to go barefoot in rural areas. A good example is a rural Tennessee school in 1902. Interestingly we see studio portraits with barefoot boys (1900s-10s). This my also relate to Kodak . Most of these studio portraits of barefoot boys seem to have been taken in very basic studios. While going barefoot was most common in rural areas. We see city boys going barefoot as well. A good example is Clarence and Clifford LeMasters, Going barefoot was especially common in the South. Here climate was a factor. Economics was another factor, The South was the poorest and most rural part of the country. The Depression may have meant that some children when barefoot, but the priory trend after the 920swasfor fewer and fewer children to go barefoot.