Figure 1.--This cabinet card portrait of an unidentified boyand his trusty pooch was taken in Arkansas, and according to the dealer was taken in 1886. It is a realtively rare 19th century portrait of a barefoot boy. The portrait was taken by an interant photographer in front of a home. What we have no idea about is the boys pants. We don't think jev had whire knee oanrs. He appears to be wearing his underwear with a suit jacket and tie. Why he would be wearing his underwear, we have no idea.

The number of children going barefoot does not show up for the most part in the photographic record which was still primarily studio photography. There were not yet any family snapshots. A few photographic enthusiasts took photographs out of the studio, but there were not many. and much of this was to photography impressive landscape, landmarks, or stately buildings. Photography out of the studio required transporting a complicated set up equipment, plates, and chemicals that required a real effort. It was not only complicated, but expensive. Technical advances made it somewhat easier, but it was still not something that the average person could do. Thus we have to rely mostly on studio photography which can be misleading. Mothers mostly wanted their children dressed up properly to make a good appearance. And this included wearing shoes. We see a few examples of barefoot boys in studio photography during the 1880s, but not very many. And the examples we have found are mostly from what look like very basic studios with low-income clientele. Here we are largely referring to very basic studio sets. Photographic technology was advancing and photographs taken outside the studio would have been more likely to show boys going barefoot. One indication of the improving technology is that in the 1880s we begin to see itinerant photographers taking photographs at people's houses.