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A 'Dutch bob' or 'Dutch boy' was a haircut popularized in the medieval era. We are not sure what it was called at the time. But came to be called a 'page boy' cut. There seems to have been many oher names for it, but in the United States it came to be called a Dutch boy haircut in the 20th century. It was a straight hair cut in a blunt bob just past the ears with bangs in front. It is sometimes called a 'page boy'. People in the Netherlands have never heard of this ter, So this is an American term. There are different names for this in various countries. We think the major reason for the Dutch boy name is a famous children's book here called "Hans Brinker; or The Silver Skates" (1865). The book had a chapter mentioning a little Dutch boy who put his finger into the hole in the dike to stop the water leak and hold back the sea until that break or breach could be repaired. The book and the subplot became quite famous and widely known. It had illustrations which showed similar looking children to what would be adopted by Dutch Boy Paints, both the clothing and hairstyle in most editions.
So Americans before mass media provided imagery began to see this as the standard hair style and and clothes in the Netherlands. (It was folk dress preserved in isolated pockets luke Maken Iland, but not how Dutch boysweere dressing by the 9th and espcially the 20yh century. Then came the Dutch Boy Paint compoany. The company founded (1907) aopted its famous logo -- a little boy with the iconic haircut, wearing a cap and baggy pants and waving a paintbrush. We are not sure if the term Dutch boy haircut was used before this. Actress Mary Thurman further ppularised the cut (1920s). The name became part of the culure. Tthe original artist who designed that paint company's commercial logo did not use a Dutch boy as a model. Rather he used a Irish-Americal boy. The company's logo has changed somewhat oiver time, but continues to the very distinct haircut.
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