Figure 1.--Boys after the turn of the century still wore ringlet curls. This boys wears a sailor suit complete with flat top sailor hat.

Many boys in the 19th century wore curls increasingly ringlet curls. They were especially common in the late 19th century. Only a minority of boys wore ringlets, but still the photographic record shows that it was not uncommon.As the 19th century passed boys were less frequently kept in dresses and their hair was cut earlier. Curls for boys continued into the 20th Century, but became increasingly uncommon. While unusual, many boys well into the 1900s were kept in curls. They were still widely worn in the 1900s before World War I. his was esopecially the case in America. A good example is the MacCarr boy in Walbash, Indian. Some mothers kept to the traditional practices well into the 20th century. Usually ringlet curls in this era were for younger boys, but some mothers might wait until a boy was 10 or even 11 before allowing him to have his long curls cutting. Even after graduating to kilts or boyish suits such as sailor suits and other outfits such as little Lord Fauntleroy suits, a boy might be kept in long-flowing curls.

Figure 2.--Many old ages are difficult to date. The simplicity of the boys blouse and shoe style suggests to me the 1900s. The boy still wears very carefully rolled set of ringlet curls.

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Created: February 15 24, 1999
Last edited: 3:33 AM 5/19/2013