Figure 1.--This cabinet card portrait shows four unidentified family, we think in the 1890s. Mother has combed the boys hair with center parts. and then added her special touvh. The one boy seems to have for some reason escaped her attentions. The children look to be about 1-7 years old. The studio was H.P. Klaiss, Tiffin, Ohio.

Most of the center parts we have found are very plain, basically just hair combed down from a center part over the crown. Except for Faintleroy styles, we only see these center parts dome with short hair during the 90s. Often these are virtually razor parts. Many are so perfevtly combed that it seems unlikely that younger school age boys could have accomplished those parts without mothers help. Side parts are one thing, but perfect razor centervparts are quite another. Teenagers could certainly do it, but younger school age boys, like the boy here, would have had trouble. We also suspect tht many boys this ge would have not been all that interested in spending time on fashionanle hir tylinglike this. Teenagers, yes but pre-teens less likely. We note some parts that are aittle off center in addition to the perfect center parts. While most of the pars are very plain, mothers being mothers in the 19thbcentury, we somtimes see some boys with added stylish flairs. These fancy touches except with Fauntleroy styles were not very common, but we do see afew examples.

Created: 11:27 PM 1/30/2016
Last updated: 11:27 PM 1/30/2016