Boys' Hair Styles: Medium Cuts



Figure 1.--All we know about this boy was that he was from Port Huron, Michigan. The portrait is undated, but was probably taken in the 1870s. The dividing line between short and long cuts is subjective. We would classify this as a medium cut, because the hair is not cut away from the ears.

We note various periods in which boys commonly wore their hair over their ears. Here there were different styles and conventions over time. We note that over te ears styles were common in the mid-19th century. A good example is a Swiss or possibly German family in the 1840s. Many of the Daguerreotypes and other early portraits we have found in the 1840s, the 1850s, and the 1860sshow boys with medium hair styles. We begin to see more short styles in the 1870s. This was not, however, a specifically boys' style as adult men also wear their hair over the ears at the time. Mothers in the 1920s-30s liked to keep their boys hair long. Often mothers in affluent families were more apt to keep their children's hair long. After World War I, long shoulder length hair was no longer found, but often hair over the ears was considered stylish for younger boys--at least by proud mothers. America boys would have their hair cut short when they entered first grade at about 6 years of age. British boys might not have their hair cut until they were about 8 years old and sent off to their preparatory boarding school. We again notice over the ears styles in the 1970s and 80s. Many boys wore their hair even longer, but over the earsstyles were most common. And longer styles eventully were also worn by younger adults.









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Created: 11:47 PM 11/21/2007
Last updated: 11:47 PM 11/21/2007