Figure 1.--This is New York boy Austin Fox. He commonly wore Norfolk suits with detachable collars. Mother preferred Peter Pan collars, but he some times wore Eton collars as well. This portait was probably taken in 1889 when Austen was 12 years old. This was during the Fautleroy Craze, but Austen did not war Fauntleroy suits or fior the most part Fauntleroy items. The sole exception was the floppy bow. He never wore the huge bows. Most of the time he wore much smaller floppy bows and we can see he is wearing a Peter Pan collar.

Collars that look much like Peter Pan collars can be found on boys clothing during the 19th century We are not sure just when they appeared. We are not sure about the early 19th century, but we see thenm as early as the 1840s. They may have appeared earlier. The size varied widely as well as the precise styling. I supose one could differ as to they were Peter Pan collars as some were cut a bit differently, but some are exactly like Peter Pan collars. Unfortunastely we do not know what they were called at the time. Peter Pan of course was a literary character. We even seen younger teenagers wearing them. A good example is an unidentified boy in the 1840s. It does not appear as a commonly worn style, however, until after the the late-19th century. Most of the Peter Pan collars we have found come from the late-19th century Fauntleroy era, like the New York boy here, we think in 1889 (figure 1). Peter Pan and Eton collars were popular in the 1890s as a kind of alternative to the elaborate lace and ruffled collars--although not as prevalent. This is of course was before they would have been called a Peter Pan collar. Another example is a Reading boy. Boys wearing dressing outfits increasingly wore ruffled collars, but less formal clothes might be worn with Peter Pan collars. An example is an Ohio boy in 1890. Another example is the Whitney boys in 1895. Many of these collars in the 1890 may be detachable collars. We have seen advertiements for them. It is difficult to tell for sure in the photographic record. Another problem is that as part of the Fauntleroy Craze, large floppy bows were often worn with these collars. This iften made it impossible to tell if the boy was wearing an Eton or Peter Pan collar.

The 1800s

Collars that look much like Peter Pan collars can be found on boys clothing during the 19th century We are not sure just when they appeared. We are not sure about the early 19th century. Through the 1830s we only have painted images. Most were the work of naive/folk artists. While not great works of art, they left us very accurate depctions of clothing. The problem was there were so few of painted portaits, nothing like the torrent of images that phoyograph would unleash.

The 1840s

, but we see thenm as early as the 18490s. They may have appeared earlier. It certainly was not Peter On collars. Peter Pan of course was a literary character who made his devut at the turn of thr 20th cebntury. The size varied widely as well as the precise styling. I supose one could differ as to they were Peter Pan collars as some were cut a bit differently, but some are exactly like Peter Pan collars. We even seen younger teenagers wearing them. A good example is an unidentified boy in the 1840s.

The 1850s

Collars could still be full size in the 1850s. We note naive/folk artists depicting Peter Pan collars in the mid-19 century. A good examole is a boy who may be named Koby Salleny (writing indistinct). We see these collars being worn with cut-away jackets. They were easy to detect, because neckwear was modest. The naive artists that produced such images now had serious competition. In fact after thec 1850s we see far fewer of these images. They simply could not compete with the camera. Even folk artists charged far more than a photographic studio which could provide stynningly acurate images. Through the 1850s, the number of images were modest but substantially greater than painted portraitsm was still modest. Photography had began increasing this somewhat with the Daguerrotype in the 1840s, but numbers were still limited. In the 1850s we begin to see tin-types and Amnbrotypes inceasing the number of images. But without negatives, numbers were still limited. Only with albumen porocess with created nagatives (1860s) do we be begun to see really large numbers of images.

The 1860s

The akbumen priocss first with the CDV and then the cabinet card exponentially increased the number of portraits made in America. Naive artist portraits did not disappear, but desclined shroply. There was a fundamentl chsnge in collars. They became very small, in many cases just peaking out over the popular collar-buttoning jackets. We do not see many PPeter On collrs, but the collars wre so smzall ghst it is often to detrermine what style was being worn.

The 1880s

It does not appear as a commonly worn style, however, until after the the late-19th century. Most of the Peter Pan collars we have found come from the late-19th century Fauntleroy era, like the New York boy here, we think in 1889 (figure 1). We think Peter Pan collars were fairly standard in the 1880s, but often we are unabke to tell because floppy bows were so popular and they often covered muvh of the collar. Notice the collar here. It was a fairly modest bow in the 1889s and even it civered much of the collar.

The 1890s

Peter Pan and Eton collars were popular in the 1890s as a kind of alternative to the elaborate lace and ruffled collars--although not as prevalent. This is of course was before they would have been called a Peter Pan collar. Another example is a Reading boy. Boys wearing dressing outfits increasingly wore ruffled collars, but less formal clothes might be worn with Peter Pan collars. An example is an Ohio boy in 1890. Another example is the Whitney boys in 1895. Many of these collars in the 1890 may be detachable collars. We have seen advertiements for them. It is difficult to tell for sure in the photographic record. Another problem is that as part of the Fauntleroy Craze, large floppy bows were often worn with these collars. This iften made it impossible to tell if the boy was wearing an Eton or Peter Pan collar.

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Created: 4:54 AM 10/2/2022
Last updated: 10:46 AM 12/23/2022