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The boy's hair style here in the 1860s is unusual, elicicting some speculation among readers.
There were various ways of doing the sides. Usually boys had their hair cut around their ears. The cut here varied in severity. Styles like the crew cut or short-back-and sides had very little hair at the side. Other styles has hair coming down at the sides with side burns cut somewhere between the top and middle of the ear. At time longer side burns were popular. At other times we have noted boys wearing their hair over their ears at different lengths. Many boys had hair over their ears during the mid-19th century. A good example is an unidentified American boy about 1850.
We do not see many examples of boys' side burns. A rare exception is the aunidentified English boy here, we think in the 1860s (figure 1). We do not know how to unterpret this boy's cut. It seems to have been a one off, a mother's inspiratiion at the studio and not an established style. At least we have not seen other boys' with this style. There were cuts like bowl cuts wher the hair was cut in a circular fashion. A factor here is that before puberty, boys did not have much in the way of side burns below the ear. Even with older boys, we do not see much in the way of sideburns, even boys with long hair. An excption was the brief popuarity of side burns except for a brief appearance thanks to Elvis during the 1950s. This was before the invention of photography, but some painted portarits so show side burns. We also do see side burns during the 1860s for which there is photographic evidence. A prime examole is the approriately named Union general Ambrose Burnside (1860s). Unfortunately his military skills did not match his impressive sudeburns. A reader notes a men's hair style of combing the hair from the back of the head forward in a look for men durimg the Regencu
A reader brings up another sidec treatment. "The image you mentioned also caught my eye. We think it relates to men's hair styles that were popular during the Regency Era in Britain which I believe generally exteds from c1795 into the 1830s. Thus is beyond the actual regency of the Prince of Wales who became King George IV, but styles persisted longer than the actual Regency. This was about the style of combing the hair from the back of the head forward. We seem to see that in the Engkish portrait here I(figure 1). It is also not something we see commonly in boys' hair styles. Rememnber the Regency was a turning point in men's fashio,. It is during the regency that men began wearing lon poants. It is also when wigs began going out of style. As their heads were no longer covered, some men apparently became conciouis about suddenly exosing balding pates. This may have caused them to comb their hair forward in an effort to cover the balding areas. For what ever reason, the hair on the pate commonly disappears while it persists at the side. Of course this would not affect boys hair stylin as they did not have balding areas. Of course this did not mean that mithers nmay not have been influenced by the style.
The biy's hair style here is possibly being an attempt by the mother to dress her son and daughter in a similar fashion by giving them similar haircuts (figure 1). We see in the portrait that they were close in age. A reader writes, "Maybe mother was trying to dress the children similarly despite the gender difference. If you notice, the sister has a similar hairstyle but longer and fuller. That may explain the difference. I certainly remember my mother was very particular about my hairstyle and clothing when I was a child. I remember her saying that she would spend hours trying to find outfits she thought would look good on us and once she did, she would dress my middle brother and I alike because we were 3 years apart. My other brother was about 8 years older so he chose his own clothes by the time I was aware that my mother was choosing mine."
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