Figure 1.--The image here was postally used in 1916, but the actual photograph may have been taken ealier. I can't make out the writing. The two childrn on the couch are clearly a boy and girl. I am less sure about the child on the left wearing a tunic. I suspect because the child is wearing short pants undr the tunic, it may be a boy. I am, however, unsure about this.

We have little information on Spanish tunics at this time. There is no indication that Spain has diverged from the general European patter concerning tunics. The few images we have seen look rather like French tunics. We do have one 1916 image. Some images are difficult to interpret.

Image

HBC has noted boys in the early 19th century wearing tunic outfits in England and France. We have very little information on the extent to which this style was also worn in Spain. We notice tunics throughout the 19th century in France and American boys wore them at least by the mid-19th century. We have no information on Spanish tunic styles during the 19th century. Some of the images are difficult to assess. We do not believe, however, that girls commonly wore tunics. We have one World War I image, but we do not think that tunics were much worn by Spanish boys after the War.

The image is unidentified. Some early postcards did not permit messages to be written on the back and this people wrote on the front. But this is often difficult to decchipher. The writing on the front of the card suggests that the card is Spanish. I am able to read some of the words in the picture, like: "nuestros sobrinitos como estos" (our little nephews like these) and at the end: "saludos para mi hermana" (greetings for my sister). The first words and the signature are indefinable. Another reader who dies not soeak Spanis makes out something like. " Muestrion ... sobre hillos eomo es ... picolo el Pios para mi ... hermana ... Sobre oionol."

Popularity

The tunic suit was a very popular style for boys in America and many European countries at the turn-of-the-20th century. We have less information about Spain as we have so few Spanish photographs from the pre-World War I period.

Styles

Fancy, lace trimmed French styles seem to have been worn in Spain.

Gender Conventions

We are not sure to what extent the tunic was an exclusively boys' garment in Spain. Hopefully our Spanish readers will provide some background information here.