Figure 1.-- This new-style cabinet card shows a family of four. Mother is wearing a long dark dress with bib of flowery lace across the chest and at the sleeves. The two boys wear matching sailor suits with two-strpe detailing. . The collars are rounded. The dickies are striped. One ofthe scarves has some embridery. Father, with a wide mustache, is wearing a jacket, white shirt and necktie. The clothing and hairstyle as well as the mount style looks to be the early 1900s. The studio embossed on the bottom of thecard is Cartwright's Art Gallery, Owego, New York. The mount is 6 1/4" wide by 7 7/8", photo 3 3/4" x 5 1/2". The mount is gray heavy cardboard with darker embossing around the photo.
There were different sailor garments done in many many different styles in the 1900s as there had been in the 1890s. The major garments were the blouse and pants. There were also jackets ad coats. Other items included headrawear and dickies, part of the blouse. We see traditional styles, neaning the styles more closely approxmating actual sailor uniforns becomong increasingly popular. Along with this trend we notice styles increasinly tending toward the basic three stripe detailing. There were , however still quite a variety of ailor styling as was still the case in the 1890s. Headwear varied. We see both has and caps being worn. Younger boys might wear wide-brimmed sailor hats. Older boys might wae caps. The saucer cap, actially useby the U.S. Navy was still worn, but going out of tyle by the end of the decade. We also see soft styles in bth white a dark colors, presumably navy blue. There were a range of variations on the basic V-front blouse. We see traditionally styled suits that is styles based on the actual uniforms worn by American sailors. There were, however, many suits in the 1900s that did not have traditionally styled blouses. That means blouses that were not done with the classic three-stripe detailing. The boys ontheprevious page wear examples of the varied styling seen during the decade. A variety of dickies were worn with the blouses. A very popular style for younger boys was the tunic which reappeared as a major fashion trend. There were several styles of tunics, including the Russian blouse and the Buster Brown suit. One of the most popular ws the sailor tunic. Each of these was donein a wide rnge of styles and with varying detailing. American Boys tended to wear knee pants sailor suits in the 1900s, but they were also made with long pants. This was one of the few instances boys at the time wore long pants. They were commonly doine as bell bottoms. We also see knicker suits by the end of the decade. We are not yet sure how pants type varried during the two decades, but knee pants were most popular in the 1900s. We continue to see American boys wearing sailor suits with long stockings.
Headwear
Headwear varied. We see both has and caps being worn. Younger boys might wear wide-brimmed sailor hats. Older boys might wae caps. The saucer cap, actially useby the U.S. Navy was still worn, but going out of tyle by the end of the decade. We also see soft styles in bth white a dark colors, presumably navy blue..
Blouse
The basic blouse which acually bloused at the waist with a drawsting was sandard. The V-collar was standard, but not universal. This can be seen clearly here figure 1). There were a range of variations on the basic V-front blouse. We see traditionally styled suits that is styles based on the actual uniforms worn by American sailors. There were, however, many suits in the 1900s that did not have traditionally styled blouses. That means blouses that were not done with the classic three-stripe detailing. Note the rouded V-collar nd two-stripe detailing here (figure 1). The boys on the previous page wear examples of the varied styling seen during the decade. A variety of dickies were worn with the blouses.
Tunics
A very popular style for younger boys was the tunic which reappeared as a major fashion trend. Tere were several styles of tunics, including the Russian blouse and the Buster Brown suit. One of the most popular ws the sailor tunic. Each of these was done in a wide arnge of styles and with varying detailing.
American Boys tended to wear knee pants sailor suits in the 1900s decades. This was not something specific to sailor suits. It was that knee pants were standard boys wear at the time. In fact some sailor suits were done with long pants, rare for school-age boys at the time. This was one of the few outfits boys at the time wore with long pants. Kneev pants wre, however, more common. An exception was boys in rural areas, herev kneepnts werev not as common in urban areas. Some of these long pants were done as bell bottoms--a style used by navies. We also see knicker suits, but not very many. At the end of the decade, American boys begin to wear knickers. This is a change that begn very rapidly and was completed very quickly. We do not fully understand it. This was not simply true of sailor suits, but was a ahift for boys pants in general. Knee pants were most popular in the 1900s, until the end of the decade. Knickers dominated the 1910s. This shift did not affect the hosiery worn. We continue to see American boys wearing sailor suits with long stockings. Some really young boys wore socks. But generally school-age boys wore long stockings, even during the summer. Again this was not just the case for sailor suits, but boys wear in general. An exception here was boys going barefoot, but the sailor suit was especially common for middle-class boys who did not commonly go barefoot.
