Figure 1.--The development of the Brownie camera in 1900 meant that for the first time, informal photographs appeared of children around the house. They still may be posed or dressed up, but the settings show us much more about the children and their clothing than ever before. This snapshot of the Olson children was taken in Milton North. Dakota during 1907. |
Major changes occurred in the 1900s that significantly affected the images available on boys' clothing. The major development of course was the introduction of the inexpensive Brownie camera by Kodak in 1900. Suddenly anyone could take snap shots at home. As a result, we photography leaps outside thecstudio and we begin to have large number of images showing how the average person lived and dressed from day to day. Kodak in 1908 began printing the images with postcard backs so customers would want more prints to send to realtives and friends. Colorized images also appear, but actual color images are very rare.
A dramatic change in the photographic images available to illustrate fashions, including boys' clothes, occurred in 1900. Eastman Kodak introduced the Brownie camera which was sold for only $1. This brought photography within the price range of all but the poorest Americans. Previously photographic images were mostly stiff studio images and most Americans might have their photographs taken only for special occasions. Amateur photography was becoming popular in the 1890s, but it was still very expensive. After 1900 with the Brownie, Americans of all social classes began to photograph themselves and their family on a daily basis. Suddenly in only a few years, stiff studio images were replaced with glimses of Americans in informal, real life situations. Suddenly outdoor images become common place. The new amateur snap shots availavle in unimagined quantities revealed more than ever before about what boys were wearing.
Another Eastman Kodak inovation affected the available images on the American family. Kodak offered at no extra cost in 1908 to print photographs on post card paper that could then be mailed to friends and family. With a penny stamp, intimate family images could be easily sent to uncles and aunts, grandparents, and cousins around the country at very low cost.
HBC notes an increasing mumber of colorized images after the turn of the century. Almost all of these are black and white photographs which have had color added, often by hand painting. Some are rather crude and you have to look carefully to tell that they are colorized. Actual color photographic processes dis exist in the early 20th century, but they were so compicated that they were not even prctical in photographic studios.
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