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We have archived several images of American families in the 1880s. They include both rural and urban families of various levels of affluence, although poor families were unlikely to have portraits made. Families dressed very formally in the 1880s. America at the time was becoming a new world industrial power. The wealth and affluence is clearly reflected in how families dressed. There was a conspicious display of fashion. Younger boys still commonly wore dresses. Kilt suits were also popular for boys. This was the decade in which the Fautleroy suit appeared, often worn with lace collars and large floppy bows. We begin seeing sailor syits. Kneepants were becoming more common, but many boys outside the major urban areas wore long pants. Girls always wore dresses. Plain white dresses were popular for the summer. We note dresses made with jacket-like tops. High-top shoes were common for both boys and girls. Long stockings were commonly wirn, including stripped stockings. Children in rural areas went barefoot, especially the boys. Hair styles varied. Younger boys might have elaborate ringlet curls.
Here we have an image of an unidentified Arkansas farm family. We believe the portrait was probably taken in the 1880s, but are not quite sure precisely when. The father's beard is one factor suggesting the 1880s. The portrait was presumably taken by an itenerate photographer. The family is posed on a bench of some kind in the outdoors. The children's clothes are interesting. Notice that overalls are not yet being worn. Also the children are barefoot which suggests, as does the rest of the clothing, that the family was not very prosperous. Also note the boys wearing longpants. Many American boys by the 1880s were wearing kneepants. This was less common among urban working poor as well as poor farm families. We suspect that the family may be share cropers.
Here we have an unidentified American family. There is no indication when the portrait was taken or where. The fashions and hairstyles look to us to be be from the 1880s. The studio depicts the children in a rural setting. The children, however look like city kids to us. There are four children and two dolls. It is not immediately apparent who is who in the portrait. All the children seem to be wearing dresses, but we think some are boys. It is also a colorized portrait, very professionally done. The color was added by hand. It is an unusual size, 7 3/8" x 9 3/4". It is not a cabinent card, but rather a larger size presumably especially made for framing and a wall hanging. The portrait was printed by a narrow white border.
This family portrait shows the parents with their four boys. They were the Stanton family from Mankato, Kansas. The studio wax Reese. The boys look range in age from about 5-16 years of age. We re uncertain how to date the portrait. We would guess the early 1880s, but the ivory frame and embossed studio logo may mean the later 80s. We may be able to refine the date as we learn more about dating mounts. Mankato was a farming community, but the family dorsn't look to me like a farm family. The portrait is useful in providing information about breeching. The youngest boy is still not breeched. He wears a kilt suit. He looks to be about 5 years old, although he could be 4 years old, difficult to tell.
This 1884 cabinent card shows the family of Solon Lewis family with three children. We thought that the lady was his wife, but it may be his sister. The inscription on the back says "Gertude Lewis (my sister). Presumably the father wrote this, but it is possible one of the children wrote the inscription after the portrait was taken. Father does look like a farmer, more than likely a homesteader. The children were Mary, Robert, and Jay. The lady wears a very full dress, we're not sure about the color. Mary in contrast looks to be a white dress which is style rather plainly. The older boy wears a lace-up jacke, kind of a Davey Crocket effect. Notice the ruffled collar. Iis larger than seen in the 1860s and 70s, but not the huge size seen by the end of the decde. Perhaps dad is holding the deed to his homestead. The studio was Haynes in Fargo, Dakota Territory.
HBC has obtained a photograph of the Cocroft family of Staten Island, New York. Mrs Cocroft has 10 children and has she looks rather young, more presumably followed. It is difficult figuring out who is who in her family. She describes the children as "born as close together as nature permits". Mrs. Cocroft appears to have been particularly parcial to white smocks, presunmably the laundry load was a factor here even if she had help. The family is a good example as to how large 19th century families could be.
This photograph is dated 1886, but I am not sure how acurately. It looks more like the 1870s to me. Sailor suits became in the 1870s an increasingly important boys' fashion and were well established by the 1880s. Kneepants were also becoming widely worn by boys, but were not yet as commion in the ealy 1870s as they were to be in the 1880s and 1890s. Also notice the boy's long, but not shoulder length
hair. A reader has helped date the image usung the outfits of his mother and sister.
We have a 1886 portrait of the Raymond Robert Hawkins family in Henderson County, Texas. We have no information about this family, but looks to us like a rural family of modest means. The wife has what looks like a plain, drab dress. The man wears a vest suit, but without any neckwear. The daughter wears a plain white dress, The boy looks to be about 6 years old. He wears what looks klike a plain shirt waist, kneepants and is barefoot.
One of the most important photographer's of the final years of the American frontier was Solomon Butcher. He is particularly note for his photographs of homesteaders on the Great Planes. This photograph of the Sylvester Rawding sod house, north of Sargent in Custer County, Nebraska. Butcher took the photograph in 1886.
We note a New Hampshirefamily that had their portrait taken in 1888. The parents look rather old, they may well be grand parents. There are two boys who look to be about 5 and 8 years old. The older boy has short hair and wears what looks like a light-colored kneepants suit. His younger brother has quite an elaborate ringlet curls hairdo is has not yet been breached. He wears a kilt suit outfit. We note two portraits from different New Hampshire cities, so wer not positive where theylived in New Hampshire.
This is a family cabinet card portrait taken about 1888-89. The portrait is not dated, but the back aludes to a 1887 medal award. We believe that most studio portraits were taken about the same time as the award. The early 90s is posible, but we doubt rthat it was many years after the medal. It is photograph of a young family--father, mother, and son. The boy looks about 3 years old and is wearing a dark knee length dress that was fashionable at the time with high dark shoes along with a ruffled collar. The man is seated and is wearing a dark suit and white shirt with bow tie and a watch chain on his vest with a fob. He is wearing a very large and very dark moustache. The woman is wearing a dark dress with an even darker collar and a brooch at her neck and an unusual hat. They are all formally posed. This cabinet portrait was taken by Schlattman Brothers in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Here we see the Rodgers Family. They are a young rural family from Cazadero California. It looks like they had their portrait taken on their front porch which means that it would have been done by an itinerate photographer. There are two infant children and two young boys who look to be about 5 and 7 years old. Both boys wear blouses or shirt waists with very plain collars. One bit has a small floppy bow. The boys wear rather long kneepants. Note the stockings. One boy has grey or some other light colored stockings. The other boy had striped stockings.
This is the large family of James Haddock Yates. The portrait was taken in Lincoln County, Missouri. The portrasit is notg precisely datexd, but was taken about 1889. There are several adults in the family. We do not know their relationship. There are five childen in the portrait. We believe a teenage girl and four boys. One of tge boys is an infant. The older boys wears what looks like a keenpants suit with an Eton collar. The two middle boys wear white blouses, kneepants, and are barefoot. We know nothing about the family, but the fact that the two boys are barefott suggests to us that they lived in a small tiwn rather than a city.
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