Figure 1.--This portrait shows an unidentified American boy ready for winter. He is wearing a stocking cap, coat and leggings. He has a knitted stocking cap with a tassel, a short double breasted coat, and leggings. The photographer is Wade in Columbus, Ohio. The portrait is undated, but we would guess was taken about 1905. It easily could have been taken in the 189s, but the matte suggests the early 20th century. Note the ringlet curls.

Knitted stocking caps are popular cold-weather headwear for both boys and girls in America. They were also widely worn in other countries, mostly Canada an northern Europe. There were several other names used such as ski and watch caps, although therewere style and color characteristics associated with these variants.. We are not sure when these caps became popular. We know that they were worn in the 19th century. Stocking caps in the 20th century. We note very colorful stocking caps with elaborate patterns in the 20th century. We are not yet sure about the 19th century. We do note tassles in the 19th century. They were worn by both boys and girls. We note some gender variation, mostly concerning color in the 20th century. Again we are less sure about the 19th century.

Created: 11:19 PM 3/9/2008
Last updated: 11:19 PM 3/9/2008