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Many images exist of American boys wearing ringlets. Ringlets appear to have been even more popular in America. Most of the portraits in the ringlet curls section are of American boys. We note boys weraring ringlet curls as early as the 1850s, but thi sprovly ocurred earlier. It appears to have become much more common in the 1880s. Many such hair styles were worn in association with the Little Lord Fauntleroy craze which began in 1885. The ringlet style for boys appeared earlier, but after the publication of Mrs. Burnett's book, it was worn by more boys, including some older boys. Many American mothers in the 1870s and early 1880s cut, albeit reluctantly, their boys' hair short even while they were still in dresses. This became somewhat less common after 1885. The ringlet style for boys continued into the 20th century, but by the 1910s was increasingly less common. Another factor which needs to be considered is possible regional differences. We are not going to pursue the ringlet curl fashion in America in detail on this page. This is primarily because the main HBC ringlet curl section is almost all based on American images and information and thus would be redundant to relicate a new American section here. HBC suggests that readwes interested in the American ringlet curl fashion simply go to the main HBC ringlet curl page.
American brothers did ringlet curls in many different styles. Here mothers showed themselves highly imaginative in the styles they created for their son's hair. The different styles were primarily a matter of the two basic ringlet styling elements: the front styling and the ringlets themselves. The two basic choices for the front were bangs or a center part, although here were other alternatives and many variations. The ringlets themselves were also endlessly varied. They varied in thickness, length, placement, and other factors. Ringlets curl styles varies in a variety of other ways. Some mothers added hair bows. This was a particularly American touch. A far as we know, these different ringlet styles did not have specific names. This was in part because they were almst always done at home and not by a hair stylist. Thus we can also use basic descriptions to describe the various styles.
Many images exist of American boys wearing ringlets. Ringlets appear to have been even more popular in America. Most of the portraits in the ringlet curls section are of American boys. I am not sure why this was. We suspect that may be related to the trenmendous economic expansion of America after the Civil War (1861-65). Large numbers of Americans with very humble backgrounds made a lot of money in the country's industrial expansion. Many were anxious to show their success and influence and clothing for themselves and children were one way to do this. Hair styling was another way. The idea was to emmulate how they though wealthy people in Europe dressed.
We note boys weraring ringlet curls as early as the 1850s, but this provly ocurred earlier. We note, for example, a Louisville boy wearing ringlets in the 1850s. It appears to have become much more common in the 1880s. Many such hair styles were worn in association with the Little Lord Fauntleroy craze which began in 1885. The ringlet style for boys appeared earlier, but after the publication of Mrs. Burnett's book, it was worn by more boys, including some older boys. Many American mothers in the 1870s and early 1880s cut, albeit reluctantly, their boys' hair short even while they were still in dresses. This became somewhat less common after 1885. The ringlet style for boys continued into the 20th century, but by the 1910s was increasingly less common.
Boys wore ringlet curls with a wide variety of outfits. Some boys wore ringlet curls with dresses. This was not the very young children as they often did not have enough hair to be curled into ringlets. There is also a problem with udentifying boys before breeching. Also a small number of available portraits are identified, probably something like 5 percent. Thus we are not altogether sure who the children are in dresses. Other skirted garments were only for boys, kilt suits and tunics. Once breeched, gender is clear because in the 19th century, girls did not wear trousers. Thus no matter how girlish a child in ringlets may look, if the child is wearing trousers, he is a boy. And we see these boys in many different outfits, including Fauntleroy suits, sailor suits, and regular suits. The stereotypical image is that Fauntleroy suits were associated with ringlrt curls. Actually obly a fraction of boys with Fauntleroy suits wore ringlet curls. Probably mpre boys wore ringlets with sailor suits because the sailor suit was such a popular style.
Another factor which needs to be considered is possible regional differences. We believe that ringlet curls were especially popular in the South before the Civil War, a least among the wealthy planter class. Here we know ringlets were popular for girls and young women. We are less sure about boys. A factor may have been the ready availbility of servants because of slavery. Ringlets are time consuming to do, so servants to assist with the process may have been a factor. The whole question of regional differences, however, is a topic that we have not yet begun to address in detail. One aspect we do notice is that the fashion was very widespread and not just one found in the major cities. We note boys in the fashionable major cities wearing ringlets. We also note boys with ringlets even in small towns of rural states. A good example is an unidentified Amercan boy in Independence, Iowa about the turn of the 20th century.
Ringlets were mostly worn by pre-school American boys which would mean up to about 6 years of age. Some boys older than age 6 worn them, mostly boys who were schooled at home. The age range varied somewhat over time. The age was affected when the public school system became more established in the late-19th century. Most boys would have their curls cut before they began school at age 6 years. There were exceptions such as a Catholic boy in the 1890s, but they were mot very common. Another factor was the increasing economic affluence as American industrialized. This may have affected the number of boys wearing ringlers more than affecting the age which they wore them. Many images of American boys wearing ringlets are archived on HBC. A good example is an Ohio boy who looks to be about 3 years old in the 1890s. Family images are particilarly useful because they help define when the children in the family had their curls cut. We note an unidentified boy with ringlets in the 1850s while his school-age older brothers have short hair cuts. We also note a New York boy who looks to be about 6 years old in the 1850s.
Ringlet curls were primarily a girl's style, except for very young boys. We note great variations over time in the popularity of ringlet curls. Boysat times have also worn ringlets, even school-age boys. It seems that the time that ringlets were most popular for boys (late 19th and very early 20th century that they were less common for girls. This was especially true for individual families. We note some mothers doing the hair of both their sons and saughters in curls. The more common option was, however, if boy's hair was don in ringlets that the girls' hair was styled differently. The idea apparently was so the boy's hair would stsand out better and perhaps so that he would not see it as a girl's style. Here the ahge and gender distribution in any goven family would affect hair styling and the alternatives open to mother. We note similar trends in Europe, although ringlets were never as popular there as in America.
We are not going to pursue the ringlet curl fashion in America in detail on this page. This is primarily because the main HBC ringlet curl section is almost all based on American images and information and thus would be redundant to relicate a new American section here. HBC suggests that readwes interested in the American ringlet curl fashion simply go to the main HBC ringlet curl page.
HBC has a number of images of American boys wearing ringlet curls over time, many of which are dates or that we can reasonably assess the dates. Some of these images are on separate pages for individual boys. In other cases they are just images posted on a page discussing a style or garment. Here we have chronological links to these pages.
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