*** HBC contributions








Contributions to the Boys' Historical Clothing Web Page

Boys Historical Clothing Website
Figure 1.--James Roosevelt like some wealthy boys in the early-1920s was dressed in short pants with strap shoes. Most American boys during the 1920s wore knickers.

Thank you for your interest in our website. Contribution from visitors to our website is the live blood of ourt Historic Boys' Clothing (HBC) website. Only through your contributions can HBC adequately covered the myriad of topics associated with boys' fashions. I would like to think of it as a cooperative effort with you. Your comments and contributions would be of great interest. Perhaps you have some interesting ideas about further additions. While some readers have told us, "I don't have any information." In fact, however, absolutelty everyone has knowledge and information that can be useful for HBC.

New Material Needed

Historical information

We are looking for any historical material, newspaper and magazine articles on clothing, interesting pasages from biographies/autobiographies, catalogs, magazine and newspaper advertisements, photography and history books, old-time photographs of your family, even personal remberences of the more modern clothing styles, or any other pertinent material. We all remember some of the clothes we weore as children. HBC would greatly appreciate any new material you could provide. Please don't think you have to write any massive academic piece. Even short pieces would be ofvgreat interest.

Contemporary information

While HBC focuses on historical clothing, we are also interested in contemporay styles and fashions. This is just a matter of noting styles currently being worn and advertized in magazines and newspapers.

Media reviews

HBC has an extensive section on theatrical media, especially televisions of movies. We are interested in adding movies and TV reviews. We also are interested in knowing more about TV, especially infornmation about non-American TV programs which are often little-known outside the country in which they were created. While considerable care has to be exercized when using theatrical productions to assess fashion trends. That said movies and TV can provide a wide range of valuable fashion information.

Personal information

Any thing you might care to submit would be of interest. I think actually that the most interesting material is the little items visitors to this web site have provided about their own personal experiences. A wide variety of material would be of interest: descriptions of your and your friends' boyhood clothes; school or scout uniforms; what you liked and didn't like and why (uncomfortable, old fashioned, juvenile, etc.); conversations with your parents and friends; a picture of you as a boy in period clothing; or anything else you would like to share. All of us must at least remember some of what what we wore as kids and what we liked and didn't like. Many of us were quite clothes conscious as children or especially teenagers. As a result, we have considerable expertise on the clothing styles of our youth--to a far greater extent than historians looking back. We are the ones that remember the fashions, fads, and expressions of our formative years. We are seeking information on fashions styles, but also how the changing fashions have reflected societal changes and how we as chldren viewed those societal changes. HBC is especially interested in contributions from foreign visitors. The current coverage of many foreign countries is inadequate. HBC has primarily obtained material from English speaking countries. The many intersting fashion developments in foreign countries are not yet well covered. HBC has some interesting material from France, Germany, and Japan, but much more is needed. There is almost no information on many other interesting coutries such as Belgium, Italy, and the Netherlands.


Figure 2.--Boys at the turn of the 20th Century commonly wore sailor suits and wide-brimmed sailor hats. This is a French image, probably taken in the 1900s.

Adopt a Page

Some of you have expressed considerable interest in certain sections of HBC. If you find one of our ages particularly interested, we'd be quite willing to discuss an adopt-a-page understanding with you. We have our hands full with this massive undertaking and would be most interesting in others pursuing specific pages in more detail tham we are capable of doing at this time.

Missing Topics

You may find that some topics have not been touched upon at all. If so please let us know so that we can create a page on that topic and with ypur help begin collecting information.

How to Contribute

Making contributions is easy. Image and articles can simply be submitted as e-mail attachements. Personal accounts cam be typed in an e-mail message. Your pieces can be contributed as signed work for attribution or as annonamous submissions if you prefer. If you do not have a scanner, you can use our postal address listed below.

Image Scanning

Some of the most fascinating information and images on HBC have been submitted by readers. This is particularly the case of readers outside of Ameruca where HBC has little experience and where language make gathering information difficult. Readers come to HBC with all kinds of computer skills. This includes scanning skills. Scanning can be a little difficult to readers who do not have much experince. There are a variety of useful internet sites which offer hints on scanning. Most readers are able to produce usseful imges with their scanners after a little experimentation. One problem we find that some readers have problems with is the destracting patterns which can appear when scanning printed material (images from newspapers and magazines) rther than photographs.

Financial Contribution

Some readers may not have the time or inclination to contribute material to help build HBC. They may want to support HBC by making a financial contribution. HBC offers a variety of subscription plans for readers. We have endevored to keep the prices very low and to create plans suited to the needs of our readers. We have a regular subscription plan providing full access for an entire year. We also offer a limited 1-month subscription for students and other readers who just want access for a limited period. And we also have a library/school plan so that patrons and students can freely access the HBC site.

New Page Distribution

There is a real benefit to contributing. HBC offers contributors advanced copies of new or revised pages. This web site is perpetually under construction as I constantly edit and add in new material that I create or you contribute. We automatically distribute copies of the new pages to regular contributors, based on your specific interests.







HBC

Historical Clothing Website
801 North Howard St, Suite 402
Alexandria, VA 22304

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Created: July 10, 1998
Last updated: 2:17 AM 2/21/2014