Figure 1.--Hefre we see Billy at about 3 years old wearing a white sailor suit. I think it was a sailot tunic. His hair is curkled, but not done in tight ringlets. Notice the bows on the strap shoes.

Here is a collection of items about a boy named William Wesley Blaisdell. He was born some time around 1910. He appears to be part of a Vaudaville family. His mother seems to have been a doting mother, perhaps a stage door mama, who has lovingly preserved locks of her son's long blond hair and his first baby tooth in a chocolate box labeled "Billy's Curls". Actually, keeping such momentos was not uncommon at the time. There is a touching scene that Elenor Roosevelt tells about her husband when after the death of his mother, he opened up a box with mememtos his mother kept of his childhood like a lock of hair abnd a hair bow. We see some of the vatious outfits he wore including rompers, a Fauntleroy outfit, a sailor outfit, and an above the knees knicker suit. There is a diary of the Vaudeville troop's travel--"our Trip with the Pollyanna Company". Mother kept the dairy of the trip, starting with September 16, 1918.

Momentos

Here is a collection of items about a boy named William Wesley Blaisdell. He was born some time around 1910. We think he was the son of the actor William Blaisdell. The elder died in Brooklyn in 1931. William or Billy as he was called was thus part of a show business family. His mother seems to have been a doting mother, perhaps a stage door mama, who has lovingly preserved locks of her son's long blond hair and his first baby tooth in a chocolate box labeled "Billy's Curls". Actually, keeping such momentos was not uncommon at the time. There is a touching scene that Elenor Roosevelt tells about her husband when after the death of his mother, he opened up a box with mememtos his mother kept of his childhood like a lock of hair abnd a hair bow. There is a sentimental photo of him with an elderly woman.

Juvenile Clothing

A photo album provides images of the vatious outfits and har styles that a younger boy would have worn in the 1910s. We see Billy in a variety of outfits and over several different years. We see him as a baby. One infant portrait shows him wearing a romper suit. Then we see him wearing rompers, a Fauntleroy outfit, and a sailor outfit. The Fauntleroy suit at the time was going out of style for boys. The one Billy wears is not a classic Fauntleroy suit, but a velvet outfit tht is a liitle difficult to describe, but has Fauntleroy elements like a lace collar. It looks like a one-piece suit, but we can't be sure. Another outfit looks like a sailor-styled tunic suit. Here he looks about 5-years of age and his curls have been cut. These are all outfits that a boy from an affluent family would have worn. They suggest a degree of affluence. The dealer seems to think that the album clearly were intended as a modeling book to be shown for bookings and work. Note the one photo with the Gustav Stickley child's chair and table. We are not entirely sure about this. The images look like perfectly normal images of a boy from an affluent family at the time. And they are at an age at wgich a child would not have been capable of theatrics.

Show Business

They were in showbusiness at the time, not the most respectable of occupations. And the movies at the time were destroying Vaudeville. Based on how Billy was dressed, however, they seem very affluent. There is a diary of the Vaudeville troop's travel--"our Trip with the Pollyanna Company". Mother kept the dairy of the trip, starting with September 16, 1918. Billy would have been about 6 years old. Was Billy a singer and dancer? Probably. But she describes him as a "little actor" and in the diary there is a litho photo from the Orpheum which may show the kids in the play. He would be about 6 or 7 years of age. The last diary entry was March 6, 1919 in San Francisco. She carefuly notes the hotels, and the room numbers, and the various sites nad happenings. For example, they played the Orpheum and mother and son went to see Mary Pickford in "Johanna Enlists". She didn't like it much. What a grueling trip for a little boy and mama, through the south to Florida then out West. About 50 pp in the diary. The diary itself is in faux elephant skin leather.

Older Boy

The photo album provides images of Billy as an older boy. We see him in his graduation suit when he finished at Brooklyn Bensonhurst PS #128 (1922). This may have been an elementary school with classes through grades 8. He is holding his graduation certificate. He is wearing a dark knickers suit, probably navy blue. He wears knee socks with above the knee knickers rather thn long stockings. We see some exanples of this at the time, but usully younger boys and not commonly formal events like a graduation portrait. He has his hair combed swept back, a popular style at the time, And we also see him as an older teenager in high school (1927).

Created: 4:52 AM 7/9/2011
Last edited: 4:52 AM 7/9/2011