Figure 1.--These two brothers war identical double-breasred suits ith long pants. The boys look about 8-10 years of age. The rather primitive CDV portarit was taken by Prof. Jenkins in Galt, Ontario. It is dated on the back 1874-78, presumably by a family member several years after the portrait was taken based on the boys' ages.

We have no information on Canadian suits until the 19th century HBC has some limited information on Canadian boys' suits in the 19th century, although very little on the early-19th century. We believe that Canadian boys wore English style suits in the 19th century. We are less sure about American influences. This may have varied regionally. Unlike America, we see realtively few Dags and Ambros (1840s-50s). We note cut-away jackets in the mid-19th century. Only with the advent of CDVs (1860s) do we begin to see any substantial numbers of images on which we can base a photographic record. Two brothers here had matching home-made jackets (figure 1). Jackets often buttoned at the collar with only a small white shirt collar showing. We note both single- and double-breasted jackets. Through the 1870s we mostly see long pants suits. And much fancier suits with shortened-length pants for the younger boys in the late-19th century, including Fauntleroy suits. Eton suits were popular in the late-19th century for school-age boys. Many boys wore knee pants suits by the 1890s. We also see knickers suits which were more poopular in England than America. Our archive on which we can develop 19th century trends, however, is still very limited.

Created: 12:05 AM 8/21/2013
Last updated: 12:05 AM 8/21/2013