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Children in the early-1910s dressed much as they did in the 1900s. The convention of younger boys wearing dressess was decling, except perhps for boys from walthy families. We see some boys wearing tunics, but this was much less common than in America. We also see afew boys wearing kilts. School caps were ubiquatous. Younger boys wore sailor suits, but they were not as common as in Germany. Fauntleroy vsuits were going out of style. We see many boys wearing Eton and other stiff collars. We see mostly narrow ties. Most boys still wore suits. Norfolk suits wee still very commonly. Jerseys looking rather like turtle-neck sweaters seem common for casual wear. We see more boys wearing what might be called short pants, although the shorts were still rather long. Shortened-length pants begin looking more like shorts than knee pants. Here Baden-Powell's Boy Scouts probably had an influence. Shorts seem more common, but porimarily because boys were cuffing their socks below the knee. And we still see high-top shoes. We are not sure just when sandals first appeared, but we do not yet note them in the 1910s. We do not yet know a great deal about girls' dresses, except that they were fir the most part the only garment orn by girls. We see a lot of white dresses and hair bows. Of course the disaster of World War I began during the decade (1914) and dominated the rest of the decade. . By necesity we begin to see a shift from formal to more casual styles.
Here we see the children of what looks to us like a typical middle-class family (figure 1). The family is unidentified, but there are three children who look to us to be about 5-10 years of age. The younger boy weas a sailor suit with a white V-collar front along with short pants and knee socks. Quite a number of younger English boys wore sailor suits, but unlike Germany we see fewer boys aftr about age 8 years wearing them. This is the pattern we see here. The difference probbly relted in part to the fact that boys began going away to boarding school at about 8 years of age. The girl wears a white dress and hair bow, Their older brother wears a Norfolk suit an Eton collar with short pants or knickers. The postcard-back portrait is undated, but looks to uslike it was taken in the early-1910s. We are not sure about the date range of Van-Ralty post card portraits, but have seen them in the 1910s and 20s. I think Van-Ralty was a studio.
Here we have a family portrait contributed by a reader. Iy vwas taken in a home rather than a studio portrait. The portait is undated, but we would guess was taken in the 1910s based on the hair styles and clothing. In adduriin, home portraits were not very common in the 1890s. We are guessing this is a work of a studio which did home work or an itinerant photographer. We note quite a few hime potyraits after the turn-of-the-20th century, most, however were taken outside the home because of the lighting and slow emulsions of the film. The inside of the home looks to us like a lower-middle-class or a working class famoly, albeit a prosperous one. There are thee children who look goi be about 5-10 years old, two girls and a boy. The girks wear white dresses. The biy wears a white sailor suit. We assume that the family was English, but they could be Iriush.
We see an unidentifed portrait of an English boy and his little sister on the previou page. The portrait is undated, but we believe was probably taken in the early 1910s. (Dating these old photographs is tricky, it could just as easily been the late 1900s.) The boy looks to be about 12-13 years old. He wears a three-piece suit, although because of the high lapels you can barely see the vest. He wers a stiff collar, although it doest seem to be an Eton collar (note that the points are somedwhat rounded). The suit has knee pants (note the three ornamental buttons at the hem) with long ribbed stockings and high-top shoes. His little sister wears a hairbow and white dress. Notice the matching patalettes.
This white border photograph while not a cabinet card, looks to have been take by a professional photographer. He has the seven kids all lined up behind mother. There is an older teenager, perhaps about 18 years old. She wears a blouse and skirt. We don't see this much in the 19th century. The rest of the children are closer in age, about 2-14 years old. Mom and the girls wear white dresses. I think the girls may be wearing pinafores, but itbis difficult to tell for sure. The boys wear knicker suits with Eton collars. The younger boy has a small bow. All the children and mother wear black long stockings. The most interesting part of the photograph is surely the headwear. They are all wearing hats. The girls all wear wide-brimmed hats. Mother and the older teens wear decorated hats. The girls wear plainer hats. Noticed the down-turned brims--that is a characteristic 1910s style. Both boys wear rounded-crown hats, a style going out of fashion at the time. Presumably the are posed in front of their home, but it doesn't look much like a house.
Michael Holroyd has written a wonderful book about his father's family in the 1910s. His father Kenneth had a younger brother Basil and an older sister. This delightful book includes amusing glimses of ecentric relatives. It is just me are do English families seem to be especially well endowed with delightful ecentrics. Holroyd is of course a well-respected biographer (Lytton Strachey, Augustus John and, George Bernard Shaw). And for a writer, a nutty family is a gold mind of potential material. He begins the book by admitting that his literary career has been in part an effort to distance himself from his relatives. He tells us, "My career as a biographer probably arose from my need to escape from family involvements and immerse myself in other people's lives." It is always fascinating to look at parents to see how their background has influenced the children. The Holroyds were not a typical English family. In fact, they were only half English.
This large-sized cabinet card was sent as a New Years Card to friends. Tere ia a message ob the back showing who sent it, but the writing is very difficult to read. The family name looks something like Reinard. They look to us to be a comfortable working-class family. The portait sems to have been taken by an itinerate photograoher just outside their front door. The home eems like more of a working-class than a middle-class home. The portrait show mother sith three children, two girls and a boy. They look to be about 5-13 years old. Apparently dad was at work. The girls wear matching velvet dresses with embroidered trim and hood-like bonnets. The boy ers a Norgolk suit with a Eton collar and knicker pants. English boys at the time wore both knee pants and knickers. We younger boys wearing short pants in the 1910s, but boys of theage of the boys here were more likely to wear knickers. All three children wear dark long stockings.
This studio portrair shows the W. Ribers family, probably from Birmingham, a huge city. We see mother and father and their three children who look to be about 3-11 years old. The children are all emaculsately done up with for the portrait with their hair combed. Baby sister wears a white dress and twin hair bows. The boys wear lapel jacked suits, both single and double breasted jackets. The younger boy has a kind of sailor collar and short pants. The older boy has a tie and smart Eton collar. He seems to be wearing knickers. Mother with beautiful hand writing has written on the postcard back, "With all good wishes from W., Roberts family, October 1914." The Studio was McLucas & Co which had studios in Birmingham and Llanelly, a small town in southern Wales. .
This postcard-back studio portrait shows three unidentified children, two boys and a irl. They look to be about 4-11 years old. They were photographed in Silloth (Silloth-on-Solway), a port town okn the Irish Sea in Cumbria, northern England. The older boys wears a short pants suit with knee socks. The knee socks have the destinctive patterned turn-over-tops popular at the time. Sister wears a heavy winter dress with a large pointed collar and a belt. She has long stockins which persiated as girls' wear a little lonher than before boys. Their little brothr wears a white short pants sailor suit with white ankle socks. The older children wear high-top shoes. The younger child wears low-cut shoes. The studio photographer was Annie R. Gibb of Silloth. Miss Gibb is known primarily for her touching portraits of servicemen being deployed in World War I. The dealer suggests the portrait was taken 1n 1915. I think that is an estimate, but it does look like it was taken in the 1910s, probably the late or mid-1910s.
A reader tells us, "The small boy sitting on the running board is the son of the parents in the car - The Rev. Edgar and Mrs Vigar. The boy was born in 1906. He was cousin and great playmate of my friend. The the picture dates from about 1916. Taken in Cornwall. The car is a Darracq. The Rev was a colourful character, as was his wife. Not long after the photo was taken he had a liasion with the lady organist. My friend who often stayed with them tells me that the 1st wife's mission in life was to get him to smoke. She even light-up in church one day. I think the car dates from about 1906, was was not new. Cornwall is a county with many narrow roads and steep hills. The only way Uncle Edgar could drive up the hills was backwards, as revearse was the lowest gear. A nice bit of eccentric England."
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