Caps are a complicated category because they are so many different styles. An issue here is that we are not always able to find names for all of them. Our approch here is to describe the characteristics until we find a proper name. As with mny styles for men and boys' wear, here is a military influence with some cap styles. We see both army and sailor styles, although the sailor styles were the most popular. Popular usage does not always follow the precise definition even if one exists. The cap is strictly speaking, headwear with a partial brim. Normally this means a front brim or bill, sometimes called a peak. Coloquially, we note the term cap used for a variety of often informal headwear without brims, such as stocking caps. Sometimes berets and tams are also included as types of caps. The cap is the headwear most associated with boys and is generally seen as an informal type of headwear. Scottish styles are all called caps, although sometimes bonnets, even though there is no brim. Much of our information begins with the mid-19th century when photography was invented. The two most importnt styles have been the sailor cap, itself done in different styles, and the school cap. Sailor cops had a sivil-class dimenion. Peaked school caps were worn by boys of all social classes. The flat cap was also importnt, niy not nearly s iumportnt as in America.

Balaclava

The balaclava was a kind of extended knit ski or stocking cap which covered the whole head and had eye and mouth openings. It was worn in England and evolved out of mid-19th century the Crimean War. I am not sure when they were first worn by children in either England or America. The balaclava never seems to have been very popular in America. I'm not sure why this was, because the weather is colder during the winter in America than in England and thus would seem more appropriate. We have seen them in America, but not very commonly. They seem more common for bank robbers beginning in the 1970s than for kids. Of course the balaclava is probably not very well represented in the photographic record. After all, who but bank robbers want their photograph taken in a balaclava.

Figure 1.--Here we see a CDV-portrait with three unidentified English brothers. The boys are all dressed alike with small collrs, jerseys (sweaters), knee pants, and long stockings. Curiously their headwear differs. They all wear Sciottish bonnets, but for some reasons two wear balmorals and one a gelengary. The studio was Jackson in Oldham.

Balmorals

The Balmoral is a traditional Scottish cap--refrred to as a bonnet in Scotland. It was once rerred to as the Kilmarnock bonnet. It looks to us a basically a tam ot tam o'shanter. The name probably changed after Prince Albert purchased the Nalmoral estate for Queen Victoria. It is worn with both formal and informal Higland kilt outfits. It was also worn with non-Scottish outfits, mostly dress outfits. With Highland outfits, the Balmoral was traditionall worn with an eagle feather. It was one of two Scottish bonnets. The Glengary seem to have been the most popular. There are indications that the Balmoral to the 16th centyry, perhaps earlier. We are not sure, however, when they were first worn in England. We see them in mid-19th century in early photographic images. The Balmporal can be done in knitted amterial or soft wool with a flatish crown. Early Balmorals often had voluminous crowns. We still see this in the 19th entury. Modern Balmorals are more modest affairs. They can be done in various colors, but dark blue, black, or lovat green are the most common. Streamer ribbons are attached to the back of the band . The head band was originally used to secure the bonnet tightly, but are more decorative in modern caps. Streamer reasons are often worn hanging from the back of the cap. More formal Balmorals might hv a regimental or clan badge on the left side. They are pinned toa a silk or grosgrain ribbon cockade, commonly done in black, red, or white. The Balmoral and Glengarry is coonly worn cocked to the right to display these emblems. This became conventiona; so that even Balmorals without the emblems are worn in this way. The center of the crown featured a pom calld a toorie, traditionally done in red--perhaps a French influence. We se them with a diced bandm but this is more Scottlish Highland or militry Balmporals rather than English boys' wear.

Baseball Caps

The baseball cap of course is an American style. The origins are surely English with the peaked caos worn for cricket. American boys despite the popularity of baseball did not began to commonly wearing the caps until the 1950s. They were almost never seen off the baseball field before the 50s. We never see them inEngland until well after World war II. We first saw them in England during the early-80s. When we saw Arthur Scargale's coal mners weaing them, we knew a fahion shift was taking place. Then we began seeing boys wearing them. They are now quite commonly worn in Britain for casual wear.

Figure 2.--Here we see an English boy fishing sometime in the late-19th century. He is wearing deerstalker cap, sometimes called a Sherlock Holmes cap. It was more of an adult than boy's cap.

Bierrta

A bierttas is a quadrangle- or triangular shaped headgear with three or four 'horns'. Some times the horns are more apparent than on others. And in appearance it can look rather round. The name is close to beret and probably derived from it. The biertta is worn by clergy, primarily Catholic, but also Anglican and Luthern clerics. It is made from materials such as tropics or cashmere, meaning breathable materials, largelh natural fabrics. There is often a pom on top. They are usully black. We have noted a red pom. Red bierttas are pribably for cardinals. This is not a cap normally worn by boys, but we do see boys wearing them in the photograpic record. An unidentified boy on a penny farthing, we think in the 1880s is a good exmple. He may be an altar boy.

Brimless Caps

Caps are headwear with partial brims. We are including this brimless headwear basically so as to not over complicate the headwear categiories. We are not sure what to call these caps. They must have had some kind of name in the 19th century when we see them being worn. They look like pillbox caps, but were very plain soft caps. They are similar to smoking caps, but not highly decorated and without tassseles. Unlike smoking caps, they were worn outdoors. They werecalmost always worn with suits. They all seem to be dark colors. We see them in the late 19th century, we see them mostly in the 1870s-80s a time during which pill-box caps were popular. We are not sure of the purpose, but they would keep the head warm. They were nit a partiucularly popular style, but we do see a number of examples in the phtographic record. We have also noted American boys wearing them.

Deerstalker

The deerstalker cap is headwear commony used for outdoor activities like hiking and hunting. The later is how the name dearstalker became associated with the cap. The cap today is not commonly worn and is primarily associated with the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. Some even refer to it as a Sherlock Holmes cap. It is commonly done in neutral colors that might blend in with foliage. It is a cloth cap, normally a wool tweed. The most destinguishing feature is a twin front and back peak or bill. We are not sure why it had twin bills, there seems to be little practical use for this although the back bill would provide some protection from sun and rain for the back of the neck. We believe it developed as a civilian cloth version of the Crimean War Balaclava helmet, with its twin visors. Paired with the twin visors were a pair of unstiffened cloth earflaps attached to the sides of the cap. These were tied together at the crown by grosgrain ribbons or laces. The earflaps when released could be tied together under the chin, keeping the ears warm in cold weather. This was not a boys' cap, but worn by adults. We do see a few boys wearing them, we think at about the time the Holmes association developed.

Fez

The fez was a slkightly conical brimless headwear. It wa a Middle Eaastrn garment, especially Ottoman. It was worn in the West as part of military uniforms, especially Zouave uniforms. It was also worn with smoking jackets. English boys might have won as part of fancy dress costumes. We notice boys wering Zouave outfits.

Figure 3.--We see English bys wearing flat caps in the early-20th century, alkthough peake school cos were much more common. This snapshot looks to hsve been taken about 1920.

Flat Caps

English boys wore various styles of flat caps. We are not sure about the chronology. We see a few boys wearing flkat cps during the 19th century, but mostly in he 890s. We see them mostly in the early-20th century, but our 19th century English archive is still limited. Flat caps were first worn by adults. There seem to have been social-class conventions associated with these caps. They seem to have been most common with working-class boys. The social class conventions may have varied chronologically. Boys seem to have worn the traditional school caps more commonly to school. This is probably the primary reason that flat caps were not more common in England. Private schools had uniforms which required the peaked school caps. We have only noted one prep school where flat caps were worn. We also notice at state schools that when boys wore caps, it was usually the peaked school cap style rather than flat caps. I think there must have been school regulations enforced here. We see flat caps more commonly worn outside of school. Also they were more common for boys above primary school age. They were also worn in a more fashionable sence by men for country and golf wear. We notice different styles of these caps. Some were quite flat like the boy here (figure ?) Others on the other hnd had more rounded crowns that look anything but flat. This is a little diificult to asess with just a photograph. Many of the caps came with a snap to attach the crown area to the brim. If the sNap was not connected, it made the cap look very different.

Figure 4.--This unidentified English boy wears a glenagry with a stanfard knee pants suit fir a cabinet card portrait along with his pooch. It is a Scottish style, but we see English boys wearng them. The portrait is undated, but looks like the 1890s to us. The studio looks like D. Mitchell in Blackpool. The studio wa located on the South Pier so the fmily my be vacationers.

Glengaries

Glengaries are normally seen as a Scottish cap style. Because of the association with Scotland, they were often worn with kilts. This was, however, not always the case, even in Scotland. Kilts were not all that common in Englnd. So we see more boys wearing Glengaries with other outfits than kilts. We note portraits of English boys wearing glengaries with many different outfits. We are not sure how common this was, but we have found quite afew examples in the photographic record. We have a feeling it was a style popular with middle-class families in comfortable circumtances. We do not see working-class boys commonly wearing them. Glengaries were done with many small stylish variations. We see all-black Glenagrries as well as some wih colored decorations. Checkerboard side trim was popular. Thy were commonly worn wih decorative rosette cockades. Most of the portraits with boys wearing Glengarries are from the 19th century. They may have been worn by boys with Scottish family connections. More likely may have been that the Queen Victoria and the Royal fanily had made Scottish styles popular. Unfortunately we have very few English photographs from the 1840s and 50s. We do begin ro see Glengarries in the English photographic record in the 1860s. We are not sure just when the portrait here was taken, but the 1870s seems likely. We do note English boy, John Montagu Slopford wearing a Glengarry in London during 1871.

Mortar Boards

This is another school style worn at some private schools. It is a style that appeared in the moddle ages, in part because universities were initially founded and run by the Church. Depending on the school, bith boys and masters wore them. We see it in the mid- and lste-19th century because of photography. It may have been worn earlier. It declined in the 20th century, persisting in some conservtive schools. It continues to be wiorn in universities for forml occsssuons.

Oliver Twist Caps

The Oliver Twist cap was a peaked military style. Oliver Twist caps were popular in the early-19th century after the Napoleonic Wars. They were related to the peaked military cap wiorn during the Naopoleonic Wars. Charles Dickens published Oliver Twist (1837-38). By this time what we call Oliver Twist caps were decling in popularity, but notably modern books and films commonly depict Oliver wearing this style cap. These caps tend to be done in a soft material with a hard peak or brim. We do not have many images, because the style had begun to decline in popularity before the invention of photography (1839). If photograophy had been invented a decade or two earlier, we think there would have been many more examples in the photographic record.

Figure 5.--The peaked school cap appeared in the mid-19th century. It was almost universal for English boys in the first half of the 20th century. Here a boy, probably in the early 1930s, even wears a school cap to what looks like a picnic outing, apparently near a river or lake.

Peaked School Caps

The peaked cap is a rounded crown cap, rather like a skull cap, but with a smal peak (or bill) at the front. British styles are notable for the small size of the peak. Unlike a baseball cap, the small size of the peak meant that it was not designed to shade the eyes. (This was also the case of 19h century baseball caps.) Rather it seems more designed to proivide a handel needed for boys when they needed to tip their caps. We see the cap appearing in the mid-19th century, we believe at private schools in England. We think it may have first been worn as a games cap. The peaked cap grew in popularity during the late 19th century. By the late-19th century it was the primary cap style worn by English boys both in and out of school. This continued in the early 20th century. The flat cap that was so popular in America, was never as widely worn by boys in England where it was seen as nore of a workingman's cap than a boys' cap. It was worn by boys going to both private and sate schools. We note numerous photographs before the 1950s, however, with boys wearing peaked caps as a kind of casual cap even when not at school as part of school uniform. These caps have no school crest in front. In many cases the boys involved may not have had large wardrobes and these could be the only caps they owned. The cap rapidly declned in ppularily after World War II (1939-45), especially in the 1950s. Today the peaked cap is primarily seen as a school style as well as the style of the traditional Cub cap. Today the peaked cap has virtually disappered in England. Cubs no longer wear them, They are, however, still worn at afew private preparatory schools.

Figure 6.--This boy is identified as Willie. He wears a peaked militry style cap, in this case slightly coinical. Notice the belt ovr the suit jacket, another military touch. The studio was Legood in Lewisham, Kent.

Peaked Military Caps

English boys like German boys wore peaked military caps. They seem to be identical to caps worn by the military. We believe both the Army and Navy used these caps. We see some boys wearing them tunics, sailor suits, cut-away jackets and other outfits. Some boys wore them to school at mid-century, but we do not know if any school adopted them as part of a required uniform. They were not as common in England as in Germany. Boys in England were much more likely to wear sailor caps or hats with their sailor suits. We have, however, noted a few images of English boys with these peaked militart caps. The English caps don't seem to have been more stiff and taller than the German caps. We do not yet know the precise chronology, because our archive is fairly limited. We do notice boys wearing themn in the 1850s and 60s, the believe the time span is much wider. We are not sure what the age conventions were, but believe they were primarily school-age boys.

Pill Box Caps

Pill box caps were a military style that appeared in the mid-19th century. We believe that they were worn by sime boys. We do not see many boys wearing them, but our 19th century English archive is limited. W are not entireky sure about the chronology, but believe they were primarily worn wduring the mid- and late-19th century. Some seem to have orgabizational connections. The most obvious here are Boy' Brigade uniforms that appeared in the late-19th century. As far as we know, no schools adopted them as part of the uniform. The only 20th century examples we have found have been with Boys' Brigade uniforms.

Figure 7.--Here we see three unidentified children in Hartlepool about 1900. The boys are dressed identically with sailor caps and side streamers. It was in England that boys and some girls began wearing sailor caps. they were popular style with mostly upper-and middle class children for decades.

Sailor Caps

The British royal family introduced the idea of boys wearing sailor suits when Prince Bertie had his portrait painted by Winterhalter wearing a Royal Navy sailor uniform in 1846. It seemed to mske a real connctiin ith the British public, in port becuse a ratings uniform was chosen. Notice that Berie is wearing a sailor hat. As far as we know there were no sailor caps in use t the time. at the time. Actually uniforms for ratings (enlisted men) were not common at the time. The Admiralty did not establish a uniform for ratings until a decade earlier (1857). Actually the Winterhalter portrait n Prince Bertie probably promoted the uniform idea. Individual captains adopted uniforms before that, but in 1857 uniform regulations were adopted for the service. Gradually boys began wearing sailor caps as well. The initial inspiration was Royal Navy uniforms. We are not sure when the first caps appeared, probably when the first uniform was adopted or shortly after (1860s). Or 19th century English archive is limited so we do not yet have a good idea as to early styles. We believe they basically followed Royal Navy trends chrnologically and stylistically. This was just the case for caps. Ratings except at mid-century did not wear hats. The sailor hat became a child's garment. From an early point, only officers wore hats. We are not sure when boys begn wearing sailor caps. We think in the 1860s. We think it was soon after camps were introduced by the Admirlty for Royl Navy uniforms. There were many popular styles of sailor caps. The caps seem more diverse than the hats. The large number of sailor styles were in part due to the long period in which sailor fashions were popular for boys, about 100 years. There were sailor caps with flat tops, soft crowns, tams, stocking caps, and other styles. The styles usually followed the standard uniform styles of the Royal Navy, but some like tams were specifically for children. We note sailor cps almost always being orn with sailor suits. This sounds obvious, but in Europe we note sailor acps sometimes being worn with non-sailor caps. This probably did not occur because the peaked school cap was so commonly worn during much of the era in which sailor caps were worn. Sailor caps were mostly worn by boys. Girls wearing sailor dresses often wore hats.

Smoking Caps

Smoking caps were brimless caps often with tassels worn by well-to-do men informally at home so their hair did not smell of tobacco. Boys of course did not wear smoking caps because they did not smoke, except perhaps for a for a few pretenious older teens. And smoking caps would have only been worn by boys from relatively well-to-do families. While we do not see smoking caps, we do see some boys wearing less decoraed brimless caps

Figure 8.--This little boy wears a fancy sailor suit with a big stripey bow and floppy stocking cap with a tassle to match. He's holding onto a ship's rigging, which since the studio was in Southampton, one of England's great sea ports, is not a surprise. We would guess it was taken in the 1880s or early-90s.

Stocking Caps

We also note English boys wearing knit stocking caps. Some in England call them "wooly caps". They do not seem to be nearly as popular as in many other countries. But our information here is limited. This seems to have been basically a casual cold-weather style. We note at least a few boys wearing these stocking caps with sailor suits. Striped stocking caps were considered stylish with sailor suits. We note different styles of stocking caps. Some were elongated and had tassles or poms.

Tams

A tam or Tam O'Shanter is a kind of over sized beret. It is associated with Scotland, but was worn by both girls and younger boys in England. They seem to have been more popular for girls than boys, in part because while younger bots and girls wore them, only younger girls wore them. We see various styles and sizes. Some look more like caps than berets. We see an example here. The boy wears a white tam with a feather. They were worn with a wide variety of outfits.

Created: 7:49 PM 11/2/2018
Last updated: 11:23 AM 11/17/2023