Figure 1.-- This CDV portrait shows an unidentified English boy wearing a cut-away jacket and vest with what looks like a rounded-crown hat. He is holding a pond yacht. The CDV is not dated, but we suspdct it was taken in the 1870s or early-80s. The boy looks to be about 6-years old. The studio was S. Partington in Heywood.

Rounded crown hats had moderate brims and of ourse rounded crowns. They were also referred to as parson's hats. This as an enormously popular style in America, especially in rural areas throughout the 19th century. We are less sure how common these hats were in England because our English 19th century is much more limited. We have found some examples so we know they were worn by boys to some extent. As in America it was a 19th century style. We are less sure about girls, but belive that girls did wear them as well. Some had streamers. We are less sure about the length od the streamers. We do not know about chin straps. The examples we have found so far are dark colors, but we do not know about the actual shades, we suspdct they were mostly brown and black. We are not yet able to develop afe comventions, but suspect they were worn by boys to about 8-9 years of age.

Created: 5:45 AM 7/30/2011
Last updated: 7:21 AM 10/3/2011