Figure 1.--This CDV shows a German boy wearing a tam with a stylish sailor suit and high collar. Notice the large pom and streamer. The sailor suit has an open jacket held in place by a band. The portrait is undated, but looks like it was taken about 1890. The studio was O. Scholtz in Labes I/P (in Pomerania).

We notice a number of German boys wearing tams with sailor suits. Berets were not very common. Tams were not the most common headwear with sailor suits, but based on the photographic record, they were clearly not rare. Tams and berets might be considered a type of cap, but s there is no peak or bill, they are strictly speaking not caps. The tams we see being worn are almost entirely in the 19th century. We believe that they were seen as a sailor style in the 19th century. American and British readers may not see them as a sailor style, but French sailors did wear tanms with a pom. We believe this is why some German boys wore tams sailor suits. The tams commonly had poms and stremers. At the time, until the turn-of-the 20th century, Germany did not have aarge navy, thus British and French naval styles were influential. We are not yet sure abiout the gender conventions.

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Created: 5:39 AM 8/5/2011
Last uopdated: 5:41 AM 8/5/2011