** United States boys clothes : regional and demographic differences 1900s








United States Boys' Clothes: Regional and Demographic Differences (1900s)


Figure 1.--This photograph shows boys standing in front of a sporting goods store where a hunter displays his trophy. The boys look impressed and were probably keen hynters themslves. Boonsville was a small town and in Kentucky. It looks to have been similar to many small towns in the mid-West and South. The photograph was taken about 1903. Most of the boys wear knee pants and long stokings. Click on the image for an enlargemwnt.

America was a much more rural society in the late 19th and early 20th century tha it is now. Many Americans live on the farm or in small rural towns. When they dressed up they followed the same dressy styles as boys in the cities wore--although the latest styles probably took a little longer to reach rural America in the days before television. Fashion magazines and mail order catalogs made sure that rural America was never to far removed from the latest fashions. Most of the time rural boys would be likely to wear work clothes like overalls. They would often wear such clothes to school--at least elementary school. They were not called jeans at the time, and of course the idea of designer jeans could not even be conceived in the early 20th century, but Levi Straus dungaree overalls were widely worn by men and boys. The Kodak Browie and the appearance of amateur photography provide a vastly increased number of images with which to assess regional and demographic differences.

Pennsylvania: Large City (1900)

Charles Hart Spencer and his wife Mary Acheson Spenser were a prominent upper-middle-class family of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the late 1890s and early 1900s. They had seven children--two boys (Mark and Charles) and five daughters (Adeline, Kate, Ethel, Mary and Elizabeth). They were solid Presbyterians like so many other prominent citizens of Pittsburgh at the turn of the century. They lived on Amberson Avenue, one of the finer streets in the Shadyside district of Pittsburgh near the University of Pittsburgh in the East End of the city. Shadyside is (and was) a lovely area with spacious houses and tree-lined avenues, giving little sense of the industrialism, especially the steel industry, that made the city so prosperous. The present photograph was taken in July, 1900, by Mr. Spencer, the father of the children, who in his spare time was something of an amateur photographer. The family spent vacations at another large house in Marion, Masssacusetts.

Illinois: Small Town

Ernest Heminway, the noted American novelist, was born in 1898 and raised in Oak Park, Ill. His tough guy, hard boilled style had a profound influence on other American authors. In contrast to this image, he was rather a coddled child. His mother doted on him and outfitted Ernest and his older sister in identical dresses when he was a small boy and insisted he pursue cultural activities such as music lessons and singing. His father, however, encouraged him to pursue outdoor activities such as hunting and fushing. Ernest reveled in the outdoors and secretly turned the music room into a boxing ring, a step even his father would not have approved.

Missouri: Small Town (1903)

This photograph shows boys standing in front of a sporting goods store where a hunter displays his trophy. The boys look impressed and were probably keen hynters themslves. Boonsville was a small town in Mossurri. It looks to have been similar to many small towns in the mid-West and South. The photograph was taken about 1903. The boys in the photograph look to be about 12-15 years of age. The boys wear flat caps, except for one boy who wears a boater. Most of the boys wear kneepants and long stokings. One boy wears long pants.

New York: City and Suburb (1904-15)

Harold and Phyllis Fitzroy-Carrington were extensively photographed outside what is probably their home in New York in about 1904-15. A HBC contributor has a collection of nine albums of photographs that were taken by the childrens father, an enthusiastic amateur photographer. As a result, there are many charming images beside stiff, formal portraits. Their father was obviously a wealthy man. They had a New York City brick row house and they also had a country home called 'Mallowfield' at Mamaroneck. N.Y. There are approximately 100 photos in each album, many of them of Harold and his siblings playing with toys, pets, bikes etc some in swimming costumes, some playing musical instruments. The collection is a wonderful view of childhood in a wealthy New York family in the years before World War I. I believe that Harold was born about 1897 and Phyllis about 1900.

Ohio (1905- )

Many images illustrating historic boys clothes are soletary photographs, often anonamous images that do not show what the child wore when he was younger and older. A fascinating series of images from the forst few years of the 1900s are available for an Ohio boy, Lawrence Ivan Maicie. The photographs show what Lawrence wore from infanthood to about 10 yeas of age. His doting mother seems to have been particularly fond of tunics and large floppy bows. The sereies gives a good idea of the progression of styles for an American boy in the first decade of the 20th Century.

Extended Missouri Family (1907)

Many of our family images are portraits of a nuclear family, meaning the parents and children. There are also images of extended families, some of which can be quite large. This portrait shows the large Lowry family in Missouri during 1907. We know nothing about the family, but it looks to be a rural family. The family is so large, hopefully some HBC readers will know about the family and provide us some biographical details. The family portrait shows the various clothing styles being worn by all the family members. The boys almost all wear kneepants suits, except for one little boy wearing a white tunic.

Colorado: Small Town Indendence Day Celebration (1909)

Here we see people in the streets of of Lamar Colorado in 1909. Lamar was a small town in northwester Colordo. At the time nearly 3,000 people lived there. It was the county seat in a farming area. Although a small towm, it as the not populous town in the county. The people in the stree seems to be celebrating Indepedenc Day, althogh ot does nt seen to be July 4. The written date is difficult to read, but looks like July 3 or 5. We don't see many girls, but there are a lot of voys in front. The boys are looking up at the sky. Perhaps they were shooting off fire works. Some of the boys are shooting their sling shots. No PC compliant toys at the time. Notice all the different caps and hat. Virtually all the boys are wearing knickers and long stockings. It is a good indication of how prevalent knee pants were. The photograph also shows how quickly knee pants had replaced knee pants by the end of the decade. It also shows how quickly and completely knickers had replaced knee ants, even well away from the big city fashion centers.






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Created: July 9, 2003
Last updated: 10:59 PM 2/21/2017