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The United States before the Civil War (1861-65) was still a largely agricultural country. America's exports were diminated by cotton. After the War America emerged as an industrial dynamo. That change began to be felt in the 1870s as American industry began to create wealth that would have been unimaginable before the War. This affected the life styles and the clothing of the expanding American middleclass. Younger boys still wore dresses. We note kilt suits were also very common. We also begin to see sailor suits. The knee pants suits we note in the 1860s become incrwasingly popular in the 1870s, although long pants are still common.
A HBC reader has provided us a portrait of his family, the Wesley W. Tucker Family. He tells us, "We are pretty sure it was taken during 1873-74 as only one of the children has a spouse in the photo and we know the dates of the marriages. Earlier there would have been no spouse for any children, later there would be spouses of the others. Also, from family Bible we know all the birthdates of the children. The father was probably a Confederate war veteran, farmer, and later railroad worker. The picture was probably taken in Decherd, Franklin County, Tennessee. From left to right- front row Wesley W. Tucker - (age 55)
boy on his lap is Wesley Jr. (age 9). You can clearly see his outfit clearly. The next boy (blurred) is Robert M. Tucker (age 11) (my great grandfather). Back row are older brothers Benjamin (age 23) and David (age 21)."
Here we have the children of what looks to be an affluent family. Tere are five children, three boys and two girls. All we know for sure is that the family was from Ohio. We would guess that the portrait was taken in the 1870s, but the early 80s is possible. We think it is frm the 1870s fr a variety of reasons. Note the older boys wears a stock rathar than a tie and stocks were not very stlish by the 1880s. Also note the younger boy's long knee pants and small bow. Both of these seem more appropriate to the 1870s and the 80s.
This cabinet card portrait shows four unidentified children who look to be about 4-13 years old. There are three boys and a girl. The children have freckles, something that often does not show up in 19th century photogrphy. This suggests the family comes from northern Europe, probably Ireland, Scotland, or Scndinavia. The youngest boy wears a fairly standard kilt suit with a cut-aay jacket. Notice the ptterne material used for the collar and cuff. The kilt has a front pannel with two columns of buttons. The two older boys wear lapel sack suits with long pants. The seated boy has a rather loud patterned suit. His older brother lokks to have a lpel jcket, but with cut-away styling. This is rather unusual, because the cut-away styling was normally for younger boys. Their sister wears a stylish dress. It has amall ruffled collar and a jacket top with a vest look. Notice the hem is just at the knee and worn with long stockings. Women at the time wore dresses that covered the ankles. The portrait is undated, but almost certainly dates to he 1870s. The long pants and stocks rather than bows are good indicators. The studio was Rogers in Wichita, Kansas.
Here we do not have a lot of informatioj to fo on. It is a CDV with rounded corners and no ruling which suggests the 1870s rather than the 60s. By the 80s, CDVs has become less common. The stroped stockings are a good 1870s indicator. Unfortuntely there is no studio information so we do not know the state where the portrait was taken. There looks to be five older children and one younger child about 6 years old. We can not determine the gender, but the child hs short hair. Girls at the time might have short hair and we do npt have a high-quality scan. Unfortunately this makes it difficult to get a good view if the child and the hair which often provides some clues. The dress has a tiered skirt and the child wears pantalettes and striped stockings.
This CDV portrit shows three brothers in Worcester Massachusetts, probably in the 1870s. Both the fashions and the CDV suggest the 1870s. Unlike Europe most American photgraphers switched to cabinent cards in the 1870s. American CDVs are relatively rare by the 1880s. The photographer was A.F. Daniels. The children are not identifitied, but they certainly look like brothers. Girls could have short haor cuts, but cuts with the ears so prominent were not very common. The dealer writes, "This listing is for one original Carte De Visite photo of three little boys from Worcester, Mass. Can't you just hear the argument that morning in the house between the mother and these boys, trying to convince them to wear dresses and large straw hats to make a better picture? Too funny." He is of course inposing 21st century sensibilities on the 1870s, but these boys are of an age that you would think they would be begn to object to wearing dresses, even in the 1870s.
This portrait is undated. We think it may have been taken in the 1870s, although the early 80s is also possible. Hopefully a reader who knows more about dresses will provide a more accurate estimate. All we know or sure is that the portrait was taken in St. Louis. The portrait shows a mother with her son or daughter, we are not sure which. The dresses seem to be the same color, but I am not sure what volor. The styling is different. the child's drss seems to have a smll cut-away dress. Both mother and child seem to have the same bauble on a necklace.
This cabinet card portrait shows mom and dad and their four children. They look to be a well-to-do middle-class family. They are all fashionably, if somewhat plainly dressed. The girls in the back look like older teens, wearing identical hour-glass dresses. We might say the early-20s, but young women would be less likely to wear identical dresses. Their brother is much taller, but looks to be a teenager. He wears a vested sack suit with small lapels. Their little brother is much younger, perhaps 5 years old. He wears kilt suit with velvet trim and holds a doll. He has a center part, only slightly off center. Center parts are a good gender indicayor, usually indicating girls. Girls did not, however, wear kilt suits. We believe that the portrait was taken in the 1870s, but we are not at all sure. The whicker furniture often inducates the 1890s, but the clothing dies not look rught to us for the 90s. The girls' dresses are probanly the besr indicator, but we are not well versed in faing desses. Perhaps reader will hve some insights into the chronology of dress styles. The studio was Leisenrings in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa.
We see what is clearly a substantial family of eight having their portrait taken outdoors. Unfotrunately it is a tin-type portrait so no information accompanies it such as studio and location. It is also undated, but we would date it to the 1870s. We see mother and father and six others, presumably the couple's children. It is possibly the yhe yoddler was a child of the older daughter who may be married. They look to range from about 3 years to the late teens or possibly early-20s. Father anbd the boys wear bowler hats. The boys look to be tenagers and wear similar long pants suits. Only the shirts and neckwear are different. The straw hats mother an the girls wear are interesting. The girls all wear white dresses. This is interesting because there are so few outdoor American portraits. We see some in Britain, but not too many in America. We are guessing that the family had the where-with-all to hire a pohotographer to work outside the studio.
No one ever questioned the bravery of Confederate Genera John Bell Hood, but his command of the Army of Tennessee is often judged a disaster for the Confederacy. After the War, Hood moved to New Orleans and had some success in business. He fathered a large family, although our information is very limited. He married Anna Marie Hennen, a New Orleans native (April 30, 1868). We have no information on her background at this time. The marriage was apparently successful and with business success, the Hood family prospered. Over 11 years of marriage, they had eleven children which included three sets of twins. Hood died of yellow fever (August 30, 1879). His wife and eldest child died as a result of the epidemic as well. The epidemic ruined Hood finacially. The ten surviving children were left orphans and destitute. They were adopted by seven different families in Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, and New York. We have no information at this time on what became of the children.
Families tended to be large in the 19th century. This was especially true in rural areas. We begin to see smaller families in the cities and this is an example. There may well be more children to come, but given the prents age, we suspect that this may not be a large family. The boy looks about 5 years old. Worcester was a manufacturing city. Father looks like he may a manager in an industrial concern. The style of the mount suggests the 1870s to us. Unfortunately the cabient card portrait is undated. Hopefully readers will be able to assess the mother's dress. The boys plaid skilt outfit looks rather like the 1870s ton us, but the floppy bow was more common in the 1880s. So the portrait could easily have been taken in the early-80s. Kilt suits were popular for boys in the 1870s-90s, but this boy wears a blouse and skirt and not a kilt suit. Note how mother has chosen a plaid material, but there is no kilt styling on the skirt.
This is fascinating Boston studio portrait meant to recreate a scene in the home parlor. This is very rare in the 19th century phoyographic record. Most studio portraits are fairly stiff images of the subjects simply facing the camera. Here the children are meant to display how an eening at home may have been spent. Just how realistic the representaion is we ae unsure, but suspect it may suggest what may have taken place in a formal Victorian family parlor. The older boy is plying a violin. The younger children are dancing. There are three unidentified children aged about 3-9years of age. The look to be two boys and a girl, but we suspect tht they are actually three brothers. The older boy wears an Eton collar and knee pants suit. The jacket is a little unusual, it seems to have a diagonal cut which we do not usually see in jackets at the time. We notice this diagonal cut more on tunics. His younger brother has long hair and wears a velvet suit. Their younger sibling wear a kilt suit rather than a dress whch is why we think the child is a boy. Note the lace trim. The portrait is undated, but the medals the studio was awarded date up to 1876. This suggests the portrait was taken in the late-70s or early-80s.
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