Figure 1.--A HBC reader tells us, "I was looking through some of mu old family pictures and found this one of my grand parents with my father sitting on my grandpa's lap. Father is wearing a dress and my grandmother and aunt are to the right. Gad is now in 2003 87 years old and he looks to be about 5 years old in the picture. I thought you should have it for HBC as pictures of boys in dresses are rare, especially after World War I."

A HBC reader tells us, "I was looking through some of mu old family pictures and found this one of my grand parents with my father sitting on my grandpa's lap. Father is wearing a dress and my grandmother and aunt are to the right. Gad is now in 2003 87 years old and he looks to be about 5 years old in the picture. I thought you should have it for HBC as pictures of boys in dresses are rare, especially after World War I." -- Nancy Bingham

We would estimate that the boy is anout 3 years old, meaning the photograph was taken about 1919. Nancy is quite right that the fashion of dressing boys in dresses declined signoificantly during the 1910s, especially after World War I (1914-18). While we would not say dressing boys this age was rare, it certainly was much less common than at the beginning of the decade and was to become mich less common in the 1920s. This charming image not only shows both children in dresses, but with similar bangs hair style. Note the klarge colored ribbon the girl wears. She also wears a sailor dress, avery popular style at the time. Also notice the father's collar.

Nancy tells us, "My Dad's family originated in Ireland and came to the United States when my Grandfather was a young man. They settled in New England in Vermont and went to work farming the land . When my Grandfather grew up, he married a local lady and they settled down to continue what his father had done which was farming. I am sure they are dressed in their Sunday best clothes in the picture as farm life was very tough and money was scarce. They would have treated their clothing with great care as it was very expensive. You can tell by looking at the picture that great thought, care and money went into the dress for this photo. In spite of their meager means, their family portrait was important to them. The dress was the prelude to knickers. Dad says he can remember wearing dresses as it was the fashionable way of dress at the time. Anyway, he worked on the farm and had a paper delivery job on the side to help pay for his own expenses. Straight A's in school. Graduated at the top if his class. Won a scholarship to MIT. Graduated with honors. Wrote a book for the school to use and went on to become a Professional Engineer for General Electric and Proctor and Gamble."

Source

Bingham, Nancy. E-mail message, July 22, 2003.

Created: July 22, 2003
Last edited: July 22, 2003