Figure 1.--These boys are fish cutters in the Seacoast Canning Co., Factory #7. Their ages range from 7 to 12 years. The boys live near the factory. The boy in front is on;y 7 years old is Byron Hamilton. He has a badly cut finger, but helps his brother regularly. The photographer was Lewis Hine who documented child labor in the early-20th century.

There may have been a upper-class association with these caps when they first appeared. They were initually a Britiosh import, but the caps were not widely worn in the 1880s abd early-90s. We see more boys wearing them in the late-1890s. We begin to see American boys wearing these caps in any number around the turn-of-the 20th century, By this time there does not seem to have been any social class connotations associated with them. The group of boys on the precious page is a good example. They look to be boys from fairly average circumstances. We note a lot of images of working boys wearing these caps along with other styles in the 1900s and early-1910s. Here we see boys working as fish cutters in 1911 (figure 1). They were clearly worn by working-class boys. We also see boys from affluent families wearing them. This began to change in the 1910s, especially by the end of the decade. Most boys in the 1920s wore flat caps. Some boys continued wearing peaked caps, but most;y boys from more affluent families. A connectiin developed between peaked caps and short pants suits. The conbination was primarily worn by boys from conservative, well-to-do families. British connections were a factor here. This is apparent in the photographic record. We can also see it in Hollywood. A good example here is "Annabel Takes a Tour" (1937). Another good example is "Aunty Mame" (1958). The peaked cap with suits was a style most common with affluent families for several decades. It was considered stylish through the 1960s.

Created: 3:16 AM 5/5/2010
Last updated: 3:16 AM 5/5/2010