Figure 1.--This unidentified American boys wears an elegant sack suit done with a vest, knee pants, and dark long stockings. The lapel boutineer and gloves add to the formality. Notice the homberg hat to his right. He looks to be about 13-14 years old. The portrait is undated. The clothes and cabinet card mount style suggest the turn-of-the 20th century. Cyriously awards from European photographic competitins dated to 1873 and 1880 are noted in the back. Usually they are dropped after a few years, but this studio has retained them. The studio was J.B. Scholl in Chicago Illinois.

The homberg was a popular style created in England during the late-19th century. in the early-20th century. The homberg is a formal, stiff felt dress hat, only slightly less formal than a top hat.It was an adult style, but we notice some boys wearing them. This is not a style we very often see boys wearing. We do notice a few examples of boys wearing hombergs. The style itself did not appear outside of Germany until the late-19th century. There was a very narrow window during which boys wore hombergs. We are still working out the chronology, but at this time our preliminary assessment is the 1880s-1910s. Until this the hats boys wore were mostly rounded-crown hats and sailor hats. Most of the images of hombergs we have found seem to be from the 1890s and 1900s. Quite a few of the images come from the turn-of-the 20 century and the 1900s. The boy here is a good example from the time period that the homberg was most popular for boys (figure 1). This is a little difficult to be precise about because most of the images we have found are undated photographs for which we have had to estimate the dates. We do not see American boys wearing hombergs after World War I. Hats in general declined in popularity for boys.

Creation

The homberg was a popular style appearing in Germany during the 19th century. Here Engklish King Edward VII helped populariize the style when he wore one after a trip to German (1880s). Edward was a a cloyhes horse. He took fashion very seriously. And what he wore had a major impact on populsr fashion. The homberg is a formal, stiff felt dress hat, only slightly less formal than a top hat. It was a major adult style at the time tht hats were commonly worn. This was the case thriugh the 1950s. For some reason the himberg and otyher hats rapidly wnt out of style (1960s).

Prevalence

While the homberg was an adult style, we notice some boys wearing them. This is not a style, howevrer, we very often see boys wearing. We do notice a few examples of boys wearing hombergs. Hombergs were never vert popular for American. We do not see American boys wearing hombergs after World War I. Hats in general declined in popularity for boysin the 20yth century and the stule otself dod not rech America until the 1880s.

Decades

The style itself did not appear outside of Germany until the late-19th century. There was a very narrow window during which boys wore hombergs. We are still working out the chronology, but at this time our preliminary assessment is the 1880s-1910s. Until this the hats boys wore were mostly rounded-crown hats and sailor hats. Most of the images of hombergs we have found seem to be from the 1890s and 1900s. Quite a few of the images come from the turn-of-the 20 century and the 1900s. The boy here is a good example from the time period that the homberg was most popular for boys (figure 1). This is a little difficult to be precise about because most of the images we have found are undated photographs for which we have had to estimate the dates.

Created: 4:18 AM 11/29/2013
Last updated: 4:19 AM 11/29/2013