Figure 1.--Here we see two brothers from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Uncle Willie and Graham wThe boys are identified as 'Uncle Willie and Graham'. The older boys wears a Norfolk knickers suit. His younger brother wearshirt and knee pants. This fashion difference and the style of the mount suggests that the portrait was taken about 1908-09. The cabinet card mount is hard gray cardboard. The style and size of the mount (7-1/2" x 5") strongly suggest the 1900s. The fabric of the older boy's suit and younger boy's tie also suggest the 1900s or very early-1910s. The portrait was taken at the Fowler studio in Philadelphia.

Knickers were not a new style for American boys in the 1900s. We see them before the 1900s. They were more common in Britain, but not very common in America until the end of the decade. The vast majority of portaits we have found during the 1900s show boys wearing knee pants and only an occasional boy wearing jknickers. Toward the end of the decade, however, we see suddenly notice quite a number of boys suddenly wearing knickers rather than knee pants. For some reason were becoming less stylish. We are not sure why this fashion change occurred at this time oe why it changed what Anmerican boys wore so quickly. This sudden shift must have beebn cimmented on in fashion magazuines and presumavly lady's magazines, but we have been unable to find any such articles yet. For the most part, however, boys mostly wore knee pants in the 1900s. The change is most observable with older boys, but by the 1910s even younger boys might be seen wearing knickers as well. Younger boys in the 1900s still mostly wore knee pants. We see these changes both in the photographic record and in the mailorder catalogs that were so common at the time.

Created: 1:53 AM 3/14/2011
Last updated: 7:18 PM 3/14/2011