Figure 1.--This portrait shows three siblings we think in the 1910s. They look to be about 1- 6 years old. The two older children wear summer tunics with matching straight leg knee pants. The outfits are completed with white long stockings and strap shoes. The studio is The Photo Shop in Nelson Studio, Manitowoc, Wisconsin.

We primarily see younger boys still wearing knee pants. Knickers were worn by boys of a wide range of ages, but knee pants very rapidly in the 1910s became worn by only younger boys. This was not the case in the 1900s when older boys still, wore knee pants, but it was by the 1910s. There were a lot of juvenile outfits like Oliver Twist suits made with knee pants for little boys. They were mostly done with button-on styling. The outfits worn by the boys here are a good example (figure 1). Thy look to be about 3 years old. There were a wide range of styling for these outfits. Sailor suits varied a bit, we see them nneing dome with both knee pants and knickers. The age ranges were primarily the toddler, pre school years, but we a few boys in the early primary years weraing them. At school outfits varied, but before the children begin 1st gradel, usually at about age 6 years, we see most younger boys still wearing knee pants rather than knickers. There were some pre-schools and kindergartens, but they were mmuch less common than today. Many of the images we have do not undicate the ages. We can not precisely assess the ages, but we are able to roughly estimate the ages to get a good basic idea. WEe inviter readers to comment if they disagree about our age estimates.

Created: 10:32 PM 3/30/2021
Last updated: 10:33 PM 3/30/2021