United States Boys' Long Pants Chronology: The 1850s


Figure 1.--This Daguerreotype which we believe dates to the 1850s shows two unidentified boys, presumbly brothers, wearing long pants. The boys look to be about 7-9 years old. Both are wearing blouses wirh thin ruffle trim at the neck. Neiter are weating jackets.

We know much more about the 1850s than the previous decades of the 19th century. Not only do we have more Dags from the growing photographic industry, but in addition Ambrotypes appear in 1855. By matching fashionsm we can date some of the dags. The photographic record shows that American boys still commonly wore long pants throughout the 1850s. A good example is the Wallis brothers in 1852. Shortened- length pants were worn in the 1850s, but they were still not very common. Some younger boys after they were breeched may have wore suits with bloomer knickers. But it is clear from the photographic record that it was not very common. We suspect the boys wearing shortened-length pants would have been from fashionable families, mostly in eastern cities. Almost all the Dags and Ambros we have found show even young boys wearing long pants. Mst boys once they were breeched wore long pants. The grear bulk of Dags and Ambros we have found show boys wearing long pants, although many are shot with children sitting down so that it is difficult to determine pants type. While the photographic record shows some boys wearing shortened-length pants, it probably over states the proportion of boys wearing knee pants and bloomer knickers. This is because most of the available photographs were of city dwellers. Many rural people did not have the money or opportunity for a photograph and almost all breeched boys in rural areas wore long pants. A lot of portraits from the 1850s show American boys wearing jackets and pants that do not match. An example is a group of unidentified American boys about 1850. Another example is an unidentified boy, we believe in the late-1850s. Most of the pants we have found in the photofraphic record seem to be button-on pants. We do not see suspenders and belts that would subsequently become so common. This can be seen better in the 1850s than later because so many boys were photographed in blouses without jackets. By the 1860s most boys are wearing suit jackets in studio portaits.







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Created: 12:13 AM 3/24/2008
Last updated: 12:13 AM 3/24/2008