Figure 1.-- This postcard portrait shows reat old real photo postcard shows a dapper boy wearing a double-breasted knickers suit, Eton collar, black long stockings, and high-top shoes. The tie is difficult to make out. The AZO stamp box indicates a date of 1904-18. The knickers suggest the 1910s, but white furniture was popular in the 1900s so it may have been taken in the late-1900s or early-10s. The boy is unidentified, but looks to be about 8-years old. The portrait was taken at the Bussa Studio in Norristown, Pennsylvania.

We see a number of boys wearing black suits in the photographic record. Here it is virtually impossible to tell if the suits are black or navy blue. They both show up virtually the same in bkack and white photography. We tgink navy blue suits were more common, but black suits were also worn. Here we have to rely more on avalable catalogs to get some idea how common black suits were. We think they were more common in the 20th century than the 19th century, but this we are still attempting to assess. Commonly black suits were th boy's best suit if he came from an affluent family and had more than one suit. If not, he would be less likely to have a black suit, although navy blue suits were possible. Black suits were a conservative color and most common fior boys from affluent families. It was also somewhat destinctive to the United States. We do not know any country in which black or navy blue suits were so common. In Britain, for example, grey was the most prevalent color for suits. American boys also wore grey suits, but black and navy blue seem even more common in America. Black unlike grey only vame in one shade. We see both standard suits done in black as well as the junior Eton suits that many younger boys wore, again a conservative style. Black suits were almost always worn with with black hosiert, including blacl long stockings, knee socks, and ankle socks. We have seen a few occasions when younger boys wore white knee socks, but tyhis was not very common. Black long stockings were very common in the late-19th and early-20 century. They wre commonly worn with a range of outfits as well as black suits, even white outfits.

Created: 11:29 PM 5/30/2013
Last updated: 11:29 PM 5/30/2013