Figure 1.--This cased Ambrotype portrait is tunted to give the unidentified boy with rosy cheeks. He looks to be about 8-9 years old. The cloth on the table is also tinted. Note the baloon-sleeve blouses and the wide jacket half sleeves. The Ambro is 2 3/4 by 3 1/4 inches and is in an old leather case. There is not information as to where it was taken. As it is an Ambro it was probably taken about 1855-60. It could have been taken in the early 60s, but as we see very few CDVs with this style of jacket, we believe the late-50s is more likely.

We are not entirely sure what to call these jackets. The most destinguising feture were the half sleeves so we will use that as a description until we find what the contemporary term was. They were worn wih blouses that had long balooning sleeves which can be seen with the wide jacket half-sleeves. Our ininital assessment is that they were not nearly as poopular as other cintemporary styles such as the collar-buttoning military jackets. This was a European style that was worn in America, we think modtly in fashionable northeastern cities. We note them during the mid-19th century. We believe they were worn in the 1840s, but this is difficult to confirm because Daguerreotypes are complicated to date. We have trouble descrimibaring those taken in the 1840s from the 1850s dags. We know these jackets were worn in thr 50s because we have Ambros depicting them. We rarely see them by the 1860s. We are not sure just what to call these jackets. Surely there was aerm, but we have not yet found it. We do not yet have enough examples archived to know just how the jackjets were styled. The example here is buttoned up to the collar (figure 1). This was a juvenile style worn by pre-teen boys. We notice girls wearing a similar style with dresses. We are unsure about colors. We think often the trousers worn with these jackets did not mtch.

Created: 11:31 PM 12/30/2011
Last updated: 11:31 PM 12/30/2011