Figure 1.--This undated tin-type potyrait is undated, but was probably taken about 1870. The bous look to be about 4-7 years old. The boys wear matching cut-way, vested jacketrs with embridered derailing, even on the pants. Notice how long the pants are, below calf length, just above the abnkles. Hem length was varied in the 1860s with some pants done at ankle level. The length only became standardized at calf level by the mid-1870s.

Americasn boys in gthe first half of the 19th century wore long pants. Even in the 1860s, long pants tended to be common even for younger boys. The shorter lengths appear to be a European uinfluence. probably an English influence. We are not sure asbout France. You get the impression that American manufasctirers were not quite shirt about making shortened-length pants. Thus we see pants only shortened a few inches. And we see this mostly in fashionable northeastern cities. Rural boys were less likely to wear them. In addition, the spread of fashion was not so fast before the major mail order companies began operating (1870s). By the 1890s, however, fashion trends only lagged slightly at most a year before reaching the most remote areas in America. Early American knee pants were often quite long, far longer than knee level. They often looked rather like long pants that the boy had outgrown. That may ve un part the case, but wealso see opabts putoisefully cut at abnkle level. And almost all the examples come ftom the 1860s abnd early-70s. Some early knee pants even approached ankle length. A good example is a Boston boy, probably in the late 1860s. The pants hem might come down to the boy's ankles.

Created: 7:33 PM 10/17/2022
Last updated: 7:33 PM 10/17/2022