Figure 1.--
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Figure 1.-- |
We have noted several accounts about hair styles and various clothing styles during the 1880s. Several are published accounts. Others are submitted by readers oe based on the analysis of avilable photographs. The 1880s is of course one of the most famed or to many boys notorious decades in terms of boys' fashions becaise of the publication of Little Lord Fauntleroy and the resulting fashion for velvet suits with ace collars, often worn with long hair done in ringlet curls.
Cedric Erol was of course a litterary character. But in many ways the author's youngest son Vivian was the inspiration for Little Lord Fauntleroy. Vivian was dressed in velvet suits and he did have long shoulder-length hair. In fact he was the model for Reginald Birch who illusrated the first edition of Mrs. Burnett's book. Vivian for
his part spent the rest of his life trying to disassociate from his mother's creation.
Two images from Fargo, North Dakota taken by photographer Authur Bentley appear to preserve for properity the day that Leroy D. Gifford was breeched. We know nothing about Leroy, except that he appears to be about 10 or 11 years old. A close analysis of the photograph, however, does provide some interesting conclusions. Please let me know if you agree or if you have any thoughts on these images.
Here we have two twin boys from Lincoln, Nebraska. The boys, Carl and Fritz Gulick, had their portrait taken when they were 7 years old. Unfortunately the portrait is not dates. We would guess that the portrait was taken in the 1880s. Nebraska is a farm state, but it is the capital and thus these are probably city boys. It is of course possible that the boys were brought to the city for the portrait, but we believe it is more likely that they actually lived in the city. We also note that along with the boys' names, Lincoln in written on the back, strongly suggesting that the boys lived in Lincoln. Both boys have identical hair styles and clothes.
Frank Schoonover was a famous illustrater in the Golden Age of Illustration. In the short autobiography included in a book, he talks about his youth and how much he loved the outdoors, spending much of his time in the woods, walking along streams and fishing. However, in spite of this, he had long hair about the sme time that Fauntleroy curls came in vogue and least on some occasions wore dresses.
When I was a child many years ago, my parents used to drop me off at my grandmother’s house on weekends when they needed a break from parenting. Grandmother (or “Bama” as I called her) lived in a turn-of-the-century Victorian home with lots of history in it and many rooms to explore. On one occasion, I came across a box of old photographs stashed away somewhere which showed my grandmother and grandfather along with other old photo and Daguerreotypes of the family. In the collection, I saw some pictures of a very pretty young girl whom I had never heard my family talking about. I took the box down to Bama and showed her the pictures.” Lawd,” she said, "those are pictures of your grandfather. You see, back in those days most little boys and girls were dressed the same way until school. It was just the fashion.
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