Figure 1.--Here we have a CDV portrait, probably taken in the 1870s. Two of the three children are obviously boy and girl. But one of the children wearing a dress by all objective characteristics looks like a boy. Yet we know she is a girl named Eliza. The other children are Eilen and Freddie. The girls wear identucal dresses and fluffy hats. Feddie wears a Norfolk suit wuth knee pants and three-quarter socks. We are unsure about the boy's cap. The studio is Thomas Barns in Faversham.

The most obvious way of trying to determine gender since we rekly so heavily in the photographic record when it is not specified pn the photograph is the physical appearance of the child. Now while that in most cases will provide the correct answer, it is not accurate enough for our purposes. This is especially true for younger children whose facial characteistics are much more similar than adult men and women. The older the children get, facial features are much more relaiable, but even as adults not fullproof. Here we have a CDV portrait, probably taken in the 1870s. Two of the three children are obviously boy and girl. But one of the children wearing a dress by all objective characteristics looks like a boy. Yet we know she is a girl named Eliza. The other children are Eilen and Freddie. The girls wear identucal dresses and fluffy hats. Feddie wears a Norfolk suit wuth knee pants and three-quarter socks. We are unsure about the boy's cap. All three children wear simillar shoes. And these are not very young children. They look to be about 8-14 years old. We point all of this out to show how difficult it is to identify children in 19th century photography.

Created: 7:06 PM 7/31/2021
Last updated: 7:06 PM 7/31/2021