Figure 1.--We note photographs of the boy inmates wearing simple smocks/pinsfores and dresses. A reader writes, "I think this photo must have been taken at the old Crumpshall workhouse before the 1857 building was opened." The quality of the photographs, however, suggest that they are much more recent. And the source reports the photographs were taken in 1910. Our reader provides a photograph of the boys in 1895, dressed uniformally in warm corduroy suits. Corduroy was a fabric often used for inexpensive clothing. It was a specialty of Manchester mills. On the continent in the Netherlands and Germany, corduroy was commonly called Manchester cloth. We can not explain the different outfits at this time. We suspect thst the pinafore/dress outfits were for everyday wear in the Workhouse. The suits may have been worn for special occassions, including events outside the work house such as going to church. Notice that they are all long pants suits.

We note photographs of the boy inmates wearing simple smocks/pinafores and dresses. A reader writes, "I think this photo must have been taken at the old Crumpshall workhouse before the 1857 building was opened." The quality of the photographs, however, suggest that they are much more recent. And the source reports the photographs were taken in 1910. Our reader provides a photograph of the boys in 1895, dressed uniformally in warm corduroy suits. Corduroy was a fabric often used for inexpensive clothing. It was a specialty of Manchester mills. On the continent in the Netherlands and Germany, corduroy was commonly called Manchester cloth. We can not explain the different outfits at this time. We suspect thst the pinafore/dress outfits were for everyday wear in the Workhouse. The suits may have been worn for special occassions, including events outside the work house such as going to church. Notice that they are all long pants suits.

Corduroy Suits

We note photographs of the boy inmates wearing simple smocks/pinafores and dresses. A reader writes, "I think this photo must have been taken at the old Crumpshall workhouse before the 1857 building was opened." The quality of the photographs, however, suggest that they are much more recent. And the source reports the photographs were taken in 1910. Our reader provides a photograph of the boys in 1895, dressed uniformally in warm corduroy suits. We can not explain the different outfits at this time. We suspect thst the pinafore/dress outfits were for everyday wear in the Workhouse. The suits may have been worn for special occassions, including events outside the work house such as going to church. Notice that they sre three-piece long pants suits.

Manchester Cloth

Corduroy was a fabric often used for inexpensive clothing. It was a specialty of Manchester mills. On the continent in the Netherlands and Germany, corduroy was commonly called Manchester cloth. A Dutch reader tells us, "You are right stating that in Germany and the Netherlands corduroy is called manchester (no capital m). That is true, but it is not the name of all types of corduroy. Before the 1950s corduroy made in Germany and Holland was of good quality and the only name for it was manchester, named after the English city where the material originated. Of course sometimes it was called ribfluweel in Dutch or kordsamt in German. The name corduroy however has been used for the cloth that was made in Bangladesh or the Domenican Republic which was of poor quality. These textiles were not called manchester. When you hear the name manchester in the Netherlands it nearly always refers to the old-fashioned heavy corduroy of excellent quality. The rest is just corduroy (also in Dutch)."

Long Pants

Notice that the boys all have long pants suits. This is interesting because knee pants had become quite common by the 1890s, especially for younger boys and many of these boys are very yhoung, perhaps as young as 3-years of age. In America long pants suits for boys this ahe were not even made, at least they do not appear in the catalogs. We are less sure about Britain. There was more of a class divide in Brisin at the time. Working-class boys were more likely to wear long pants. The Workhouse staff may have also thought that the warmer long pants were better as the Wirkhouse was not that well heated. And it may have pecluded the need to purchase long stoickings. Here wea can only speculate.

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Created: 9:17 AM 11/15/2011
Last updated: 9:17 AM 11/15/2011