Figure 1.--Higgins thanks the Erol for his kindness, not know Cedric was responsible. The velvet suit and lace collar became a popular party suit for American and European boys.

Many famous liteary characters are boys, especially in American and English literature. Many American novels are set around a boy's experiences or have boys as important characters. The costuming of these characters, especially the contemporary books, offer important insights into historic costuming. This is especially true of the books with illustrations. Less useful, but more available, are modern books written with histoical settings or recent editions of historical books with modern illustrations.

American authors appear to have focused on byhood more than authors in other countries, except England. There are many important American boyhood characters, but few from other countries--except England. Perhaps my greater faniliarity with American literature. Hopefully HBC visitors from other countries can assist us on this issue.

Some of the most famous American characters are:

Brown, Buster: The comic strip character Buster Brown was one of the most popular characters in turn-of-the-century America. His characteristic wide-brimmed sailor hat, red tunic, floppy bow, and strap shoes worn with bangs made the tunics worn by boys at the time an even more popular style.

Erol, Cedric: Cedric Erol is of course the main character in Francis Hobson Bennett's Little Lord Fauntleroy, published in 1885. This novel probably had more influence on boy's fashions than any other single book. While Bennett provided limited describition's of Cedric's outfits, the accompamying illustrations by Reginald Birch caused a sensation. For three decades, Americam, British, French, and other European boys were outfitted in the velvet kneepants outfits harening back to the Van Dyck paintings of 17th Century with large lace and ruffled collars.

Finn, Huckleberry: Mark Twain's saga of the pre-Civil War American boyhood is one of the classic's of American literature. The book was a sequal to Twain's imensely popular Tom Sawyer and was published in 18??). It was, however, a very different book. Twain arrgues powefully for the esential humanity of Black Americans. Strangely the book is often a target of Black groups demanding it be removed from school libaries and required reading lists. The book is set in the 1840s and uses realistic dialog of the day. Huckleberry's characteridtiv bare feet and roughbclothes are a realistic look at how the average boy in pre-Civil War America dresed.

Figure 2.--Booth Tarkington's Penrod was a delightfully humerous look at American boyhhod in the 1910s. Penrod was about 11 going on 12 and wore knickers buckled just above the knee.

Sawyer, Tom: Mark Twain's Tom Sawyer may be the most popular book ever written about the American boy. Mark Twain published it in 18??. It does not have the darker aspects or the moral conumdrums posed in Huckleberry Finn. Tom is often pictured in dressier clothes than his erstwhile companion. Thus images of Tom give an indication of how boys may have dressed up in the dys before the Civil War(1851-65). Tom was also pictured in school and play clothes.

Schofield, Penrod: The 1914 book, Penrod. was written by Booth Tarkington. It chronicled the travails of an American boy, duely outfitted in knickers--usually buckled above the knee. Penrod is confronted with the normal trials of pre-World War I American boyhood. He has to dress up in an enbarassing pagent costume, attend dancing school, face bullies, and many other problems. Apparently sailor suits by the 1910s were just for little boys and chaps like master Roderick Bitts outfitted by his parents in a crisp white sailor suit were in for trouble when they cross Penrod's path.

??? : (Captain's Coureageous).

Figure 3.--.