Figure 1.--Here we see the Prince with two wonderful toy horses. He was probably too young for a rocking horse. He wears a white dress with a calvalry sword. It is difficult to tell, but the dress seems to have a matching jacket. The Prince was 2 years old at the time, probably taken in 1858. It looks to be an albumen print.

We see the prince wearing white dresses as a toddler. One portrait shows him on a toy horse when he was 2 years old (about 1858). It is difficult to tell, but the dress seems to have a matching jacket (figure 1). Presumably he was too young for a rocking horse. We note another portrait of him still wearing a a white dress (about 1859). A reader writes, "My understanding about white dresses for youngsters from a visit to Sturbridge village is that white was easiest to clean. You could bleach out most stains whereas colors were much harder to remove stains without damaging the color until fast colors (washing safe or non bleeding dies) were invented. So, applying that information to this situation, which may not apply, it is likely that white was often worn." The short sleeved dress has ribbons on the shoulders. It is interesting to note how common white dresses appear to have been for boys in old photographs. HBRC assumes that this was likely to have been in part due to the fact that the children were dressed up in their best dress for formal photographs. Surely they did not wear white dresses for every day. But given he was the Press Imperial, practial concerns presumably did not apply. We are not sure just when he was breeched, probably when he was about 4 years old (about 1860). We are still trying to determine this more specifically.

Created: 7:55 AM 7/29/2011
Last updated: 7:55 AM 7/29/2011