Figure 1.--This class portrait is undated, but we believe was probably taken in the 1880s. Notice all the different caps and hats the boys are wearing.

We begin to get more school portaits by the in the 1880s as school photography became as established tradition. Britain began establishing a natiionak tradition of state primary schools (1870s). Anf thus by the 1889s we finaly begin seeing a substantial number of these images. The peaked caps appeared at mid-century, at first as a sports cap, but gradually became a more widely adopted as a standard school cap. You can see the colored circles with the uniform at a prep school or a junior boy at a public school on the previous page. These peaked caps were not yet universal. We still see a variety of caps, at least at the state primaries. The peaked cap was stardard at many private schools. We see prep school boys wearing them and the younger and middle forms or for sports at the public (elite private boarding) schools. But the peaked caps were not yet standard at the state primaries where uniforms were not worn. It was only one of many styles of caps that boys wore. This was because uniforms were not worn at state schools, the chldren wore their own clothes, including caps.