Figure 1.-- Here we see an unidentified class at an unidentified school in or near Pudsey. The boys all wore suits with knickers, but the jackrt style varied. They also wore peaked school caps and Eton collars. Both varied. All the caps had embroidered sections, but notball had front badges. The Eton collars wrre even more varied. Do you think the boys have sneaked a dead rat into the portrait?

We have by far the most 19th century school images from the 1890s decade. This relects the growth of the photographic industry as well as fact that school portraists were becoming an increasingly established annual ritual. An they were inexoensive enough that many if not most familes could aford them. England was the most prosperous counry in Europe. Wages and opportunities were not as high as in the Umited States, but they were the highest in Europe. This as never before, we know how children dressed for school. It was the peaked cap that became standard wear at British schools. Even state schools that did not have uniforms. We see other caps as well but the peaked cap by the end of the century was becoming standard and was beginning to be seen as simply a 'school cap'. While boys at some private schools wore hats, we only see caps at the state public (board) schools. Schoolwear was not as colorul as it would become in the 20th century. We are not sure avout the colrs, but believe thatbthey commonly matched to the suits boys wore to school, at least the uniforms at most pricate schools. Boys in state schools did not hace unifoerms, but many boyd wore the peaked school caps as well. And while the bright colprs were nor common. There were differences akning thevcaos. Some has embridery diving the caos in sectiins. Others had emblems at the front dispaying the school crest. Again these gancier caps were the ones for private schools. Girls school headwear was much more varied, different types of hats and tams. Caps were not common for the girls, except for sailor caps. And hirls did mot wear the peaked caps the boys wore. Here we see ppular headwear stles at what we believe is a board school in the 1890s (figure 1).