Figure 1.-- The photograph here shows shows an early group of Holderness teenage boys gathered in their dormitory before going to bed. They all wear white nightshirts that come down almost to their ankles. The date of the photograph is a bit uncertain but a history of the early years of the school places it about 1882.

The Holderness School was founded in 1879. The photographs from the 1880s show the schools at an early point of its operations and the boys seen in the images were some of the first boys to attend the school. The photograph here shows shows an early group of Holderness teenage boys gathered in their dormitory before going to bed. They all wear white nightshirts that come down almost to their ankles. The date of the photograph is a bit uncertain but a history of the early years of the school places it about 1882. Notice that the nightshirts have openings in front down to about waist level but are worn buttoned all the way up to the neck, probably because New Hampshire winters were cold and because there may have been only minimal heat in the sleeping quarters. Nore that all the boys are wearing very similar nightshirts. None are wearing pajamas. I don't think that pajamas were commonly worn by boys until the 20th century. We do not know if the school requited specificall white nightshirts or if they were just more common that colored or print nightshirts. Another photograph, dated 1885, shows three Holderness boys playing banjos. This trio seems to have been a musical group at the school. Note that the boys are quite formally dressed in suits with narrow trousers, shirts with wing collars, ties, and hightop boots.

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Created: 12:29 AM 8/24/2004
Last updated: 12:29 AM 8/24/2004