Figure 1.--This CDV portrait shows an unidentified English boys wearing a short belted tunic with light-colored long pants. We suspect this was his school outfit. He looks to be about 11-12 years old. He is holding a cap, but we can't make out what type. There may be tassles, but tthe portrait is not cleaer enough to be sure. The portrait is undated, but looks like the 1860s to us. The studio was Laurence in Cheltenham.

The tunic was primarily a school garment worn by younger children, although here there was considerable vaiation chronolgically. We believe that pre-teen boys may have worn tunics to school in the early- and mid-19th century. This is diffcicult to assess because photography was not invented until 1839 and was not common until the appearanc of the CDV (1860s). We do have a few paintings providing some insight on he early-19th centuy, but nothing like the immense photographic record of the second half of the 19th century. And we see quite a few European boys still wearing tunic outfits to school in the 1860s. We suspect that the age trends were simlar to the early-19th century, but this needs to be confirmed. After the 1860s we see fewer and increasingly younger boys wearing tunics to school. Beginning in the 60s we are able tofollow age trends in more detail as there are increasingly large numbers of images available. We see boys up to about 11-12 years old, perhaps even 13 years of age wearing tunics to school. The younger ages were more common, but we so see some older pre-teens wearing tunics. While we do not have a photographic record for the early-19th century, the immense popularity of the CDV means that we at least have a sizeable record of the 1860. After the 1860s, we no longr see boys much older than about 8 years of age wearing tunics to school.

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Created: 3:55 AM 5/5/2015
Last updated: 3:55 AM 5/5/2015