Figure 1.--This cabinet card portrait shows two unidentified brothers wearing large white flippy bows. Colored bows were popular, incluung opatterns,but we also see white bows like this. In this case thev whitev bows have a repeated circular pattern, a kind iof swirl. Both boys also have large white, but different collars. The card mount suggests the portrait was taken in the 1890s. The boys look about 2-5 years old. The cabinet card does not identify the studio.

Virtually every major type of pattern was used on boys' collar bows. We see a lot of solid colored bows in various colors, but bows with patterns seem even more popular. One reflection of the popularity, at least with the mothrs, is how commonly the different patterns appear in the photographic record of the day. Plaids were very popular. We also notice a lot of striped bows. Plaids and sripes were particularly popular and appear to occur most commonly in the photographic record. Unfortunately the riot of colors in plaids abnd stripes is lost in the black and white photography of he day. Also used were polka dots, polka-dot like patterns and checks to a lesser degree. These were not as common as the plaids and stripes, but we see a nmumber of them. The polkadot-like patterns night also be done in curcular firms, but we also see other figures and shapes discpersed in polka-dot like fashion. These are some times lost unless we have a close-up of the bow. They did not show up as well as actual polka-dots which are solid bits of pure color.

Created: 3:31 PM 12/27/2023
Last updated: 3:31 PM 12/27/2023