Figure 1.--Here we see an unidentified boy wearing a rather elegant cut-awwy jacket suit. He looks to be about 10-years old. Note the pants. Thet are cut well above the cut ankles. This seems to be a transition from long pants to knee pants. It is in the1960s that we bef=gin to see shortened-length pants for boys. The pose is a little different than the srandard Dag or Ambro pose, but there is a residual indluence--the small draped table.

Our ability to follow high-top trends changes with the appearance of the CDV in the 1860s. The condition of roadways with manure and mud which were better handled by high-top shoes. Even in towns, there were often no sidewalks or very limited such amenities. This of course does not explain why high-tops appeared in the mid-19th century as this condition was a problem earlier. We do not know what indicidual or company came up with the idea of high-top shoes. This seems to have occurred at about the same time that shoe makers shifted from making 'straights' to curved/crooked an eventually left and right shoes. And then we begin to see machine made shoes which appeared durin the Civil War when sturdy footwear was needed by the armies in great number. Here the less industrailized South was never able to provide its adequately soldies needed footwear. And it was not only men that benefitted from these developments. A reader writes. "Women demanded better quality shoes like men had. This was facilitated by the development of new sewing machines which produced shoes for the men fighting in the Civil War (1861-65). Thus, longer lasting footwear were available for women's use. I have also read that women wanted to go outdoors more and participate in sports and the flimsy 'classical' slippers were not suitable." What is clear is that the new CDVs show high-top shoes. This was not just changes in children's shoes. Adults also wore-high-tops and as best we can tell at about the same time. And this seems to be about when high top shoes appeared for both men and women as well as children. We thus have a very detaile photographic record, especially in America. We have no idea at this time as to why high-tops suddenly appeared. We note children commonly wearing high-top shoes in the 1860s. Not all children wore high-tops, but they certainly were very common. A good example is John Schwensusen, we think in the late-60s, but they may have appeared earlier. A problem here is that many boys wear long pants in the 1860s and this often covers most of the shoes. We notice both button and lace-up shoes and are not yet sure which ae more common. A good example of lace-up shoes is unidentified New York boy during the Civil War era (1864-66). Aad an example of button shoes is Augustus Davies at the end of the decade.

Navigate the Historic Boys' Clothing Web chronological pages:
[Main chronologies page]
[The 1950s] [The 1960s] [The 1970s] [The 1980s] [The 1990s] [The 2000s]

Navigate the Historic Boys' Clothing Web style pages:
[Skelton suits] [Tunics] [Eton suits] [Kilts] [Sailor suits] [Knicker suits] [Short pants suit] [Long pants suits]

Created: 10:58 AM 1/29/2015
Last updated: 10:58 AM 1/29/2015