Figure 1.--This boy was from Tennessee He looks to be wearing a tunic with a ruffled collar anf knee pants along with striped stockings. The tin-type portrait is undated, but we would guess was taken about 1870. Notice the boy's hat on the floor.

We are not entirely sure when striped long stockings first appeared. The lack of dates on many available images make it difficult go develop a precise chronology. We notice quite a few boys earing them in the 1860s, but they may have appeared earlier. Images are, however, not as common for earlier periods. This is something we need to look at in greater detail. We have note drawings of boys wearing striped stockings un the 1850s, but we do not yet have photohraphs. We note them in the 1870s and 1880s. A good example is an unidentified Salem boy, we believe in the 1870s. We no longer see them in the 1890s, at least they were not very common. We mostly see black stockings in the 1890s. As far as we can tell, the long stockings worn by American boys and girls in the 20th century were primarily solid colors.

The 1840s

We are not entirely sure when striped long stockings first appeared. The lack of dates on many available images make it difficult go develop a precise chronology. Also Daguerreotype poses often did not shows the hosiery or often even the pants. Some fashionable boys may have worn knee pants in the 1840s, but long pants were much nore common for even younger boys. Thus we do not know if stipped long stockings were worn to any extent. We have seen liiustrations, but can not yet confirm this from the photographic record. This is something we need to look at in greater detail as we expand the photographic record. A problemn here is that it is very difficvult to fated Daguerreptypes ad so few are dated. .

The 1850s

We have note drawings of boys wearing striped stockings un the 1850s, but we do not yet have photohraphs. Images are, however, not as common for the 1850s as for the 60s. The Fact that these striped stockings were not common in the early 60s soes suggest thtvthey were not yet available in the 1850s. This is something thsat we are still trying to work out.

The 1860s

We notice quite a few boys earing them in the 1860s, but they may have appeared earlier. The appearance of the albumen print ad the CDV portrait resulted in an exponential increase in the number of photographic portraits. We see large numbers of younger boys wearing shortened-length pants and long stockings, although long pants were still quite common. This was a style woirn by both boys and girls. Almost all boys and girls wore long stockings and not socks. White stockings were very common. This was especially the early- and mid-1860s. We are not yet sure if stiped stockings wee not very common in the easrly 60s or did not yet exist. By the late-60s we begin to see boys and girls wearing striped stockings. There was quite a range of different striped patterns.

The 1870s

We note large numbers of boys and girls wearing striped stockings during the 1870s. It was a not a new style or a style that ended with the 70s. We see striped stockings in the 1860s and 80s as well. But it is in the 70s that we see a huge number od children wearing striped stockingsin the photographic record. It is akottle difficult to estimre, but we believe that more than half of the stockings we see in the studio portaiture of the day were striped stockings. We do not know if this also reflected what the the children wore hn not dressed up for a portrait. Thisis difficult to assess because there was not yet any amateur snapshots toshow how children dressed outside the studio. One of our best source of popular trends is school portraits, but the school portrait tradition was not yet well established in the 1870s and many school-age boys were still wearing long pants, making it difficult to assess hosiery. We have archieved a huge number of studio portraits showing boys wearin striped stockings. A good example is an unidentified Salem boy, we believe in the 1870s. We note Newton Field Waters wearing dark striped stockings with asailor suit in 1873. He was photographed in a fashionableBroadway studio in New York, suggesting his outfit was the height of fashion. An American boy, 3-year old Andrew Richardson, wears boldly striped long stockings in 1875. Now boys not only wore them with knee pants and to a lesser extent bloomer knickers, but also with the popular kilt suits. Highland kilts were not worn to any extent, but kilt suits were very popular for younger boys.

The 1880s

Most of the stripped long stockings we have noted in the photographic record have been in the 1870s We continue to see striped long stockings in the 1880s, especially the early-1880s. A good example is an unidentified Illinois boy in 1883. He wears striped stockings. Another example is Jesse Bell, during 1884. Fashing changes do not occur neatly by decade. But while we see srriped stovkings in the early 1880s, overall the pevalenve of striped stockings notaly declined during the decade. After mid-decade we begin to see fewer stripped stockings. Striped stockings did not, however, dominate children's hosiery in the 1880s as it did in the 70s. We see black or other dark colors done as flat/solid colors rather than in patterns. This is most noticeable in the huge number of Fauntleroy images. Mrs. Burnett published Little Lord Fauntleroy (1885). But a very small number of boys wearing Fauntlerooy suits wore striped stockings. There were some, but not very many. The same was true of sailor suits which wre worn by somewhat older boys. Stripe stockings by the end of the dcade were if not rare, certainly not very common. White the trend is most apparent with Fauntleroy suits it is also noticeable with regular suits as well. A problem here is that so few portraits are dated. Here Little Lord Fauntleroy images are especially useful as they all date from th 1885 inwards. Thus we can date these images more accuratently than some kither images. And it needs to be pointed out, that both boys and girls wore these long stockings and the chrnological trends fir both boys and girls were essentially the same.

The 1890s

We no longer see sdtripped stockings n the 1890s, at least they were not very common. We mostly see black stockings in the 1890s.

The 1900s

The long stockings commonly worn by American boys and girls in the 20th century were primarily solid colors. There were patterned stockings, but the photographic record shows that the standrd stovckings were soplid colors, mostly black.

The 1920s

Long stockings continud to be widely worn in the 1920s. They were no longer standard, but still very common, especially at the beginning of the decade. They were worn with knickers and by younger boys with short pants. By the end of the decade, patterned knee socks had become standard with knivckers. The color of long stockings changed during the decade. At the beginning of the decade we still see mostly black long stockings, but as the decade progressed, various shade of beige becme standard, espcially for the younger boys wearing short pants. Long stockings were becoming seasonal wear for the yonger boys. While the vast majority of photographic images show solid colored stockings, we gabve found a few images shiowing biys waring patterned long stockings. The patterns varied. we se repearted geometric patterns. Some had the loud patters like knee socks. And we see striped stockings, or perhaps better said banded patterns. By this time they were the least popular of ghe various patterns. We do not see any one pattern that dominated. But a sunstantial varition. But we see only a small number of the substantial photographic record.

Created: 10:10 PM 9/1/2007
Last updated: 7:04 AM 12/1/2018