Figure 1.--Unfortunately we do not know who this boy is. We know nothing about this American boy except that he was photographed in ????. We do have two portraits of him at different ages. In the image here he looks 6-7 years old and has long wavy curls. This is a little older than most boys we have noted with hair bows. Image courtesy of the RG collection.

HBC has archived quite a few portraits of boys wearing hair bows. Oftn they are in various clothing garment sections rather than in the actual hair bow section. Some are in the ringket curl section. If we know the individuals nae we often archive the image in the biography section. Most of these images we have not yet linked here. We hope to eventually link mant of these images to the page here. Many of the images are unidentified. Some of the boys are identified. For the most part, even with the identified images we have very little information about the individuals and families other than can be deduced from the image.

Dag Hammarskjold (Sweden, about 1910)

A portrait of Dag Hammarskjold, the future United Nations Secretary General, wearing long sausage curls with a hair bow. Also note the huge bow/sash.

Leo Herbert (Missouri, about 1912)

This American boy is Leo Herbert. The photograph is undated, but we estimate about 1910-15. It was taken in Trinton, Mossurri. The image is unusual in that most images of boys wearing hairbows show them in fancy outfits like Little Lord Fauntleroy suits. This is on of the few images we hav seen of a boy wearing riglets and curls with overalls. It is often notable because Leo has such a large hair bow.

Robert Hode (unknown location, 1890s)

This American boy, Robert Hode, wears such a large lace collar that it is difficult to see what kid of jacket he wears with his his above-the-knee knicker suit. Note the elegant white bow. Click on the image for an enlargement of the lace collar.

George Dewey Howell (New Jersey, 1890s)

Here we have a cabinet card portrait of a little boy in a white dress with ringlet curls and hair bows. This was a common outfit for boys from affluent families in the 19th century. We would guess that he was 3-4 years old. In many cases we have guess with images like this. In this case the boy's name is written on the back of the card. His name was George Dewey Howell. We wonder if he was named after the war hero, Admiral Dewey who became a national hero after his victory at Minila Bay (1898). The photographer was Huff in Newark, New Jersey. Presumably that was where George was from. The portrait is undated, but we would guess was taken in the 1890s.

Frederick James Robb (Tennessee, 1900)

This child is dome up to look like a flower girl. One wonders if he had a role in a wedding. I'm not sure, but I think that is his hat on the chair. Also notice the hair bows. We know that the child is an American boy. His name is Fredrick James Robb and he is 3 yrs and 2 months old. He was born June 17, 1897. The portrait was taken in 1900. We know nothing about Frederick, but the portrait was taken in Nashville, Tennessee by L Laury.

Lennie Ray Stevens

Lennie Ray Stevens. He looks to be about 6 years old and wears ringlet curls and a hair bow with his stripped summer sailor suit.

Unidentified Brothers (Unknown state, 1880s)

We have no information on the identity of this boy. We believe that he is American. We do know that he had an older brother. The two were dressed identically, but the older brother had a larger hairbow. His curls also differed somewhat. The plain blouses show here has some influence of sailor styling, including a back flap or small back flap, but without sailor detailing. There does seem to be a small back flap. They seem to be wearing some sort of shirt under the blouse.

Unidentified Boy (Unknown state, 1900s)

Unfortunately we do not know who the boy here is (figure 1). We know nothing about this American boy except that he was photographed in ????. We do have two portraits of him at different ages. He looks about 4 yeats old in the first portrait and wears tightly done ringlet curls. He looks 6-7 years old in the second portrait and has long wavy curls.. This is a little older than most boys we have noted with hair bows. In both he is wearing a fancy blouse, but oher clothing items are different. Both hair bows are white and prominently placed. The portraits are undated, but we would guess were taken in the 1900s.

Unidentified Brother and Sister (Connecticut, anout 1905)

This is an unidentified image. All we know for sure is that these children, surely brothers and sisters, were photographed in Salem, C (Connecticut). The portrait was probably taken about 1905. The boy wears a light-colored sailor suit done in a muted plaid. His older sister wears a plaid pinafore over a long-sleeved dress. Both children wear identical ringle curls. The little boy has a white hairbow and his sister a plaid hairbow. We have no idea on what basis this selection was made. Note that both children have identical ringlet hair styles. The boy's ringlets are shorter, perhaps because he was younger and his hair ws not a long as his sister's hair.

Unidentified Boy (North Dakota, 1900s)

The boy in the portrait here was from Grand Forks, North Dakota, one of the most rural states in the country. His hair is done i loose ringlets. He looks to be about 5-6 years of age an wears a kneepants suit fdone with both Norfolk and sailor styling. Image courtesy of the RG cllection.

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Created: 11:13 PM 6/8/2006
Last updated: 11:13 PM 6/8/2006