We have just begun to develop specifically chronolgical pages on haoir styling. There is a page on 1960s hair styles and a HBC reader had provided details on his 1980s experiences. There are a few othervpages which we will list. One HBC reader reports in the late 20th century, "Through my childhood, the chronology of what I was around other boys hair went like this: 1970s: the "pageboy", then phased into the feathered look in the early to mid 80s. Then came the mullet in the mid-80s, then spiked hair, then the 90's undercut. Coincidentally, a year after 1985, in 1986, it seemed most boys were spiking their hair, even going from feathered mullets to spiked mullets. I am from New Jersey, since HBC is interested in where styles take place. Boys by the end of tghe century were in a slum in style and some began to just shave or crop it very close and wear baggy clothes--as HBC has described."

The 1900s

Tounger boys commonly had long hair, although long ringlets curls began to decline in popularity during the 1900s. A good example of the long hair worn by an younger boy is an unidentified American boy. Long hair for boys was becoming less common in the 1900s, but we still see numerous examples. One is an unidentified American boy with his sister, we believe in the mid-1900s. His hair is not done in ringlets as was common in America.

The 1910s

Figure 1.--This little boy from the 1920s has bangs. This was a style worn by boys throughout the century, but the popularity and age conventions varied from decade to decade.

The 1920s

The 1930s

Short hair continued popular in the 1930s, although few boys had shrt cropped hair. Left parts were the most common. A few boys had center parts, but this was not as popular as in the 1930s. Younger boys might have long hair with natural curls, but this was cut before school. School age oys might wear bangs. Long hair for chool age boys was virtually unheard of.

The 1940s

Millions of Americans entered military service begining with the draft in 1940, even before the attack on Pear Harbor. Many became accustomed to the short military hair cuts and continued wearing them when they returned home after the War. When the babby boomers started arriving many had their hair styled in crew cuts like dad. By the late 1940s American boys were wearing their hair shorter than any other period in history.

The 1950s

The 1950s saw a variety of important trends. The crewcut or even shorter butch was enormously popular. Teen heart-throb and rock-and-roll chrooner, Elvis Preseley, along with movie idol. Jammes Dean, make side burns enormously popular for older teenagers. Elvis Presley's lengthening sideburns, however, were a shot over bow of America's buttoned downed, short hair ethic.

The 1960s

Greasers preened their hair with various oils and lotions. Surfers refrained from the use of any greasy addition, but some liked the bleached outdoor look. Others carried combs. pocket mirrors, and even hair spray with them. Side burns grew in popularity. One editorialist warned, "Sideburns are creeping across America like crabgrass, wispy strands inching past the year and down the cheek of men and teenage boys, each one a pennant proclaiming, however, seedily, that inside the impersonal shell there lives a person. [Life, 1968] Teenage boys began spending as much time preening their hair as girls. The very nature of the American barber shop began to change. The once proudly male reserve of the barber shop stocked with sports and fishing magazines was replaced with boutiques and female barbers. Some boys wanted their hair teased and blow dried. Sculptured hair dos were formed with razors and not just clippers and scissors. It was the increasingly length of hair that stirred the passions of young and old alike. While younger boys did not normally adopt the long hair of their teenage brothers, the shaggy bangs of John F. Kennedy Jr. helped insire longer hair for the younger boys as well.

The 1970s

Hair styles at the beginning of the 1960s were quite short. They began to grow longer in the mid-1960s. Cuts in Europe were not as short as they were in America. But boys on both sides of the Atlantic participated in the movement toward long hair. It was in the 1970s, however, that really long styles for boys appeared. Long hair reached the peak of popularity in the 1970s. Most boys wore their hair over their ears and many wore shoulder style hair. An English reader, Jonathan, remember the long hair that he and his brothers wore during the 1970s. We have developed some information for the United States. The long cuts scandalized adults with traditional values. Younger boys tended to have moderate cuts because parents were still in control. For teen agers it was a different matter.

The 1980s

The 1990s

Created: 3:50 AM 6/28/2004
Last updated: 5:17 AM 11/30/2007