Figure 1.--This cased portrait, probably an ambrotype, shows a boy with ringlet curls weating a cut away jacket suit with what looks like a detchable collar. The portrait is undated, but looks to us like the late-1850s. Notice the gold, probably gold from the California Gold Rush. We are uhsure about the boy's age, perhaps 6 years old. .

Suits were still not very common for younger boys in the 1850s. We nelieve that this was reflection of the economy. The industrial economy had still not kicked in. The great majority of Americans still lived in rural areas with limited cash incomes. And suit jackets were difficult to sew, meaning they were usually store bought. We see a few boys wearing suit jackets. The most coimmon style was collr-buttoning jacxkets. We also see a few of the cut-away jackets that were popular in the 1860s and worn to a leeser extent throughout the rest of the century. Of course as it is difficult to differentiate between portarits taken in the late-1850s and early-60s, the time line is blurred. So we are no entirely sure just when these cut-away jackets first appeared. We see very few boys wearing ringlrts with suits in the 1850s. Not only were suits less common than they would become, but by the time boys were old enough to wear suits, most had already had their curls cut.

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Created: 11:26 AM 5/11/20177
Last edited: 11:27 AM 5/11/2017