Figure 1.--This American boys wears sholder-length ringlet curls with his tunic suit. The portrait is undated, but looks like the 1900s to us. Most boys had short hair, but we continue to see quite a few boys with ringlet curkls in the 1900s.

U.S. Boys' Ringlet Curls: Chronology--The 20th Century

We still note boys with ringlet curls at the turn of the 20th century. There are numerous examples in the photographic record. Ringlets were not as common as in the 1890s, but still fairly numerous in the photographic record. Most of the ringlet images we note are in the 1900s. There was a major shift in hair styling trends during the 1910s. We see far fewer in the 1910s. Curls for boys declined sharply in popularity during the late 1900s and 1910s, esprecially with the advent of World War I. Short hair for boys, even younger boys, became increasingly standard. We only rarely see boys with ringlet curls after World War I. Ringlets were rarely seen by the 1920s except short ones on the very youngest boys. And even these younger boys did not have the long ringlets worn previously. They became, however very popular with girls, especially with the advent of Shirley Temple. All liiitle grls wanted ringlets, or at least their mothers wanted them. The girls also wanted curls on their dollies. This essentially made ringlets a distinctively girls' hair style. By the 1930s we only see very young boys with ringlets.

The 1900s

We still note quite a few boys with ringlet curls at the turn of the 20th century. There are numerous examples in the photographic record. Ringlets were not as common as in the 1890s, but still fairly numerous in the photographic record. Most of the 20th century ringlet images we note are from the 1900s. They seem especially common in the early-1900s. The same seems true for associated styles like Fauntleroy suits, kilt suits, and other popular 1890s garmrents. HBC has archived many examples. A good example is 5-year old Harold Howes in 1905. Another examle is a San Jose boy. We note an unidentified American boy wearing ringlets about 1905. Notably he seems to be wearing casual outdoor play cloythes rather than a dressy outfit. The ringlet curl fashion declined notably in popularity, especially after 1905. A good example is Ervin Emile Blanchenburg wethink about 1905-10. While we still see boys with ringlets in the 1900s, the see more boys with shorter ringlets. A good example is Frank Shrerer.

The 1910s

There was a major shift in hair styling trends during the 1910s. We see far fewer boys with ringlet curls in the decade. It was becoming far less fashionable for boys to have their hair done in ringlets. Curls for boys declined sharply in popularity during the late 1900s and 1910s, especially with the advent of World War I. Short hair for boys, even younger boys, became increasingly standard. Most boys wanted short hair, even boys before they began school. We see younger boys with short ringlets. A good example is three unidentified brothers. We note Theodore Roosevekt Johnson in 1912, probably just before he began school. We only rarely see boys with ringlet curls after World War I. We see short ringlets, usually worn by younger boys. A good example is Jaspar Barnes about 1910. A rare school age boy was 7-year old Edwin Bennett in 1916. After World War I (1914-18) boys rarely wear ringlets, except for very young boys.

The 1920s

Short hair for boys, even younger boys, became increasingly standard after World War I in the 1920s. This paralleled the trend for more informal clothing as well. We only rarely see boys with ringlet curls after World War I. Before the War most boys wore short hair, but there were quite a number of boys in the photographic record with ringlets, a small percentage but still a relatibely large number. Long ringlets were, however, rarely seen by the 1920s. We do see qquite a number of short ringlets or boys with curly hair. Here we are takjing about younger boys, nostly roddlers. These younger boys mostly did not have the long ringlets worn previously. Establish fashions have a habit of persisting. Thus ringlets did not entirely disappewar in the 1920s. We have found a few portraits of boys wearing long ringlets, but they are very rare and all pre-school boys. They seem to be all boys from wealthy families, but our archive is too limited to make any firm assessment.



Figure 4.--Here we see Bryan with his big sister Anne. Cars in other shots suggest that the photograph was taken in the late-1930s. By this time we only see very yoing boys wearing ringlets.

The 1930s

Ringlets had become very popular with girls by the 1930s. Ringlets were probably more popular for girls in the 1930s than any other decade in American history. This was especially the case with the advent of Shirley Temple--perhaps the most popular child star of all time. Shirley appeared in the late-1920s anf by the early-30s was a huge star. All liitle grls wanted ringlets, or at least their mothers wanted them. The girls also wanted curls on their dollies. This essentially made ringlets a distinctively girls' hair style. And of course boys now defiabtly did not wanbt to wear them. Ecen doting mothers had to conced the point. By the 1930s we only see very young boys with ringlets.

The 1940s

W continue to see a few very little boys wearing ringlets in the 1940s. Ringlet curls were essentially a girls hair style in the 1940s. They were not quite as popular in the 1940s. Shirley Temple had grown up and with the War, large numbers of women entered the work force--leaing less time for activities like curling hair.








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Created: 7:02 PM 4/28/2008
Last edited: 1:06 AM 9/13/2010