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Ringlet curls were primarily a girl's style, except for very young boys. We note great variations, however, over time in the popularity of ringlet curls for boys. Boys at times have also worn ringlets, even school-age boys. It seems that the time that ringlets were most popular for boys (late 19th and very early 20th century that they were less common for girls. This was especially true for individual families. We note some mothers doing the hair of both their sons and saughters in curls. The more common option was, however, if boy's hair was don in ringlets that the girls' hair was styled differently. The idea apparently was so the boy's hair would stand out better and perhaps so that he would not see it as a girl's style. Here the ahge and gender distribution in any given family would affect hair styling and the alternatives open to mother. We note similar trends in Europe, although ringlets were never as popular there as in America. We have not found much written contemporary information on hair styling, especially ringlet curls. We have, however, found numerous photographic images to help explore styles and conventions. Unfortunately, often the individuals are identified or the gender is very obvious from the clothing or props. We have also found large numbers of images in which the children are not identified. Thus the images are not as helpful in establishing just what the gender conventions were.
Ringlet curls were generally a girl's style, except for very young boys. We note great variations, however, over time in the popularity of ringlet curls for boys. Boys at times have also worn ringlets even more commonly than girls. The time period here is rather narrow, approximately the 1880s to about the mid-1900s. After about 1905, ringlets again begin to be seen as primarily a girls style. This of course varied from family to family. Age of course was an important factor. Ringlets were most common for pre-school boys, but we do see school age boys wearing them as well. It seems that the time that ringlets were most popular for boys (late 19th and very early 20th century) that they were less common for girls. This was especially true for individual families. We note some mothers doing the hair of both their sons and daughters in curls. The more common option was, however, if boy's hair was done in ringlets that the girls' hair was styled differently. The idea apparently was so the boy's hair would stand out better and perhaps so that he would not see it as a girl's style. Here the age and gender distribution in any given family would affect hair styling and the alternatives open to mother. We note similar trends in Europe, although ringlets were never as popular there as in America. We have not found much written contemporary information on hair styling, especially ringlet curls. We have, however, found numerous photographic images to help explore these styles and conventions. Unfortunately, often the individuals are identified or the gender is very obvious from the clothing or props. Identifying the gender is very important in developing valid insights as to gender conventions.
We have also found large numbers of images in which the children are not identified. Thus the images are not as helpful in establishing just what the gender conventions were. Here we often have an idea about gender, but are often unable to identify the gender with any degree of certainty. We did not just want to discard these images, but we stress that the insights developed here are not as valid as those developed with images that have been definitely identified. And of course we incourage readers to offer their own insights as to the possible gender of the children here.
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