Figure 1.--This American boy wears one of the many varied hair styles worn with ringlet curls. Note the small number of ringlets with the top knot style. The portrait here is undated, but was perhaps taken in the 1890s. |
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HBC is not really sure what to call this style, nor have we seen it mentioned in the literature consulted so far in my
research. Our information on this hair style is largely based on American photographic images. We do not know if it was also a popular hair style in other countries and if so how common it was in which countries. As far as HBC can tell this style was worn troughout the second half of the 19th century, from about 1850-1900, although this is only a guess arrived at from the still limited number of images we have archived. In particular we are not sure if this style was common earlier before photography was generating important numbers of images. Photography was only in vented in 1839. As with many fashion trends, our assessment is largely based on an assessment of the photigraphic record. As far as we can tell this was a boys' hair style and not one that was also worn by girls. The limited number of images we have do not permit us to reasonably assess the age at which boys had their hair styled in these knots. It appears it was most common onpre school boys, boys 5 years old or younger. Some older boys also wore this style, mostly boys up to 7 or 8 years of age. A few images old older boys up to about 10 years of age also exist. The age range, however, requires, however, some further research. We have only noted this style in American photographs. We have not noted it any European 19th century phtographs. Thus it may be an American rather than an imported style.
We do not yet have any contemprary sources on this style, so I do not know what term was used to describe it. One of our HBC hair specialists tell me that I may be using the wrong term. He believes hair knot is the wrong term. The hair of the children in figure 2 looks to be curled and than pulled back and pinned in place with the hair bow. He finds it unusual that the hair is parted on the right and the bow on the left. Most boys have their hair parted on the left side including those wearing bows. He believes that the term hair 'knot' should be used when the the hair is twisted around and fastenned in place with hair pins. A better term is problly top curl.
HBC is not really sure what to call this style, nor
have we seen it mentioned in the literature consulted so far in my
research. We have, however, seen large numbers of images with boys weating the style, usually on unbreached boys. For want of a better term I will refer to it as a hair knot. If anyone knows what it was really called when in use, please let us know.
We are not sure what this style was all about. Or even what it was called. It may look rather strange and many today may not think it very attractive, but obviiously some fashionable mothers at the time liked this style. We are not sure what the fathers thought. We see these large top curls done in various styles. They were done both with and withour ringlets.
They were mostly done with ringlets at the side and back. Most of the top curl portraits we have found show the boys with ringlets. Using the hair for a top curl affected the number and thickness of the ringlets whichncould be formed. The hair at the top took away from the ringlets, so these boys generally had fewer ringlets. The most commpn way of styling the hair at a boy's forehead when wearing ringlets was bangs. There were, however, other options such as a front part. While these were the more common options, another option was a top curl, hair knot, or other piling of the hair at the forehead and top of the head. They were done with ringlets, although the top curls lin=mied the the hair availavle to form ringlets. Thus the number and thicknes of ringlets were affected. The hair at the top took away from the ringlets, so these boys generally had fewer ringlets. These top knot style were worn both with and without ringlets.
Some of these top roll/curl hairbstyles were done without ringlets, especially in the earlier phase. Most of the top curl portraits we have found without ringlets come from mid-century. It was most common to see them with runglets, but we have found sonevboys with too knotsw that did not have acoomoamying ringlets.
Most of the available we havevimages are undated, but look to be portraits taken in the second half of the 19th centuey and toma lesser extent the early-20th century. An assessment of just when this hair style was worn requires more research. We are not sure when it first appeared. The paucity of early-19th century images make it difficult to know if this hair style was present. The images were all pointings, mostly by primative artists (1800s-30s). Paintings were of course done in much smaller numbers than photographs, even early photographs. It is possible that the style was worn earlier in the 1830s and 40s before photographic images were commonly available. I have not noted the style in painted portraits, but there are far few paintings than photographs--so it may just be the lack of images that suggests the style began in the 1850s.
Thus our dating may simply reflect the fact that photography was only developed in 1839 and with only a handul of exceotions, the earliest American images are from the 1840s. Obly a few of the images we have found are dated. This we havevhad to nestimate the dates. We think that while we may be off a few years, that we can identify the decade with reasonable accuracy.
We note boys in Dauguerreotypes, but cannot definitively date thwm to the 1840s. They would be at least as early as the 1850s. One example is an unidentified boy, perhaps from an Hispanic family.
Much larger numbers of images become acailble with albumen images (CDVs and cabinet cards) (1860s). We note two Detroit brothers will top-rolled curls, probably taken in the late 1860s. Another example is Charles J.J. Carter in the 1860s.
We continue to see this hair style in the 1870s and then the 1880s when the Little Lord Fauntleroy craze made ringlet curls popular. Many of these boys wore Fauntleroy suits, but we see them with other outfits as well. Mos of the rinlet portrais we note show the biys with bangs or center oarts. These top rolls were much less common than the more standard ringlet curl styles. Doting mothers loved the ringlets and some wanted these even more ekaborate top rolls.
We note an Ohio boy wearing a top curl with a Fauntleroy suit in the 1890s.
We do not yet have a firm idea as to the countries in which this top curl style was worn. We know it was worn in America and the images we have found are mostly American. We havew a page specifically on American top curls. A good example is a Chicago boy probably in the late 1880s. We note another American boy, this one in the 1890s. Most of the examples archieved on HBC are American, but this is perhaps because our American archive is the largest. We have also noted the style in Europe. We think it was particularly popular in France. The larger number of American image probably reflects the fact that most of HBC's historical archive is American photographs. And our information on this hair style is largely based on American photographic images. We have only noted this style to any extent in American photographs. hus it may be an American rather than an imported style. We do not know if it was also a popular hair style in other countries and if so how common it was in which countries. We do note some similarities with the French choupette hair style of the 20th century. We do not know, however, if this was a hair style worn in France.
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HBC has no written sources on this. Thus we can make no assessment on popularity. We believe, howeve, that it was probably not very popular with boys who had to wear it. And we have found only a small fraction of thebnous with ringlet curls also had this style.
HBC does not have enough information to draw conclusions. Several of the available images show boys with this hair style wearing sailior suits. This is probably a reflection of ther popularity of the sailor suit rather than any connection between the two styles.We have just begun to assess the styles of clothes with which boys would wear this hair style. Based on the few available images, it appears to younger boys both before and after brreching. Boys in dresses wore it as did boys in tunics after they were breeched and wearing bloomer-like knickers. Many of the available mages show boys wearing dresses or skirted outfits wih kneepants or pantelettes. This is espcially the case of the 1850s and 60s portraits. By the 1880s, however, we begin to see a wider range of outfits including many boys wearing knee pants outfits--including Little Lord Fauntleroy suits.
HBC believes that this hair style was used for both genders. Thus both a boy and his sister might have their hair styled with these hair knots/top eolls. One available image shows a brother and sister with similar hair knots, but only the boy, who was older, wearing ringlets. It is not known if the mother thought that ringlets were more appropriate for her son or if the girl was not yet old enough for ringlets. Based on the photographic record, however, we mostly see boys with this hair style. HBC can not yet substantiate this, but we believe that this was hair style primarily worn by boys. As some of the boys with this hair style wore dresses, this is a bit difficult to confirm. We have, however, not yet noted a girl's name among the available images. HBC believes that it is necessary to analize figure 2 carefully. The child on the right is probably the younger sister. The facial characteristics, the necklace, and the frilly dress all suggest that the child is a girl. This would substantiate that hair knots were worn by both boys and girls. The question is why her hair is not in ringlets. It seems a bit strange that the older brother would have ringlets, but not the younger sister. Perhaps she is too young to have enough hair for forming ringlets. HBC cautions that there is no definitive evidence that the child on the left is a girl. Younger boys in the 1890s still commonly wore dresses, although by the 1890s usually not so girlishly styled as this child's dress here. We do not see many girls with these top curls, with or with out ringlets, although in the the 20th century we see the related kewpie style.
The limited number of images we have at this time do not permit me to reasonably assess the age at which boys had their hair styled in these top rolls/knots. It appears it was most common on boys 5 years old of younger. Some older boys also wore this style, mostly boys 7 or 8 years of age. A few images old older boys up to about 10 years of age also exist. The age range, however, requires, however, some further research. We have mostly found porttaits of pre-school boys wearing these top curls. And few note the ages of the boys. We can only estimate. Gere it ius helpful when ghere a re multiple children in the portraits. We have an extensive archive of school images and have not yet found a boy at school with this hairbstyle. A good example of a boy with this hair styke is an Ohio boy in the 1890s. He looks to be about 3 years old.
Several individuals wearing these top curls are archived on HBC. A good example is Charles Fox in the 1860s.
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