Figure 1.--Here we see a little girl posing in her Sunday best. Here hair is cut very short. Wemight have though she was a boy had it not been for the bonnet and parocel. And in this case we know just who the girl is--Amy May Crouch. She was 7 years old. The portrait was taken in 1880. Apparently she lived in Rochester, N.Y., but the portrait was taken in Galt, Ontario. Notice the low waistline and the stripped stockings.

One HBC reader reports that in the early 20th century before World War I, short hair for a girl was not considered stylish. We have, however, seen girls with shorter cuts appearing in fashion magazines. We note, for example, a book about French fashions (Children's Fashion 1860-1912) which showed short hair for girls at the end of the 1880s and the beginning of the 1890s. A German reder reports, "This trend is supported by photos I have seen in books. And I have also seen a painting with girls and short hair from about 1900." This was not, however, the dominant trend which was for young women to have long hair. Here we notice that more girls than young women had short hair. HBC notes very large numbers of girls which had short hair, especially in school portrits. We are not entirely sure why. A reader provides some possible reasons for girls having short hair: practical, convenient, and to discourage vanity." Another reader agrees that it had to with lice. She also points out that it may have to do with tangled hair or some other event that made long hair impractical. HBC is not convinced that these were the only reasons, but we do believe that they are part of the reason. We do not yet have sufficent information to assess country trends. One significant factor may have been social class. We believe that working class girls were more likely to have short hair. This may be because their mothers had less time to devote to careing for their hair. Factors suuh as huygene and practicality may have been especially important to working class families.

Prevalence

One HBC reader reports that in the early 20th century before World War I, short hair for a girl was not considered stylish. We have, however, seen girls with shorter cuts appearing in fashion magazines. We note, for example, a book about French fashions (Children's Fashion 1860-1912) which showed short hair for girls at the end of the 1880s and the beginning of the 1890s. A German reder reports, "This trend is supported by photos I have seen in books. And I have also seen a painting with girls and short hair from about 1900." This was not, however, the dominant trend which was for young women to have long hair. Here we notice that more girls than young women had short hair. HBC notes very large numbers of girls which had short hair, especially in school portraits.

Reasons

Hair style for children tends to be a combination of fashion and practicality. The two sometines conflict. We are not entirely sure why we see girls with short hair. . A reader provides some possible reasons for girls having short hair: practical, convenient, and to discourage vanity." Another reader agrees that it had to with lice. She also points out that it may have to do with tangled hair or some other event that made long hair impractical. HBC is not convinced that these were the only reasons, but we do believe that they are part of the reason. We do not yet have sufficent information to assess country trends. One significant factor may have been social class. We believe that working class girls were more likely to have short hair. This may be because their mothers had less time to devote to careing for their hair. Factors suuh as hygene and practicality may have been especially important to working class families. A reader writes, "Ernest Hemingway's sister in her autobiography described how she had cut her hair and her mother evened it by making it very short and she had to wear a baby bonnet until it grew longer, so there are many reasons for short hair."

Styles

There were different ways of doing short hair. Girls might still have center parts. Or a common way of doing short hair was front bangs. These were common styles, but there were several others. There were of course different lengths of short hair. The shorter the hair, the more likely the child is to be a boy. We have found enough portraits of girls with short hair, however, that it is that the gender identity is never entirely definite no matter how short the child's hair.

Fender Identification

The shorter styles in particulsr can cause confusion with boys in these old photographs, because younger boys often wore dresses or other skirted outfits. The treatment of the hair around the ears also varied. While younger childre can be a real challenge to identify, the older a child is in a dress, the nore likely it is a girl, even if the child has very short hair.

Created: 2:32 AM 3/21/2006
Last updated: 8:13 AM 10/3/2007