Figure 1.-- This unidentified boy in a Ambrotype cased portrait has a hir cut that was very popular un the 1970s. It is a Beatles style cut, commonly called a moptop. You can tell this is a 19th century portait from the boy's collar buttoning jacket and white collar. Hair down to and partially covering the ears was very common, in some cases covering the ears entirely. But just looking at the hair cut, he would look like a 1970s boy.

Some of the 1850s cuts look rather modern. We do not see many examples of the famous bowl cut, perhaps this was more common in rural areas where boys were less likely to have their portraits taken. We suspect that most portraits in the 1850s were of city boys. We do not note many children with elaborate hair styles, especially the boys. As far as we can tell that after a younger boy's curls were cut, the hair was simply parted and combed in a straight forward manner. Short hair does not seem very common. We note a range of different lengths, but we rarely see really long hair. The Wallis brothers, for example, in 1852 all had their hair cut off their ears. It is combed in a little more stylish fashion than many boys we see at the time. Children's hair styles were largely influenced by adult styles, mothers for the girls and fathers for the boys. An exception here were younger boys who might have curls like the girls. Women's hairstyles was commonly shorter styles well above the shoulders with a bun at the back during both the 1840s and 50s. The major difference in these mid-century styles was wher the bun was placed. To create the bun parted in the center which is waht you see in photographic record as the subject is facing forward. But as tou appraoch the rear of the head, the part sepatates into a 'Y' shape to help form the bun. None of the later appears in most portaits. As far as we can tell, the bun was primarily a style for older teenagers and especially adult women. From the front the styles for women and girls look similar which is what we see in the photographis record. Length was a issue. Women's styles usually covered the ears. Girl's styles commonly covered only part of the ear. A good example is an unidentified girl in 1857. As far as we can tell that after a younger boy's curls were cut, the hair was simply parted and combed in a straight manner down grom the part. Short hair above the ears does not seem very common. We note a range of different lengths, but we rarely see really long hair below the ears. Here the boys have their ears mostly covered. Other boys had their hair cut above the ears.

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Created: 10:15 PM 9/12/20197
Last edited: 10:15 PM 9/12/2019