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A cpmmon cut for younger boys was the bowl cut. This was a cut where the hair was cut short at the neck and below the upper or mid-ear. The bowl cut has also been xalled the mushroom cut. It is one of the more simple cuts. There are two basic styles. It of course got its name because mother could and did use a bowl to cut a voy's hair. This allowed an even cut all around the head, including a cut to the same length at both sides. This was because it was an easy cut for mother to give and the boy did not have to be taken to the barber. We see these cuts in both the late-19th and early-20th century. Ages varied. They were most common for younger boys in the cities. We believe that bowl cuts were also used for front bangs but not all around the head. Note that some bangs were cut straight across while others have more of a rounded look tht may have resulted from using the bowl aprroach. In rural and western areas where barbers were less common and people were less affluent, older boys might have bowl cuts as well, including boys up to the early teens sometimes. By their teen years, however, boys generally wanted a more mature cut. Bowl cuts seem especially common in America, but we are not entirely sure about other countries because are archive is not as extensive. I don't think there were two common in Germany and Eastern Europe, in part because for the era we most commonly see bowl cuts (late-19th to the early-20th centuries) it was so common to crop a boy's hair close all over.
A popular cut for younger boys was the bowl cut. It of course got its name because mother commonly used a bowl or pot which allowed an even cut all around the head, including a cut to the same length at both sides. This was because it was an easy cut for mother to give and the boy did not have to be taken to the barber. The hair was cut short by using an upturned bowl as a guide. The bowl would be selected to roughly fit a child's head. Somemothers were better at cutting hir than others. The bowl cut was a fool proof method for those mothers who had trouble doing even cuts at the side.
The most common name for this cut was 'bowl cut'. Several other termns were used, including pot, helmet, and mushroom cut.
Bowl cuts were mostly used for boys. It was a way of cutting the hair short. Many girls had long hair. Some mothers may have used bowls when bangs and bobbed hair became popular for girls in the 1920s. And we see fashionable young women with variations of thebowl cut in the late-20th century. It gave them a boyish look becaise the basic bowl cut is so associate with boys.
One source provides directions without using the bowl, " Part off the hair that you want to leave long and clip it out of the way. Then Take the clippers and go from the nape up to the line you have created by parting the hair. Then when you are done shaving that part you can let the other hair down. Finally if you want you can trim the top if you would like."
We note two basic styles of bowl cuts. There was the full bowl cut and the partial front bangs bowl cut. The full or classic bowl cut involved putting an appropriately sized bow on a boy's head and trimming all the way around the head any hair that peaked out from the upturned bowl. This resulted in a cut with a straight bangs (fringe). This was the less common approach, cutting the hair around the bowl all the way around the head--the same length or at least cut to a shorter lenth. Here we can see an example of a bowl cut all the bay around the boy's head (figure 1). There was also a partil bowl cut, leaving the rest of the hair toward the back longer. We also see the front bangs cut shorter than the haie at the sides and back. The partial bowl is what we normally see. Mother cut the front and then at the neck and below the upper or mid-ear. The hair tended to cut short. At the time boys did not wear theur hair as short as became popular in the 20th century. The basic full bowl cut was very standardize and there was very little variation except with the shape of the boy's head. We see a lot of more varied cuts which are at heart a bowl cut in the 20th century. As the bowl cut acquired a fashionable image more varitions developed. And in the later-20th century we see the mod cut, a kind of longish bowl cut.
The bowl cut was seen in the late-19th century as kind of home approach to cutting hair, primarily children hair. This was for children living too far from town to go to the barber or whose parents could not aford to send their kids to the barber, at least in the 1900s decade. We are not entirely sure about the extent to which boys were sent to the barber in the 19th century. The barbershop in the v19th cenbtury develooed a reputation as a male have and often a somewhat seedy place where mothers did not want to send their younger children. Or accomapny them which is now a standard practice. It was not seen as a proper place for women. This meant that it was left to mother to cut the hair of younger boys. Another important facror to consider is that America was prinmarily a rural country in the 19th century and even in the early-20th century more than half the populatiin lived in rural areas. Thus there wa s not easy access to a barber ebven if the pareants could afford it. Thus the bowl cut a style for rural families and low income families. Based on the photographic record, we see it more as a rural approach. We see boys in the early 20th century with bowl cuts, but the way they are dressed, they clearly do not come from poor families. This appearch to be a style with a very limited chronological prevalence. We have found a few notable exaples in the 1900s decade. The bowl cut seems to have been a fashionable style, both the full bowl cut and the partial front bangs cut. We also note fadhionable boys with bowl cuts in the 1980s. Some were done with a kind of layering.
In rural and western areas where barbers were less common and people were less affluent. The bowl cut was common among the Amish because mother did the hair cutting.
The bow cut has anciebt origins, largely because of its simplicity. We do not havevmuch information on America until the 19th xcentury. We are not sure if bowl cuts were done in the early-19th century. Before photography was invented,it is much more difficult to follow fashion trends, both hair styles and clothing. We see these cuts in both the mid-and late-19th century as phitiography was developed and we begin to acquire large numbers of images. . They wre at the tgime utilitarian approaches to cutting childrens hair. This seems to have changed to sone extent in the 20th century. The bowl cut seems to have acquired a fashioinable image in the 20th century. This has varied over time. We see boys in very fashionable clothing with bowl curs during the erarly-20th century. There was a kind of revival beginning in the mid-1960s. Some believe that it resulted from the Beattle's moptop hair styles. The Monkees TV program may have also been an influence. As long hair became fashionanle we see longer bowl cuts. A somewhat longer version, called the mod haircut, was popular with teenagers during the late-1960s and early-70s. And we see fashionable boys in the 1980s with bowl cuts. One source tells us that while the cut's popularity faded in the early 1990s it has re-emerged in today's culture with modernized takes on the style. [Spear]
The bowl cut is generally seen as a child's cut. Ages varied. We see both pre-school and school age boys with bowl cuts. They were most common for younger boys in the cities. Older boys might have bowl cuts as well, including boys up to the early teens sometimes. By their teen years, however, boys generally wanted a more mature cut.
Bowl cuts seem especially common in America, but we are not entirely sure about other countries because are archive is not as extensive. We are unsure about Germabty and Easrern Rurooe, but they seem very coimmon in Russia. This is difficult to assess because our aerchive is limited and it was common to virtually shave off the hair of school age boys. And we see much of this when photograph beging to become important in the mid-19th century. And this is era we most commonly see bowl cuts (late-19th to the early-20th centuries). It was verycommon to crop a boy's hair close all over. Japanese children seem to have bowl cuts, both boys and girls, especially the front bangs. A British source recalls a bad bowl cut his mother gave him, "BBCs (Bad Bowl Cuts) weren't only restricted to the colonies. Back in England in around 1975 (I was around 7 years old) I was the lucky wearer of one of my 'Mum's Specials'. She put a large glass bowl on my head and cut around the edge, so how she managed to get the jagged effect you see here is beyond my comprehension. Maybe it was all the jumping around and screaming that I went through as she was trying to disfigure my lovely locks. These days things are much simpler, as time has taken it's toll and there aren't that many hairs left up there to cut." We see some of the Native Americans in Brazil, such as the Yanomamo, with bowl cuts.
Spear, J. Elaine. Haircutting for Dummies.
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