** boys hair styles -- Ameican country trends United States U.S. specific styles cropped hair








American Boys' Hair Styles: Specific Styles--Cropped Hair



Figure 1.--This family had an older girl and three boys about 5-10 years old. The boys all have the same cropped hair style. We see this style in America, but not very commonly. The boys all wear blouses and knee pants. The two younger boys wear Fauntleroy blouses with floppy bows. Only the younger boy wears an actual Fauntleroy suit complerte with jacket. The older boy wears a plainer blouse and bow. All three boys wear knee pants and long black stockings. The portrait is undated, but the clothes and mount suggest it was taken about 1890. There is an unusual background--a wilted sunflower. We suspect that this was a farm family. The photographer was F.A. Thorn in Ortonville, Minnesota.

We do not see very many American boys with cropped hair. We find some in the photographic record, but not very many. This was in sharp contrast to several European countries, including countries from which immigrants were coming into America. This appears to be the case in the 19th century. The boys we note with cropped hair inthe photographic record seem to be mostly younger boys. Short cropped cuts do not seem to have been nearly as popular in the late-19th and early-20th century as they were in Europe. While we have not seen a lot of images of American boys with cropped hair during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. We have, however, seen some images. A good example is Ray and Tip Whitney in 1895. Many European boys had close cropped hair. This varied from country to country, but wa especially common in Germany and Russia. We see these crooped cut much less in America. Here we are primarily assessing popularity based on the prevalence in the photographic record which by the late-19th century was a reasonable if somewhat weighted bias toward the middle class. We think that by the 1890s this was a very strong indictor. We suspect that many of the American boys who did have cropped hair were the children of relatively recent immigrants, but this is difficult to determine solely from the phootographic record. Children arriving in America were wearing European styles. They quickly channged, however to American styles. Not only were most children anxious to fit in, but of course the stoes only offered American styles. Cropped hair has been popular at times. We notice boys wearing styles like crew cuts and flat tops, similar to the basic crop, in the 1950s and early 60s. It did use to be a summer ritual for boys to get short hair cuts. Cropped hair was also briefly popular in the 1990s. Generally speaking, however, it was not one of the more popular American boys' hair style. Another issue is that in a few instances boys wih shaved heads had patches of styled hair. We also notice this in Europe. In America, the patches were sometimes styled.

Prevalence

We do not see very many American boys with cropped hair. We find some in the photographic record, but not very many. This was in sharp contrast to several European countries, including countries from which immigrants were coming into America. This appears to be the case in the 19th century. While we have not seen a lot of images of American boys with cropped hair during the late-19th and early-20th centuries. We have, however, seen some images.

Ages

The American boys we note with cropped hair in the photographic record seem to be mostly younger boys. The boys in the image here look to be 4-10 years old (figure 1). Images of older boys with cropped hair are much less common, at least in the 19th century. We see older boys in Europe with cropped hair, but in America they seem to be primarily younger boys. We suspect this was nostly immigrant children from countries where cropped hair were most common. This is only a theory at this point because in most instance we do not have the names of the children in the old photograophs we have archived. We can, however, estimate the ages. And most of the boys we have found with cropped hair or younger boys, either pre-school boys or boys in grammar (primary) school, especially the early primary years. The 20th century was a little different. We see many boys with short hair cuts like crew and buzz cuts. This appears to have become common after World War II (1939-45) when many service men had short cuts. After the War it became common for boys to have their hair cut short during the summer. We also see some very short cuts at the end of the century, but at the time there was a wide variety of hair styles for boys.

Social Class


Other Countries

Short cropped cuts do not seem to have been nearly as popular in America during the late-19th and early-20th century as they were in Europe and Japan. A good example is Ray and Tip Whitney in 1895. Many European boys had close cropped hair. This varied from country to country, but wa especially common in Germany and Russia. We see these crooped cut much less in America. >br>

Photographic Record

Here we are primarily assessing popularity based on the prevalence in the photographic record which by the late-19th century was a reasonable if somewhat weighted bias toward the middle class. We think that by the 1890s this was a very strong indictor.

Immigrant Children

We suspect that many of the American boys who did have cropped hair were the children of relatively recent immigrants, but this is difficult to determine solely from the phootographic record. Children arriving in America were wearing European styles. They quickly channged, however to American styles. Not only were most children anxious to fit in, but of course the stoes only offered American styles.

Chronology

Cropped hair was not popular for American boys, although we do see a few examples in the 19tgh century. Cropped hair has been popular at times. We notice boys wearing styles like crew cuts and flat tops, similar to the basic crop, in the 1950s and early 60s. The difference is that the 19th century examples look almost like shaved heads. It did use to be a summer ritual for boys to get short hair cuts. Cropped hair was also briefly popular in the 1990s. Generally speaking, however, it was not one of the more popular American boys' hair style.

Variations

Another issue is that in a few instances boys wih shaved heads had patches of styled hair. While the number is limited, we have archived a few in our HNV website. We also notice this in Europe. In America, the patches were sometimes styled. We notice an example, probably from the Midwest during the 1870s. The hair patch looks to be styled, but we can't make it out.








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Created: 7:47 PM 9/21/2008
Last edited: 7:58 PM 3/27/2022