Figure 1.-- This is an unidentified American family, we think from the late-1860s, on part because ofvthe plain background. The boys wear identical dark suits with bows. The collars are a little larger than we see in the earky- and mid-60s, although the portatrit easily could have been taken in early-70s. Note the Napoleonic hand posture. We doubt this bioy knew much about Napoleon. We suspect this was a studio trick to keep hands still. Notice how the girls' hannds were steadied. This is a wonderful example of the hair part gender conventions, side parts for boys and center partts for the girls. Also motice the low-cut tops and pantaletts the girls are wearing.

We have also archived countless images showing the very clear and wide acceptancve of gender conventions in hair parting. While the individuals photographed are often not named, the gender involved is usually very obvious, certainly very likely. This can be assessed by a combination of facial features, clothing, props, and other indicators. All of which are confirmed by the sizeable number of images that do have names written on the back. As discussed on another page, there are certainly ambiguous images, but it is possible to get a good idea of gender by hair parts and the other indicators. Of course assessing gender when the names are not available is not prefect, but it provides a level of accuracy that is certainly useful for the purpose of out HBC website. There are a few complicatiions. We note some boys for fashionable reasons with center parts. These are, however, school-age boys and there is no doubt about their gender. Another issue is babies, at least babies that have enough hair to part. We have no idea to what extennt the gender conventions were followed with babies. But as we primarily pursue childhood fashions and not baby fashioins, this is a also not a major issue for our weesite.

Created: 8:33 AM 11/16/2021
Last updated: 8:34 AM 11/16/2021