Figure 1.--This tin-type portrait shows two unidentified American children. It is undated, but we would guess was taken in the 1880s, although we are jnit entirely sure. The boy has a standard side part. We assume the younger child with the center part is a girl, but often the centerpart is more precisely done for girls. Also notice the pantalettes.

The great majority of photographic images we have noted in which parts are destinct, show boys with side partsespecially left parts, although center parts were popular during certain relastively short perioThere are of coursre two basic options, lerft and right, but there are greater variatiion in that the part can be done at the side are higher up the head closer to the crown. We note variations over time. We note mostly side parts during the 19th century. A good example is two unidentified New York City children in the mid-19th century. The preponderance of left parts probably reflects the fact that most people or right handed. An American reader tells us, "I imagine my experience is rather common. My mother combed my hair was a younger boy and on special occassions would supervise or even pitch in even when I was well into primary school. It was always combed on the left which I never gave much thought to. The only variance was in the 1950s when I had a crew cut. Here there was so little hair at the sides and the rest of the hair so short that there wasn't much of a part to contend with." The most complicated matter is just where to do the part, how far to come down the side of the head. This varied, but most boys parted their hair far away from the crown. Generally we see side parts about half-way between the top of the ear and the boy's crown. We notice American boys in the mid-19th century with double side pants. A good example is an unidentified boy in the 1860s. There was some variarion as to how far dowmn the side of the head the part was made. We note parts rather high up on the head during the era that center parts were popular. One example is an unidentified violinist. While left parts were the most common, we also notice some right parts. A good example of a right part is Thomas Smith in the 1840s.

Created: 2:29 AM 4/30/2011
Last updated: 12:03 AM 4/14/2016