* >Boys' Hair Styles: Hair Knot Style--Sweepup








Boys' Hair Styles: Hair Knot Style--Sweepup


Figure 1.--This boy was photographed in 1865. Hewas from Falmouth, I think that means Massachustes. He was 3 years old and not yet breached.

A common style in the 1850s and 60s was to sweep the hair from both sides. We are not sure how mothers had kept the hair swept up. They must have used some kind of hair dressing product or even fat to make it stand up like that for a portrait. We are not sure how common this style was or if it was worn primarily for a portrait. We note a 3 year old boy in 1865 with this style, but do not yet have enough images to fully assess it. This style was commonly used when side ringlets were not employed.

Style

A common style in the 1850s and 60s was to sweep the hair from both sides. Some boys had this hair done in a curl, but other boys just had the swept up wiyhout any further action. We do not yet have enough images to fully assess this hair fashion. This style was commonly used when side ringlets were not employed. Note that the rest of the hair is long at the sides, wll over the boys' ears, but not down to his shoulders. The images we have noted do not show the hair at the side much longer than this.

Styling

We are not sure how mothers had kept the hair swept up. They must have used some kind of hair dressing product or even fat to make it stand up like that for a portrait. We have no information as to hair products available in the 1860s.

Popularity

We are not sure how common this style was or if it was worn primarily for a portrait. Unlike ringlets, this seems to have been a style that could easily be combed differently.

Image

We note a 3 year old boy in 1865 with this style. He has not yet been breached and wears a colored dress that looks to be styled much like one his sister could have worn.

Reader Comment

A HBC reader comments, "I agree that Falmouth is probably Falmouth Massachusetts on Cape Cod. This would probably mean that the child's father was involved with the fishing or seafaring industries because most of the inhabitents of Southeast Massachusetts and Cape Cod at that time derived their income from the sea or servicing people who did. The photograph could have been taken because the father returned from a voyage (obviously this is mere speculation on my part) the timing of return voyages was not always known so a hasty clean up may have been involved. [HBC note: This boy to HBC looks to be from a relatively affluent family. If indeed his father was a fusherman, we speculkate that hewoud have been the captain or other officer of the boat because fishermen were not particularly well paid. As it is 1865, another possibility is hia father coming home from the Civil War.] The clothes of the boy with the half hose and strap shoes seems to be the style for young children even into the 1920s."







HBC






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Created: June 2, 2002
Last edited: June 3, 2002