Figure 1.--These American brothers from Pennsylvania in a portrait taken about 1890 wear classic Little Lord Fauntleroy suits and blouses. Note that only the younger boy in this instance wears the ringlet curls so associated with the Fauntleroy outfit. I'm not sure why the older boys are not wearing jackets. |
Hair was one of the most common ways of identifying the younger boy. In some families the boys would wear almost identical clothes and only the hair style would vary among the different age boys. In other families mothers would vary both clothes and hair style. Some mothers might cut the curls of their older boys or perhaps add a hairbow to the younger boy's hair. The younest boy would be the most likely to still be in curls or wear some sort of fancy hair style. The age at which mothers may the cut off from the curls for the younger boy to shorter hair styles varied. Often curls were cut at about 5-6 years old, but this was not always the case and older boys did wear them.
Moothers had three basic appraoches concerning hair styles and her sons. Hair was one of the most common ways of identifying the younger boy, but there were three basic choices.
In some families the boys would wear identical or almost identical clothes and only the hair style would vary among the different age boys. Some mothers might cut the curls of their older boys or perhaps add a hairbow to the younger boy's hair. The younest boy would be the most likely to still be in curls or wear some sort of fancy hair style. The age at which mothers may the cut off from the curls for the younger boy to shorter hair styles varied. Often curls were cut at about 5-6 years old, but this was not always the case and older boys did wear them. One wnders to what extent the issue of cutting a boys curls was discussed within the family. Also to what extebt the boys discussed it among themselves. Was it done at a set age, or did a boy size and disposition make a difference. Was the curls of the younsest brother cut soon or later than his older brothers.
In some families the boys would wear vary the clothes, but have the same hair style for the boys--usually short hair. Sometimes there are clothing differences which may not be associated with age. Why is the younger brother the only one wearing the jacket in figure 1? From the boys' perspective surely the blouse (that all the boys are wearing) and not the jacket was the objectionable garment. Also do the white kneepants the middl brother is wearing have any significance.
In other families the boys woud wear both similar or identical clothes and identical hair styles. clothes and have similar hair cutsSome parents, presumably it was usually the mothers idea, wanted to dress the their sons identically. This was most common for twins, both identcal and fraternal. Some of the children were dressed it exactly the same outfits. The most common hair styles for these boys was short hair. Some boys, however, did also have identical longer hair styles as well. This of course required some effort on the part of the mothers.
I'm not sure precisely when these age differentiations with hair were most common. Most boys in the early 19th century appear to have had short hair. Long hair and ringlet cirls appear tonhave ben most commom from the alte 1860s to the early 1910s. This would have also been the era when using hair to differentiate boys' ages was most common.
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