Figure 1.--This cabinet card portrait shows a boy with a patterned Eton collar and floppy bow, Polkadots were the most common pattern, but these do not seem to be actual polkadots as they re not round. The bow is modest for the time and we can see this was an Etin collsar with pointed tips. The portrait is undated, but the mount perforations tell us that the portrait was taken about 1890. The photographer was Thompson who had studios in Nevada, Mossuri and Bonham, Texas.

The standard Eton collar was a detachablke, pristine plain white collar. We note some Eton collrs, as least collars done in the Eton style, that were colored and done with patterns. This was a relatively small portion of the the Eton collars we have found in the photographic record. Here we are discussiung Eton collsars, but there were also examples of similar collsars without the pointed Eton tips such as Peter Pan collsars. We can't identify the colors from the photograpic record. We can of course note that some were dark colors. Light colors , especislly ehite, were more common. We can make out the patterns much easier. The most common pattern seems to have been polkadots. We do notice other patterns such as circles, but they are often not easy to make out. This seems to have been an especially popular American style. We notice fewer European examples. Of course our American archive is larger and provides a better sample thsn our European archives. The patterned Eton collars seem most common during the 1880s-1900s. We think they my have been more common on the Eton collars that girls wore, but we are just beginning to explore this topic. . We do not know whst colors were used for the polkadots. We do not know yet if there were any age conventions.

Prevalence

The standard Eton collar was a detachablke, pristine plain white collar. We note some Eton collrs, as least collars done in the Eton style, that were colored and done with patterns. This was a relatively small portion of the the Eton collars we have found in the photographic record.

Other Collars

Here we are discussiung Eton collsars, but there were also examples of similar collsars without the pointed Eton tips such as Peter Pan collsars.

Colors

We can't identify the colors from the black-and-white photograpic record in use when these collars were worn. We can of course note that some were dark colors. Light colors, especislly ehite, were more common.

Patterns

We can make out the patterns much easier. The most common pattern seems to have been polkadots. We do notice other patterns such as circles, but they are often not easy to make out. This seems to have been an especially popular American style. We notice fewer European examples. Of course our American archive is larger and provides a better sample than our European archives. The patterned Eton collars seem most common during the 1880s-1900s. We think they my have been more common on the Eton collars that girls wore, but we are just beginning to explore this topic. . We do not know whst colors were used for the polkadots. We do not know yet if there were any age conventions.

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Created: 2:37 AM 4/16/2010
Last updated: 10:34 PM 4/30/2015