Figure 1.--This postcard-back portrait shows three children and a tricycle. It has a SOLIO stamp box. One of the children has dated the portrait 1911. Notice the firl wears a dress that looks rather like a tunic, although the sleeves are dome like a dress. The bioy on the trike looks to be about 5vyears old and wears a white sailor tunic. His older brother wears a sailor suit.

We see boys at age 5 commonly wearing tunics both in formal studio portraits and in family snapshots. We also see tunics being done in many different styles for 5 year old. When a range of styles are offered, that suggests that the garment was especially popular. Most tunic suits we have noted include 5 year olds within the age range. A New York store Siegal Cooper in 1904 offered a standard tunic suit called a Russian blouse suit in sizes 2 1/2 to 7 years. It was the same style for the entire age range. This seems to have been a common convention. After age 5 years, boys began school. Thus we see fewer boys wearing tunics at age 6 years. Tunics were made to size 8 years, but they were less popular for school age children than for pre-schoolers. A few boys wore them to school, but not very many. Another factor is the chronology. Here were see a 1911 portraut showing the convention for pre-school and school-age boys (figure 1).

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Created: 8:14 AM 10/27/2008
Last edited: 8:14 AM 10/27/2008