Figure 1.--Here we see a family cabinet card portrait in 1912. The card measures 7.5" x 9.5", larger than the classic cabinet card. It is dated Janury 2, 1912. It includes cousins as well as siblings. The famiklies are Knock, Kruse, and Smit, all German sounding names. Note ll the boys are wering tunic suits. The child at right we believe is a boy. The names are written at the bottom of the card, but are diffivult to read. Click on the image to see the whole card. Let us know if you can make out the names. The boys look to be about 3-5 years old. The two girls are older and wear dresses. These are probably hand sewn tunic suits. Note that the basic style of all three tunic suits re the samebut in different colors and varied trim.

Tunics were very widely worn by American boys in both the 1900s and 1910s. Tunics were worn throughout the 19th century, but new styles appeared at the turn-of-the 20th century We suspect that the popularity was in part because tunic suits were very oractical garments. And the summer wash suits made them easy for mother to wash, a welcome feature for mother. A good example is American boy Hewett Lindsley in 1910. Tunics continued to be a very popular garment for younger boys throughout the 1910s. We notice large numbers of offerings in the major catalogs during the 1910s. And there are also many examples of the catalog offerings appearing in the photographic record. They were especially popular for pre-school boys. There also seems to ne a social-class component. We see many middle-class boys wearing tunic suit, but not very many working-class boys. And by the turn-of-the 20th century with the appearance of the Kodk Brownie and snapshot we have a much broader photographic record thn ever before.

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Created: 7:36 AM 8/3/2012
Last edited: 7:36 AM 8/3/2012