Figure 1.--This cabinet pportrait shows a young boy magician doing a trick with a coin (I think a Morgan silver dollar) in a glass. The boy wears a tuxedo. He wears his knee pants suit with black long stickings and strap shoes that had bows. We are not sure if it was just for his magic act. The portrait is undated, but we would guess was taken about 1890. The portrait was taken in Kenton, Ohio. The studio was G.E. & E.M. Crosby, probably a husband wife team.

Normally boys mostly wore tuxedos if attending a formal wedding. There may have been a few exceptions, such as dressing up for a magic act. An example here is a Ohio boy about 1890 (figure 1). The principal occassion, however, seem to be formal events. And even at these wedding if he is the ring bearer or in the grome's party. There are today very limited other opportunities for a boy to wear a tuxedo. Even in formal weddings there are other options for boys. In America, Eton suits, commonly worn with short pants, are probably the most common choice for boy's formal wear. Many boys at weddings, even quite young boys, however, now insist on dressing like the adults. Thus it has become increasingly common to dress them just like the groomsmen in small tuxedos.

Created: 7:29 PM 9/29/2007
Last edited: 7:29 PM 9/29/2007