Figure 1.--Here we see an unidentified group of English boys, we think in the 1890s. They look to be brothers, but there is always the possibility a couusine may have been thrown in. The age range looks to be about 2-7 years old. The older boy has what looks like a pointed collar shirt added to his sailor blouse. One of the younger boys (but not the youngest) has a large lace collar covering his blouse so we are not sure it is a sailor blouse. This was amounted photograph, a rather unusual size (11 X 8 cm / 4.3 X 3.1 in). There was no studio information.

Here we see an unidentified group of English boys, we think in the 1890s. They look to be brothers, but there is always the possibility a couusine may have been thrown in. The age range looks to be about 2-7 years old. The older boy has what looks like a pointed collar shirt added to his sailor blouse. One of the younger boys (but not the youngest) has a large lace collar covering his blouse so we are not sure it is a sailor blouse. This was a mounted photograph, a rather unusual size (11 X 8 cm / 4.3 X 3.1 in). There was no studio information.

Group

Here we see an unidentified group of English boys. We assume it is a family group.

Chronology

We think the portrit was tken in the 1890s. The early-1900s is possible, but we think the 1890s is the most likely.

Location

The portait looks to have been taken outside an ivy-covered house, presumably the boys' home. Studiosatthetime employed photographerswho took portraits around town and not just in studios. Intineratephotographers operatedkon their own.

Identity

The boys are unidentified. They look to be brothers, but there is always the possibility a cousin may have been thrown in to the mix.

Ages

The age range looks to be about 2-7 years old. A reader writes, "I think the boys age range is more like 4 to 7 not 2. I don't think that young boy standing on the table is 2 and the boy sitting looks older too." I was a little unsure about the ages. One factor is that if they are brothers there are likely to be at least 1.5-2 years between them and 4-7 years does not account for all four. Of course one may be a cousin. The standing child may not be 2, but I don't think he is 4 year sold.

Outfits

The older boy has what looks like a pointed collar shirt added to his sailor blouse. One of the younger boys (but not the youngest) has a large lace collar covering his blouse so we are not sure it is a sailor blouse.

Hosiery

Areader writes, "Also interesting that the older boys wear stockings and the younger boys do not. I always wondered if that was because of toileting issues around wetting the stockings when they wear them too young? Just a thought." As for the stockings. The Europeans were more inclined to go for socks for the younger kids. Here it is the really little kids but often in was primary kids in general. As for the why, I kind of assumed that it was modesty issues and the younger kids were excused. If it was just the toddlers involved, I think toilet training may be the factor, but often it was older kids already toilet trained. A good example is another unidentified group. The same basic trend applied to girls, although girls continued to wear long stockings longer than boys.

Photograph

This was a mounted photograph, a rather unusual size (11 X 8 cm / 4.3 X 3.1 in). There was no studio information.

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Created: 4:33 AM 1/31/2019
Last updated: 4:33 AM 1/31/2019