Figure 1.-- Here we see an unidentified American boy wearing a sailor suit. He looks to be about 6 years old. The style of the sailor suit suggess the 1870s to us. Notice the stripe on the pants. Also note the unusual embroidery on the stockings. This portrait is by by Nims of Fort Edward, New York. This was arare studio that id not use standard cabinent card mounts. The mount edges are giklded.

Large numbers of American boys wore sailor suits at age 6 years. In the 100 years or so that sailor suits were worn, age 6 years was almost always commonly included within the age range. American boys began wearing sailor suits in the 1860s, but they were not yet very common so we can not yet develop an age range. We see more boys wearing sailor suits in the 70s and this included 6 year olds. We are not sure about the full range. This continued as the sailor suit became increasingly popular. We see both pre-school and school age boys wearing them. By the 1890s they were one of the most popular outfits for boys. Age 6 years of course is the standard age for beginnng school. And we note boys wearing sailor suits to school. This of course varied over time. We see pre-teen boys wearing them to school. Sailor suits continued to be populsr in the 1900s and 6-year olds commonly wore them. We notice Harold Fitzroy-Carrington at about age 6 wearing a crisp white sailor tunic in 1904. After World War I this changed. Sailor suits began to decline in popularity, but we still see 6 year olds wearing them. We note a short pants summer suit worn in the 1920s. We still see 6-year olds wearing sailor suits, but few boys after the 3rd grade wore them. We think the popularity of sailor outfits with girls was a factor. We still ee a few 5- and 6-year olds wearing sailor suits in the early-40s, but rarely after that as the sailor suit went out of fashion for boys. We notice 6-year olds wearing sailor suits with dufferent types of pants. This included long pants during times when most 6-year olds did not wear long trousers.

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Created: 8:38 PM 1/3/2011
Last updated: 8:38 PM 1/3/2011