Figure 1.--Here we ee two American siblings in the 1920s. The children look to be about 5-8 years old. All we know about the portrait is that the studio was King and Frumkin in Albany, New York. There is a name written on the paperframe, something lke 'Moare' We are not sure if that is the photogrphr's or the family's name. Click on the image for a fuller discussion.

Little boys by 1920 were now wearing sailor suits as young as age 3. Just a few years, before World War I (1914-18) many of these younger boys would have still been wearing dresses or kilt suits (late -19th century) or tunic suits (early-20th century). The custom of keeping little boys in skirted garments, however, declined sharply in the 1910s, except for tunic suits. And tunic suits began to disappear after World War I (1914-18). Mail order catalogs are on of the best sources of age trends because od the sizing information. Several of the suits we have noted in mail order catalogs were made only in sizes to 7 or 8 years (1st-3rd grade) while a few in sizes up to 10 years. One of the major characteristic of the suits for younger boys are that they are in the 'button-on' style. The suits for younger boys are also the ones that differ the most from regulation styling. Sailor suits were generally made in sizes up to about 10 years. Older American boys did not wear sailor suits, although older European boys commonly did in many countries. School photography also is major source of age trends because the children were photographed in age-based class groups. And the photographic record does clearly show younger primary school boys wearing sailor suits to school, but not he older boys in primary school. We see that very clearly in the school portraits that had become very common. This was all different for girls, we see a lot of sailor-styled dresses even for older girls and sometimes teenagers.

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Created: 3:22 AM 2/4/2025
Last updated: 3:22 AM 2/4/2025