Figure 1.--This is the three boys of a South Carolina family in 1919. The two youngest boys wear identical white sailor suits. The boy on the left is 4 year old. The boy at the riight looks to be about 6 years old. Their older cousin wears a dark knickers suit wuth long black stockings. He looks to be about 10-11 years old.

We see quite a number of mothers dressing the boys in identical sailor outfits. This was one of the most common outfits used for dressing the children alike. We see this convention in quite a number of family portraits. The limit here was the upper size range for sailor suits. Some mothers varied this a bit by choosing different kinds of sailor outfits, usually on an age basis. One common choice in the 1910s was tunic suits for the younger boys. Hair styling was another way of varying the outfits if mother so desired. Once the boys were about 8-10 years old they would commonly shift to regular suits. Sailor suits could be used both for dressing up and for play. Thus younger boys might use the sailor suit when dressing up.

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Created: 10:49 PM 7/14/2008
Last updated: 10:49 PM 7/14/2008