Genealogy Chat

I'm trying to date a photograph and need your help please.

The quality of the photo is terrible (it's a photo of a photo of a photo) so I can't give many clues - except to say there is a small boy (but older than a toddler) in the group, and I know he was born Sept 1902. He has his hair in long ringlets and is wearing a large white collar out over the top of his dark jacket.
Does anyone know at what age did little boys have their long hair cut? Would it have been when they first started school? If I can establish that, then I can take a better guess at the year the photo was taken.

All help gratefully received.
K

usually little boys were dressed and kept to look like girls until they were three years old - I have a lovely photograph of my Dad aged about three with a kind of dress on, white boots and he has long platinum gold hair in ringlets. His brother who was abut 10 months older than him is in the picture also and he is dressed as a little boy. There was apparently an old wives tale that the devil took little boys and that was the reason for the custom

Thanks for your reply Ann. Interesting stuff isn't it.
This little boy is definitely older than 3 , that's what's throwing me!
A previous photo shows him much younger, in a dress, long hair in ringlets, and sitting on his father's lap, but in this photo he's standing and isn't in a dress.
Oh dear!! LOL

K

Might be worth a look:

http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/discus/messages/5670/124673.html?1207541479

http://histclo.com/intro.html

I have a photo of my father in the mid-1920's aged about 3 or 4. He looks suspiciously girly with his longish blond curls!

Jan

My dad was born 1902 and I too have photo of him about age 3-4 with ringlets, dress on and holding a whip.

Looks strange but this was the custom I'am told.

Maryb

Thanks for your replies.

I knew of the long hair and dresses business, but need to know what was the 'cut off date' so to speak. My boy in the photo has obviously outgrown the dresses but still has the ringlets!!

Brummie Jan, I'll take a look at that link thanks.

Mary, I'm not even going to ask where whip fits into all this!!

K

Karen,

I would recommend this book. It's full of useful tips on dating your old family photos - & it's illustrated.


https://www.amazon.co.uk/Family-Photographs-Public-Record-Genealogists/dp/1903365201/ref=sr_1_14?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1298907229&sr=1-14

best wishes Steve Kirby

Cheers Steve, will take a look .
Jan - great links! It would seem from the 2nd link that I do indeed have little Lord Fauntleroy in my photo!!! LOL
K

Karen, try over in rootschat. If you put a photo there, people are marvellous at helping with them. See you there again sometime :-)

Thanks for the suggestion Joy - but I think I've cracked this one now. See yo back there soon though, I'm sure!

Going by the 2nd link from Jan, it seems not unusual for boys of 8-9 still to have long ringlets and be dressed in breeches and a velvet jacket with lacy collar on the outside (known as Little Lord Fauntleroy suits) which is just like my little lad in the photo, so I'm going to go with the fact that he's about 8 yrs old.......I was very hesitant at first as I thought he seemed far too big to be dressed this way!!
But, as always, I've learned something new on the GR threads!!

Thanks all.

K