Marriott C. Morris took this photograph of his son, Marriott Jr., in 1903 outside their house on Cresheim Road in the Mt. Airy neighborhood. Young Marriott’s attire was typical for a boy
of three at the time: skirted sailor suit, long hair, stockings and a wide
brimmed hat. However for modern viewers
who are used to seeing young boys wearing pants and short hair, this image
raises some questions.
 |
John Frank Keith, Small child
standing on doorstep, Philadelphia
c. 1915 |
In her article
“Clothing and Gender in America: Children’s Fashions 1890-1920,” Jo B. Paoletti
points out that until about WWI it was common to see boys dressed like Marriott
Jr., or in other words, in a way that modern viewers might associate with
typical girls fashion. Paoletti proposes
a few motivations for the use of this style.
One reason was quite practical; dresses were easier and cheaper to sew
and could be used as a hand-me-down whether the child was a boy or a girl. However, the Morris family was wealthy enough
that the financial benefits of dresses were probably not their chief
concern. According to Paoletti, distinguishing
between girls and boys was less important than distinguishing between adults
and children. This effect was heightened
by the common use of white fabric in clothing for both boys and girls rather
than the gendered pink and blue color coding seen today. In this context, Marriott Jr.’s light skirted
suit and long hair mark him most importantly as a child, rather than as a boy
or a girl.
 |
Universal Fashion Co.
Trade Card, c. 1882 |
The changes in a child’s dress represented a slow adoption
of more adult styles and the child’s gradual maturation. In the late 19th and very early 20th centuries, all infants wore long white dresses until they were able to walk and
shorter dresses until they were about two or three. After that, both boys and girls often wore
skirted suits like the one in Morris’ photo of his son with subtle changes in
trim and fastening differentiating between boys and girls. This image on the right from the
July-December, 1889 issue of Godey’s Ladies Book shows examples of clothing for
children. The two designs in the center
of the page (Figures 14-17) were intended for children of about two years, the
outfit on the left for “every-day wear” and the outfit on the right featuring
an insertion of Yak lace. The text does
not specify a gender for the frocks, presumably since both boys and girls would
have been wearing them.
Sometime between ages five and seven, usually coinciding
with school attendance, boys graduated to knickerbockers and had their hair
cut. Sailor suits and garments inspired
by military uniforms were especially popular.
The design on the lower right of the Godey’s page (Figures 20-21) shows
a suit for a boy of about four years reminiscent of a military jacket. The suit features a vest and trousers, items
specifically worn by boys. It wasn't
until a boy was about twelve that he began to wear long trousers and dress more
like a grown man.
The photographs of Morris’
sons in the Morris Collection provide a visual example of the
progression from dresses to trousers typical for young boys around the turn of
the century. In this portrait of
Elliston Jr., Morris’ oldest son wears the long white dress common for a child
of about one. Elliston Jr. is able to
stand supporting himself on a wooden chair, however since his dress is still
long we can presume that he has not yet learned how to walk. Morris’ second son, Marriott Jr. was born a
year later in 1900. In this photo on the right from 1902, Marriott Jr. is about a year and a half old and Elliston Jr. is
three. Marriott Jr. wears a long dress
similar to the one his brother wore in the above photograph while Elliston Jr.
has graduated to a skirted suit. His
hair has been trimmed but is still tied back with a bow. By 1904, both boys wear skirted suits in the
sailor style as seen in the photograph below. At five years old,
Elliston Jr.’s hair is cut short, however at four years old Marriott Jr.’s hair
is still long and pulled back with a ribbon.
By 1907, in the family photograph on the right, both boys were dressed in
sailor suits with knickerbockers and their hair cut short. Their younger sister Janet, born that same
year, was now wearing a long white dress that was perhaps handed down from one
of her brothers.
In general, the Morris children seem to adhere to
traditional children’s attire of the time.
However, it seems as though Elliston Jr’s hair was cut short at around
three years old while Marriott Jr.’s hair was long until he was about five
years old. As Paoletti points out, the
exact timing of a boy’s switch from skirts to trousers and his haircut was
ultimately up to his mother. Perhaps
Marriott Jr.’s longer hair reflected a desire on the part of his mother Jane to
maintain his childhood innocence just a little bit longer.
Jo B. Paoletti. "Clothing and Gender in America:
Children's Fashions, 1890-1920." Signs 13, no. 1: 136-43. JSTOR.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/3174031.
Alison Van Denend
Assistant Project Manager
The Marriott C. Morris Photograph Collection
