Tintype of two little boys - how old?

I'd say they were 2 and 4.

 

I think the older one has some buck teeth ! Are we sure that isn't a little girl ?

 

Book, do you want to smack him, or shall I?

I am not all that good with children's clothing, but if you held a gun to my head, I would 1880s/'90s (real precise, eh?).

 

I'm going with late 1890s or early 1900s... Could be way off, though.

 

Book, really? Wow, I knew little boys wore dresses, but didn't know the clothes would be that indistinuishable and feminine.

Was there a rationale to why they had little boys wear things that looked like women's clothes?

 

That makes sense. Maybe, too, that way they could hand down clothes to younger relatives regardless of sex?

 

I think you had best take into account FDR"s mum - that branch of the Delanos were a bit wacked - as opposed to the branch that produced Laura Ingalls Wilder, et al. And James (NEVER Jim) Roosevelt was no prize either.....................

 

Early Children's Attire
Before the early-twentieth century, clothing worn by infants and young children shared a distinctive common feature-their clothing lacked sex distinction. The origins of this aspect of children's clothing stem from the sixteenth century, when European men and older boys began wearing doublets paired with breeches. Previously, both males and females of all ages (except for swaddled infants) had worn some type of gown, robe, or tunic. Once men began wearing bifurcated garments, however, male and female clothing became much more distinct. Breeches were reserved for men and older boys, while the members of society most subordinate to men-all females and the youngest boys-continued to wear skirted garments. To modern eyes, it may appear that when little boys of the past were attired in skirts or dresses, they were dressed "like girls," but to their contemporaries, boys and girls were simply dressed alike in clothing appropriate for small children.

There are dates in the article below, but I'm not sure that it pins down the photo...???

http://fashion-history.lovetoknow.com/fashion-history-eras/history-childrens-clothing

 

Thanks for posting that, Komo.

 

Once women began wearing bifurcated garments, men gradually became insecure in their traditional roles of domestic dominance, realizing that the end of their long-cherished but admittedly artificial societal superiority was fast approaching. This directly resulted in the stock market crash of 1929 as well as the Hindenburg disaster of 1936.

 

and the Great Depression

 

you mean my ex wife ?

 

...just one of the many men deeply troubled by female garment bifurcation was an unemployed Austrian house-painter named Adolph (full name withheld in compliance with the Austrian Citizen's Privacy Act of 1919.)

 

Spring - you so seldom venture into levity, but when you do, it's spot on! LOL!