Taking Tea: Photos of Children

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1830s-40s

Since photography was not invented until 1839, we must rely upon paintings and drawings for images of children's clothing in 1840. As the Geneva and Seneca Falls Historical Societies have few of these types of images in their collections, the following links to artworks at other institutions will enable students to visualize the clothing of the period. Many of the images are large enough to print off as overheads to share with an entire class. If you have difficulty with the links, please let me know at info"at"genevahistoricalsociety.com (replace "at" with @).

Click on the image for a larger view.	The Clark Family, c. 1839. This painting shows two boys and a girl with their mother. The baby boy wears the light, sheer cotton dresses popular for babies. The daughter's dress, like her mother's, has fashionable puffed sleeves and an off-the-shoulder neckline. The boy may be wearing a "skeleton" suit, a short jacket and trousers that buttoned at the waist and worn with a large-collared shirt.
	The Cass Family, c. 1841. In this painting a mother is shown with a child that could be a boy or a girl. Children under five wore light cotton dresses like this. Boys and girls also had similar hairstyles at this age.
American Antiquarian Society	The Foster Children, 1838
Memorial Art Gallery	Do Quick Searches for portraits of Eliza Pixley Lacey and Josephine Dixon
Worcester Art Museum	Stephen Salisbury III, 1838
New York Historical Society	Blind Man's Bluff, 1836, Asher Brown Durand. Do Quick Search for "bluff."
New York Historical Society	Susan Augusta & William Van Voorhis Rapalje, 1842. Do Quick Search for Rapalje.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art	The Raymond Children, 1838. Search for Raymond children.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art	The Alling Children, 1839. Search for Alling.

1880s-90s

	This baby is wearing typical baby clothes for the late 1800s. The long white gown would prevent a baby from crawling too far away and keep the child warm in chilly weather.
	This boy is wearing a fancy suit called a Fauntleroy suit very popular with mothers in the 1880s and 1890s. Usually boys age 4 to 12 might wear these.
	These girls are probably wearing their best outdoor clothes and are likely from a well-off family.
	This boy is wearing his best suit and posing with his favorite possession, a bicycle.
	In the 1890s girls often wore white dresses with puffy sleeves and lots of lace and ribbons.
	This high school graduation picture shows an older girl whose skirt hem falls just above the floor. Younger girls wore skirts to just below their knees. The skirts got longer as the girls got older.
	Most museum photographs are of middle class or wealthy children. The clothes of poor or working class children were not fancy, but sturdy and plain.