Yeah...  and here's another:

1899-1902; Earnest Hemingway...photos in a book on him (author is Peter 
Buckley, 1978)...6 dresses (first one is a christening gown).  The 4th he's 
described as a "summer girl"; 6th dress is described as a pink, and on the 
back of the photo his mama referred to him as "SWEETIE'S DUTCH DARLING".

I also have a photo of my grandfather in a ruffled, beribboned kilt with a 
straw boater, and long hair.  Generally, boys seem to have their hair parted 
on the side, girls in the middle; but since grandpa's got on a hat, that 
clue's not visible.

-----Original Message----- 
From: KEVIN M Donaghy
Sent: Friday, July 03, 2015 12:43 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: skirts on little boys

Dear Susan,
i don't have it, but in my travels there is a picture of a pre-school Gen.
Eisenhower in dress, and it makes me think of the old tradition of
"panting" as a rite of passage - certainly in Early Modern England, but
just sharing my 2 cents.,

Best wishes,
kev

On Fri, Jul 3, 2015 at 2:16 PM, Susan Walter <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> July 3, 2015
> Hi All,
>
> I have a project luckily augmented with the family’s photos.  My male
> subject was born in 1881, and the first photos of him depict him wearing
> little kilts / dresses.
>
> Has anyone got good references about the gender neutral dresses for young
> children that was common up even until the 1930s?  I’m not finding much
> written at all, except that that both boys & girls wore the same type of
> garments up to about the age of 5.
>
> I’m positing these open bottomed garments were helpful for diaper
> changing...
>
> I used to have a book – it was called something like When Boys Wore
> Dresses – and it showed a young boy (the author’s son) on the cover in a
> short dress.  I cannot find the darned thing, either here in my office nor
> trolling around amazon.  Anyone recognize that?  Or know of other
> references?
>
> I appreciate any help!
> S. Walter
>



-- 
kevin m. donaghy
graduate student
Temple University
Department of Anthropology