Cabinet Card of a Young Boy

The photograph was taken at the studio of H. A. Lesure, 207 Main Street, Danbury, Connecticut. The little boy wears a short two-piece dress, which indicates that he is preschool age. For most of the nineteenth century, boys under five years of age wore dresses, just like little girls. This boy’s outfit consists of a fitted jacket, pleated skirt, and broad white collar with openwork details. Collars such as this one became popular after 1886 when Frances Hodgson Burnett published Little Lord Fauntleroy. Unlike the character in the book who wore his hair in ringlets, this boy’s hair has been cut short.

Cabinet card, approximately 1886-1890