Five Generations of Children's Clothing, November 09, 1940 through January 12, 1941 (Image: PHO_E1940i039.jpg Brooklyn Museum photograph, 1940)
Five Generations of Children's Clothing, November 09, 1940 through January 12, 1941 (Image: PHO_E1940i040.jpg Brooklyn Museum photograph, 1940)
Five Generations of Children's Clothing, November 09, 1940 through January 12, 1941 (Image: PHO_E1940i041.jpg Brooklyn Museum photograph, 1940)
Five Generations of Children's Clothing
DATES November 09, 1940 through January 12, 1941
ORGANIZING DEPARTMENT
Costumes and Textiles
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November 9, 1940
THIS SHEET IS TO GIVE YOU ADDITIONAL UP-TO-DATE INFORMATION, SUPPLEMENT TO THE ATTACHED ADVANCE RELEASE FOUND IN PAGES TWO AND THREE OF THIS RELEASE.
To complete the story of children’s clothes for the last 150 years, the Museum will have the assistance of the children’s clothes departments of both Abraham & Straus and Loeser’s in Brooklyn in planning contemporary costumes and possibly a prophetic one.
By shoring contemporary clothes, the trends of freedom and action will be pointed out and the effect on children’s clothes of the fact that youngsters are now considered individuals who have special needs for special clothes. Since the younger generation’s scope of action is larger than in the past, they need a greater variety of garments. How this is being met by one costume that has several uses will be shown.
The exhibition will also demonstrate the fact that children are being uncovered rather than bundled up, and the consequent development of special materials such as air conditioned cloth, that came out last year and is just now being applied.
Some of the modern clothes to be shown are as follows: a multiple function garment for boys, known as a ten-way suit, which is expected to be important this year; a four-way coat for boys of the 'teen age made of tweed on one side and cravanette on the other with a button-in lining which can be used on either side; a reversible suit for very small children; and a two-piece snow suit which is reversible and has an extra lining that can be worn as a waistcoat.
Clothes for the very young baby, using expensive handwork, will be shown contrasted with clothes for the growing years when fine quality is abandoned because of the speed by which the clothes are worn out. During the ‘teen age quality again becomes important.
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An exhibition that will demonstrate the emergence of children’s clothing from slavish copies of adult costumes into styles designed especially for children will open at the Brooklyn Museum, November 9th to run through January 12th. The exhibits will be made up material from the Museum’s collections augmented by loans of some contemporary children’s clothes.
The periods covered begin with the last quarter of the 18th Century, showing the stiff, formal court-influenced costumes, followed by the opening years of the 19th Century, the transition period before the 40’s and 50’s, the period of the 40’s and 50’s, the end of the century, the 20th Century and contemporary clothes.
In some cases the child mannequins are shown with adults so as to relate the styles and show the similarity or divergence between children’s clothes and those of their parents. There is also emphasis on very young children’s and babies’ clothes, which include a complete christening outfit of the mid-19th Century. A case is devoted to dolls and toys reflecting children’s clothes, and the paper dolls children cut out of fashion magazines together with beauty and manicure sets in imitation of their mothers’. A wide diversity of material, from the heavy brocades of the 18th Century to the sheer cottons of the 20th Century is displayed in the exhibits.
The exhibition is planned to give an idea of the completeness of the Museum’s collection of children’s costumes, all of which are available for study. Only a small part of the whole collection will be on view. The showing is also to be of assistance to children’s clothing designers, who are developing new costumes in the sports field but who can make use of historic material for party and dress-occasion clothes.
Some of the developments demonstrated are the shift in boys’ costume from frocks to trousers, and girls’ costume from long skirts and pantalets to the short skirt of today.
The exhibition is arranged against architectural cut-outs as backgrounds, suggesting the architectural styles of the various periods. Some of the groups are arranged in appropriate attitude and formations made familiar by 19th Century prints. It is planned to arrange the contemporary groups with a penthouse terrace and skyscraper background. It is expected that this group will demonstrate, by specially designed clothing, what direction children’s costumes will take in the future.
Brooklyn Museum Archives. Records of the Department of Public Information. Press releases, 1939 - 1941. 10-12/1940, 213-5.
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November 9, 1940
An exhibition that will demonstrate the emergence of children’s clothing from slavish copies of adult costumes into styles designed especially for children will open at the Brooklyn Museum, November 9th to run through January 12th. The exhibits will be made up of material from the Museum’s collections augmented by loans of some contemporary children’s clothes.
The periods covered begin with the last quarter of the 18th Century, showing the stiff, formal court-influenced costumes, followed by the opening years of the 19th Century, the transition period before the 40’s and 50’s, the period of the 40’s and 50’s, the end of the century, the 20th Century and contemporary clothes.
In some cases the child mannequins are shown with adults so as to relate the styles and show the similarity or divergence between children’s clothes and those of their parents. There is also emphasis on very young children’s and babies' clothes, which include a complete christening outfit of the mid-19th Century. A case is devoted to dolls and toys reflecting children’s clothes, and the paper dolls children cut out of fashion magazines together with beauty and manicure sets in imitation of their mothers’. A wide diversity of material, from the heavy brocades of the 18th Century to the sheer cottons of the 20th Century is displayed in the exhibits.
177Brooklyn Museum Archives. Records of the Department of Public Information. Press releases, 1939 - 1941. 10-12/1940, 177.
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October 19, 1940
The Brooklyn Museum’s plans for the greater part of the 1940-41 season and the first part of the 1941-42 season have just been announced.
The principal exhibitions of the year begin with “Art Finds a Way,” a graphic comment on the subject of skilled work, about which there is so much discussion today, and will demonstrate the great skills man has developed through the years in producing useful objects that have become recognized as objects of art. This exhibition, arranged under the direction of Dr. Herbert J. Spinden, Curator of the Department of American Indian Art and Primitive Cultures, will be made up principally from the Museum’s collections augmented by several loans. It will run from November 1 through January 2.
Also opening in November is an exhibition of Children’s Clothing, showing the development for the last 125 years and the emergence from slavish copying of adult costume into special designs for the younger generation. Materials for this exhibition will also come principally from the Museum’s collection, enhanced by a few loans. This show is being arranged by Mrs. Michelle Murphy, Supervisor of the Department of Education, and will extend from November 9 through January 12.
On the 23rd of January, “Paganism and Christianity in Egypt - The Art of Egypt from the First to the Tenth Century,” will open. It will be the first purely Coptic showing arranged in this country. This is being prepared by the Museum’s Department of Egyptology. The exhibition will close on March 9.
A show for which the Museum is internationally famous, the Biennial Water Color Exhibition, will open on March 27 and close May 11. It will be arranged under the supervision of John I. H. Baur, Curator of the Department of Painting and Sculpture.
Another exhibition arranged from the Costume collections will be a showing of millinery, past and current, from March 8 through April 20, which will also be arranged by Mrs. Michelle Murphy, Supervisor of the Department of Education.
The last large exhibition of the season will be made up of art from the printing press, to demonstrate the problems of those who are producing art every day, week and month for the great public, and the process involved in doing so. This exhibition is being arranged by a committee composed of Ralph Halker, architect, George Welp, art director, and Edward A. Wilson, illustrator, together with representatives of the Museum.
Following the Silk Screen Prints exhibition, arranged by the Print Department, which opened September 20 and will run through October 20, is “The Stage is Set”, running from October 4 through November 17, made up of reproductions of theatre, opera and ballet subjects selected from Library material. As the result of the continual work which is going on in the Photographic Department at the Museum of the printing of negatives from the George B. Brainard Collection of 2,500 views of this part of the country, a third showing of prints will be put on view October 11 and will continue through November 3.
On the 24th of October the Print Department will hang an exhibition of Current Campaign Cartoons by artists well known in this field, which will continue through December 1. During the same period but opening a day later, October 25, a gift in the form of a group of pressed glass, collected by Mrs. William Greig Walker and presented to the Museum as the result of a subscription fund, will be shown for the first time. The 138 items are all impressed with subjects relating to persons and events that held public interest in the United States, and to some extent in Europe, between 1820 and 1940. The title of the exhibition is “History in Pressed Glass.
“The Nativity in Art,” made up of reproductions of 15th Century woodcuts and medieval manuscripts, will be put on view November 22 to continue through January 5. This exhibition was arranged by Miss Alice Ford, a member of the Art Reference Library staff. A showing of Recent Accessions will open on December 5 and extend through January 12. In this same period the exhibition called “Forever Young” will be shown. The latter will be composed of illustrations for children’s books, arranged by the Print Department. January 18 through February 2 the annual showing of the work of Brooklyn artists, restricted this year to water colors, will be arranged by John I. H. Baur, Curator of the Department of Painting and Sculpture, and there will be another exhibition in January of other views of Brooklyn and Long Island from the George B. Brainard Collection, from January 9 through February 9.
For the 1941-42 season the following exhibitions are already planned: Paintings by John Quidor (1801-1881), and also a collection of works by William S. Mount (1807-1868), both arranged by John I. H. Baur, Curator of the Department of Painting and Sculpture; and “Colonial Art of Latin America,” prepared under the supervision of Dr. Herbert J. Spinden, Curator of the Department of American Indian Art and Primitive Cultures.
Brooklyn Museum Archives. Records of the Department of Public Information. Press releases, 1939 - 1941. 10-12/1940, 181-3.
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November 9, 1940
An exhibition called “Five Generations of Children’s Clothes,” from the last quarter of the Eighteenth Century to modern times will open in the Balcony Gallery at the Brooklyn Museum on November 9, to run through January 12.
Arranged by Mrs. Michelle Murphy, Supervisor of the Education Division, this show will trace the evolution of children’s clothing from miniatures of adult costumes to garments designed for children especially. Child mannequins will be displayed together with a few adult forms to emphasize the earlier similarity and the later divergence between parents’ and their offsprings’ costumes. To point this emphasis further, toys and paper dolls of the various generations will also be shown. Students of the Girl's Commercial High School in Brooklyn volunteered to make the necessary wigs with period headdresses of colored crepe paper.
One of the trends to be noticed will he the history of the young girl’s skirt. Beginning at almost floor length, the skirt became shorter as more freedom of action was granted to young ladies. And, as the skirt climbed higher, pantalettes appeared, to disappear when finally the economics of laundry bills over-balanced the qualms of established morality. In the Twentieth Century the young girl’s skirt reached its ultimate brevity as the child’s natural waistline was ignored and the belt line was lowered until the skirt became a mere ruffle at the bottom of the elongated waist.
The exhibition will also show the history of the young boy’s escape from dresses into trousers. In this connection it is of interest to note that long trousers for boys originated in England, material expression of that nation’s pride in its navy.
Alterations in the attitudes of parents toward their children will be traced through a comparison of babies’ and very small children’s clothing, contrasting the “fancy dress doll” robes and dresses of the past with the “functional” costumes of the present, the “Lord Fauntleroy” with the sun suit.
Each group of figures in the exhibition will be arranged in attitudes based on old prints and other illustrations before an appropriate architectural background in silhouette. Following this scheme, today’s group will be shown on a penthouse terrace overlooking skyscrapers.
(NOTE TO EDITOR: When the show is opened on Saturday morning, there will be a complete list of the costumes in chronological order, and mimeographed copies of the material on the general labels, all of which will supplement and enlarge this release.)
The feature in the contemporary section will be a specially designed costume for the young girl, attempting to forecast ten years ahead based on present trends. With the expected increase of air travel, it will be a costume which a young girl could wear on an airplane trip from New York to Hawaii. Its multiple uses will be made possible through additions and subtractions by means of zippers.
Brooklyn Museum Archives. Records of the Department of Public Information. Press releases, 1939 - 1941. 10-12/1940, 223-4.
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November 9, 1940
An exhibition called “Five Generations of Children’s Clothes,” from the last quarter of the 18th Century to modern times, opens at the Brooklyn Museum today (November 9), to run through January 12.
The exhibition is arranged by Mrs. Michelle Murphy, Supervisor of the Education Division, and her staff. The entire collection with the exception of contemporary clothes is from the Museum’s own collection, except for loans from Mrs. Esther Middlebrook. Children’s clothes of today were lent by Abraham & Strauss and Loeser’s.
The exhibition is arranged in seven groups: the 18th Century, the first twenty years of the 19th Century, 1830 to 1850, 1860 to 1880, the last part of the 19th Century, and clothes of today. This is supplemented by two cases of small objects, such as gloves, mittens, paper dolls and toys.
By this survey the emergence of children’s clothes from slavish copies of those of adults into styles designed especially for children, and some contemporary designs which now are being copied from children’s clothes for adults, will be shown.
The costumes will be shown on mannequins, with wigs of crepe paper made by volunteers from the Girl’s Commercial High School in Brooklyn. On the walls behind each group are architectural cutouts designed to suggest architectural styles of the periods, ending with a penthouse terrace and skyscraper background for the contemporary group. Here and there adult figures are included. This is true in the 18th Century group to demonstrate the complete similarity of children’s clothes to those of adults; and in the christening scene of the 1860’s or 70’s, made up of a fashionably dressed couple accompanied by a girl of about twelve in a dark blue changeable silk hooded cape coat, and the central character, the baby, wears the typical five-foot-long dress, that persisted for several decades. In the 1800-1820 group, children are shown drawing a wooden cart with a baby in it, and in the 19th Century section is an elaborate vehicle, a baby carriage, practically copied from a horse-drawn conveyance, with a baby in it and drawn by older children.
In the change from the copying of adult clothes to special clothes for children there is also demonstrated the shortening of girl skirts, which began almost at floor length and became shorter and shorter as more freedom of action was granted to young ladies. The 1830 to 1850 group will show the three stages of the pantalette, which was introduced as the skirt became shorter. A parallel development in young boy’s apparel is made clear in the abrupt change from knee breeches to long trousers, brought about by the British pride in the navy. This was followed by dressing boys like girls, and then came the slow development to the coat and short trousers.
The contemporary clothes when shown along with the old fashions make it clear that youngsters are now considered individuals with special needs for special clothing. And since their scope of action is wider than it ever was, the need for a greater variety of garments is met in a costume of multiple uses.
The feature of the modern section is a young girl’s costume of Byrd cloth, especially designed for this exhibition, which attempts to forecast ten to twenty years ahead, based on present trends. With the expected increase of air travel, it will be a costume which a young girl could wear on an airplane trip from New York to Hawaii. Its multiple uses will be made possible through additions and subtractions by means of zippers.
Some of the modern clothes to be shown are as follows: a multiple function garment for boys, known as a ten-way suit, which is expected to be important this year; a four-way coat for boys of the ‘teen age made of tweed on one side and cravanette on the other with a button-in lining which can be used on either side; a reversible suit for very small children; and a two-piece snow suit which is reversible and has an extra lining that can be worn as a waistcoat.
Clothes for the very young baby, using expensive handwork, will be shown contrasted with clothes for the growing years when fine quality is abandoned because of the speed by which the clothes are worn out. During the ‘teen age quality again becomes important. There are also several knitted garments for small children, a development practically unknown for over a hundred years.
Brooklyn Museum Archives. Records of the Department of Public Information. Press releases, 1939 - 1941. 10-12/1940, 226-8.
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November 9, 1940
LATTER HALF OF 18TH CENTURY
Children’s clothing styles were slavish copies of adult styles during this era. In this group we see costumes of French origin such as were worn by nobles and wealthy people prior to the French Revolution.
LATE 18TH CENTURY
Lady’s blue brocade dress
Boy’s lavender and white brocade suit
Man’s rose taffeta suit
English mothers patriotically dressed their small boys in long trousers in imitation of English naval clothes. This idea was copied by the French nobility, and thereby launched a new and revolutionary style for small boys. Men were still wearing knee breeches.
Small girls' and women’s styles at this time were largely influenced by the “classic revival.” Napoleon’s campaigns and interest in securing for himself the position of modern Roman Emperor incited a wave of supposed classical styles in architecture, furniture and clothing. Waistlines and necklines nearly merged, and underclothing was scanty. These styles, however, offered a great deal more freedom of action than those of earlier periods.
Girl’s white figured cotton dress
Boy’s pongee suit
Girl’s white cotton dress
Boy’s gray homespun suit
Baby’s white embroidered dress and cap
Girl’s brown brocade dress
Girl’s tan cotton dress
ABOUT 1830
Filmy fabrics were replaced by heavier materials, frequently patterned, and in deeper shade. Skirts became fuller, and pantaloons designed to match the frocks dangled around the ankles of their wearers.
Girl’s brown printed dress with pantalettes
Girl’s flowered white dress
Boy’s tan embroidered dress
Girl’s blue and white cotton dress with pantalettes
Girl’s flowered white dress
Boy’s tan embroidered dress
Girl’s blue and white cotton dress with pantalettes
Girl’s pink and white cotton dress, pantalettes and white cape
IN THE 1850’S
Small boys wore short tunics with bloomers showing below the knees. Elastic-sided boots are the most modish styles of footgear. Long hair was frequently seen. Girls’ skirts became fuller and the crinoline appeared.
Boy’s striped Mankeen trousers and velvet jacket
Girl’s pink grenadine party dress
Boy’s red trousers and vest, with black velvet jacket
Boy’s red and green velvet Lord Fauntleroy suit
CHRISTENING SCENE ABOUT 1870
Lady’s purple taffeta and gauze dress
Baby’s Christening robe and Honiton lace cap
Man’s formal suit
Girl’s blue taffeta coat and bonnet
THE 1860’S
The crinoline worn under girls’ and women’s skirts increased in size and skirts became shorter. Braid and velvet bands were very important trimming. Plus fours or bloomer trousers became increasingly popular for boys. Elastic-sided ankle-high boots, small patent leather slippers with ankle straps, and striped stockings were high style.
Girl’s printed cotton dress with white apron
Girl’s plaid silk dress with velvet applique
Girl’s pink and gray plaid silk dress
Boy’s tan embroidered dress
Boy’s orange wool dress with white moire ribbon and fringe trimming
Boy’s plaid kilt suit with black velvet applique
IN THE 1870’s
And carrying into the 80’s, girls’ clothes reflect the bustle styles of their elders. Fashion now concentrates on the back of the dress. The kilted skirt has under it a starched petticoat with all the gathers at the back. The princess line, which has been popular at frequent intervals in the past, makes its appearance in this period.
1880-1890
During this period waist lines dropped to about the middle of the thigh. Pleating and frilling to make the skirt stand out were usual, and sashes were frequently seen. Necklines were high, sometimes frilled with the same material. Little boys still wore suits of the Lord Fauntleroy type, as well as dresses and serge suits.
Boy’s red and black plaid knit suit
Boy’s blue and brown plaid suit
Boy’s blue velvet Lord Fauntleroy suit
Girl’s blue taffeta coat dress
Girl’s blue and red plaid wool dress
Girl’s printed challis dress
Girl’s white party dress over blue
Boy’s Holland linen pinafore
Baby’s white cap, white wool coat with cape
Girl’s white printed cotton dress
Girl’s lace cap, lace dress over gold color satin
Boy’s white cashmere dress with blue velvet trimming
Girl’s lace dress over pink satin
CONTEMPORARY CLOTHES
Life and activities of each age are clearly reflected in the styles. Children today are viewed as individuals whose needs are carefully considered. Modern ideas suggest that exposure to the elements is healthful and desirable, hence the popularity of undress for small children. Clothes for the child of pre-school age are so designed and constructed as to make it possible for the child to help himself. The child of school age has numerous out-of-door activities which demand freedom of action, lightness and warmth; hence the snow suit, etc. In the main, most of young children’s clothes are patterned for sport. There is a growing trend in multiple functions of clothes – that is, functions of a garment may be changed by reversing the garment or by inserting or removing sections. Fastenings are among the most important modern features. Zippers answer many modern needs – self-help, multiple function, etc.
Reversible plaid coat
Child’s blue embroidered snow suit
Prep School boy’s 10-Way interchangeable tweed suit
Child’s green waterproof snow suit
Girl’s blue jumper dress with white blouse
Boy’s plaid button-on shorts and white blouse
Boy’s blue and white knitted suit
Girl’s plaid jumper dress
Girl’s plaid skirt and red cardigan sweater
Girl’s blue princess-line dress
Toddlers knitted suit
Child’s blue flannel pyjamas and plaid robe
Girl’s rose velveteen dress
Girl’s blue and white dress with white pinafore
Baby’s white dress
Baby’s blanket robe
Peach velveteen creeper
Play pen
(Contemporary Clothes lent by Abraham & Strauss and Loeser’s)
Brooklyn Museum Archives. Records of the Department of Public Information. Press releases, 1939 - 1941. 10-12/1940, 229-31.
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