Olham 164 Posted November 4, 2015 He looked like a little girl here. But that was quite common in those days. I have seen other photos of little boys who did not only have long hair, but were even wearing skirts. No one seeing this photo, could have expected that he would become Germany's No. 1 ace. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JFM 18 Posted November 4, 2015 According to his mother's book, MvR was two in that photo. Thus, airplanes hadn't even been invented yet. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hauksbee 103 Posted November 4, 2015 (edited) We can't see what else he's wearing in this pic., but chances are good that it was some version of the "Little Lord Fauntleroy" costume popularised by Frances Burnett in her book of the same name. It was a rags-to-riches story (also very popular at the time) about a little boy living in genteel poverty with his mother in New York. One day they are visited by an English lawyer who informs them that he is now heir to a vast fortune, but that his curmudgeonly grandfather wants him to live with him in England and be properly educated there. The grandfather intends to raise the boy in his own mean-spirited image, but the boy's sunny nature and passion for decency and fair play ends up converting the old man. The book was wildly popular. Frances Burnett was the J.K.Rowling of her day, and Fauntleroy her Harry Potter. From Wikipedia: Little Lord Fauntleroy is the first children's novel written by English playwright and author Frances Hodgson Burnett. It was originally published as a serial in the St. Nicholas Magazine between November 1885 and October 1886, then as a book by Scribner's in 1886 The Fauntleroy suit, so well-described by Burnett and realised in Reginald Birch's detailed pen-and-ink drawings, created a fad for formal dress for American middle-class children: "What the Earl saw was a graceful, childish figure in a black velvet suit, with a lace collar, and with lovelocks waving about the handsome, manly little face, whose eyes met his with a look of innocent good-fellowship." (Little Lord Fauntleroy) The Fauntleroy suit appeared in Europe as well, but nowhere was it as popular as in America. The classic Fauntleroy suit was a velvet cut-away jacket and matching knee pants worn with a fancy blouse with a large lace or ruffled collar. These suits appear right after the publication of Mrs. Burnett's story (1885) and were a major fashion until after the turn of the 20th century. Many boys who did not wear an actual Fauntleroy suit wore suits with Fauntleroy elements such as a fancy blouse or floppy bow. Only a minority of boys wore ringlet curls with these suits, but the photographic record confirms that many boys did. It was most popular for boys about 3–8 years of age, but some older boys wore them as well. It has been speculated that the popularity of the style encouraged many mothers to breech their boys earlier than before and was a factor in the decline of the fashion of dressing small boys in dresses and other skirted garments. Clothing Burnett popularised was modeled on the costumes she tailored herself for her two sons, Vivian and Lionel. . . Below: My Dad, (b. 1911, Goffstown, New Hampshire) Not quite the full black-velvet treatment, but I think I see the influences. . Edited November 4, 2015 by Hauksbee Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Olham 164 Posted November 4, 2015 However - at the age of seven, he had a more boyish haircut and was dressed up more like a sailor: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wayfarer 5 Posted November 5, 2015 Interesting photo Hauksbee. My wife pointed out the likeness to some photographs of our youngest daughter at a similar age. My dad was born in 1930 and there was a toddler photograph that my grandparents kept on their piano of him with long curly locks and quite girlish clothes. I don't think it was common by that time but his family were very old fashioned in some ways and I guess the clothes were probably passed down from a previous generation. It was always a great source of embarrassment to him! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Olham 164 Posted November 5, 2015 My dad was born in 1930 and there was a toddler photograph that my grandparents kept on their piano of him with long curly locks and quite girlish clothes. I don't think it was common by that time... In Germany it was still quite common in the late 20s and 30s. See this photo - the smaller kid is a boy. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hauksbee 103 Posted November 6, 2015 (edited) The "Fauntleroy Effect" lingered on in America in the person of "Buster Brown", a comic book character who was licensed to many different products, (including bread) the most widely known of which was "Buster Brown Shoes". By the time I was born, Buster Brown was coming to the end of his popularity (b.1938) and by the time I was watching kid's television (early '50's) he existed only as a logo for the shoe company. At the end of each commercial there would be an animated tag-line with a head-and-shoulders Buster and dog saying, "Hi! I'm Buster Brown. I live in a shoe! That's my dog, Tige (teeg), he lives there too!" Knowing nothing of his former popularity, I remember being repelled by this strange girl/boy with the buggy, staring eyes, odd clothes and a dog with a shark-like mouthful of teeth...like in the ad at far right when the company was trying to modernize their image. . Wikipedia: . Buster Brown was a comic strip character created in 1902 by Richard F. Outcault. Adopted as the mascot of the Brown Shoe Company in 1904, Buster Brown, his sweetheart Mary Jane, and his dog Tige, an American Pit Bull Terrier, were well-known to the American public in the early 20th century. The character's name was also used to describe a popular style of suit for young boys, the Buster Brown suit, that echoed his own outfit. The name "Buster" came directly or indirectly from the popularity of Buster Keaton, then a child actor in vaudeville. . Edited November 6, 2015 by Hauksbee Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Olham 164 Posted November 6, 2015 Haha, funny, how commercials changed - or not... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
UK_Widowmaker 571 Posted November 6, 2015 That photo Olham of MvR in a sailors outfit is recognizable as him...it's the eyes! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hauksbee 103 Posted November 7, 2015 (edited) Tonight while watching "Aces of the Western Front" on YouTube (Part 2 of 4) I ran into these screenies of MvR. In the book Jim Miller recommended ("The Red Baron's Last Flight"), the authors point out that both von Richtofen and Roy Brown had similar leadership styles. In both cases, they would lead their squadrons into the fight, then climb above to watch its development. That's how Brown could see Wilfred May get into trouble. It's how von Richtofen saw his cousin Wolfram be set upon by May. Part of the Red Baron's legend is that, upon return to base, he could tell each pilot where he was in the fight and what he had done right, or wrong. The authors disclosed that von Richtofen carried a pair of small binoculars around his neck in order to do this. And sure enough, in these two shots, there they are. . Edited November 7, 2015 by Hauksbee Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Olham 164 Posted November 7, 2015 (edited) That photo Olham of MvR in a sailors outfit is recognizable as him...it's the eyes! Yes - from a 'girlish dreamer towards the fighter ace in just 5 years' - there is a determination in that look... Hauksbee, I wonder if these were the binoculars he would have used in a sortie - they are quite big IMHO. They used binoculars to search for announced E/A from the ground, before they would take off. Maybe the ones he used in combat were smaller - JFM might know... Edited November 7, 2015 by Olham Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
