Children’s Clothing of the 1800s

Christine Linge is a past director of the Toronto & District Parent
Co-operative Preschool Corporation and a freelance writer.

This latest volume in Crabtree’s Historic Communities series, about
North American settlers and colonial life, is an engaging and thorough
examination of children’s clothing and accessories in the 1800s.

Each pair of its 32 pages illustrates and describes a specific type of
clothing (such as “Babies and Toddlers” or “Girls’
Undergarments”) or a clothing-related concern (“Caring for
Clothes,” “Recycling Clothes”). Visual interest is held by the
attractive variety of illustrations: tinted historic photographs, art
reproductions, modern photos of models in historic villages (including
Upper Canada Village), and drawings by four different artists.

The straightforward text delivers much information in a succinct and
unadorned fashion. The story of “Jonah’s Trousers” is a
particularly clever two pages, wherein the history of a boy’s pants is
told in the manner of “The House that Jack Built.” Children will be
impressed by the many steps and different individuals (six!) that
combine to produce one item of clothing.

Advice on starting a clothing museum, a glossary, and an index make
this carefully crafted book a useful research tool that is also
fascinating to read. Highly recommended.