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The tour consists of lists of object records created from searches of a master database. The searches are based on various combinations of three pieces of data - date of the object, the type of object, and the gender of the object's user (wearer).
If you select date first (organized by decade), you may elect to narrow your tour by gender. Once you select a gender, you may further narrow your tour by object type.
If you select gender first, you may elect to narrow your tour by object type but not by date.
If you select object type first, you may elect to narrow your tour by date but not by gender.
Touring by Date (Decade):
The same object can appear in more than one decade if it is associated with a date range that straddles decades. For example, if an object was made sometime between 1850 and 1880, inclusive, then it will appear in the lists for the 1850s, the 1860s, the 1870s, and the 1880s. Circa dates frequently result in the placement of an object in more than one decade.
Sometimes an object may seem out of place in a given decade. This is because many dates are associated with objects - patent date, copyright date, date of design, date of manufacture, dates of use, and even date of subject (for example, a clothing article created to look like it was from a previous era). An object with a manufacture date of 1915 may appear in the 1930s list because it was worn by various children for a twenty-year period. An object with a manufacture date of c. 1965 may appear in the 1940s list because some feature of it was patented in 1942.
When you click on the brief description of an object in a list, you will be able to see the various dates associated with it.
Touring by Gender:
Objects in a list of girls' clothing are either those that were designed specifically for use by girls or those gender-neutral items known to be worn by at least one girl. Included are infants' clothing documented as having had female wearers.
Objects in a list of boys' clothing are either those that were designed specifically for use by boys or those gender-neutral items known to be worn by at least one boy. Included are infants' clothing documented as having had male wearers.
Although not indicative of gender, infants' clothing has been listed separately as an aid to researchers interested in babies. Included is clothing whose wearers were male, female, of both genders, or of undocumented gender.
A given object will appear on multiple lists if it is known to have been worn by both boys and girls or by baby boys or baby girls.
Non-gender-specific clothing is defined as those items: that were not designed for infants or for one gender or the other; and whose wearers are unknown. Lists of non-gender-specific clothing include objects that do not appear on any of the other lists (boys, girls, infants). An example is a child's printed T-shirt with an undocumented wearer.
Touring by Type of Object:
Clothing types are divided into the following categories:
- Clothing accessories - these include bibs, collars, dickeys, gloves, mittens, muffs, sashes, scarves, and undersleeves
- Footwear - this includes bootees, boots, overshoes, sandals, shoes, slippers, socks, and stockings
- Headwear - this includes bonnets, caps, hats, headbands, and helmets
- Outerwear - this includes aprons, bathing suits, bodices, bunting, capes, coats,costumes, dresses, jackets, nightgowns, overalls, pajamas, pants, pinafores, rompers, sacks, shirts, shorts, skirts, suits, sweaters, sweatshirts, T-shirts, and vests
- Underwear - this includes bloomers, briefs, combinations, drawers, pantalettes, panties, petticoats, slips, undershirts, and union suits
- Other Articles - objects closely associated and stored with children's clothing, these include bellybands, blankets, clips, handkerchiefs, pacifiers, pillowcases, pins, sheets, and straps (These items are not accessible if you start your tour by decade.)
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