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About this extract
The photograph used is Hiram and Lily Broadhurst with their sons, George and Arthur, 1911. The photographer is unknown.
Photo courtesy of: Documentary Photography Archive, GMCRO, Manchester. Ref: 760/31
Related programmes
This extract from Open University course A173 Start Writing Family History explains how old photographs can help you discover the lives of your ancestors.
Sunday Best
Sitters usually arrived at the photographer’s studio wearing their Sunday best clothes. This suggests that they conspired with the photographer to achieve an idealised image of themselves looking their best.
Boys in Skirts 
Little boys wore skirts until the age of three to five years when they were dressed in their first pair of trousers. This early rite of passage was known as breeching. The newly breeched child often received pennies from relatives and neighbours. The tradition of boys wearing skirts had largely died out by the late 1920s.
The toy train also helps to confirm that this is a little boy.
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Content last updated: 14/01/2005
