Quantitative Analysis of Visual Data. Clare Rose The Royal School of Needlework

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1 Quantitative Analysis of Visual Data Clare Rose The Royal School of Needlework

2 Methodology The study of consumption behaviour in the past can be challenging, as there is often a mismatch or a gap between textual, visual and material sources. This paper will present an innovative method of analysing data presented in images based on the research carried out for a PhD on boys clothing Over 2,000 photographs dated of individuals, families, and school groups were analysed for evidence of the types and conditions of garments worn and the results were tabulated. Some of the photographs had information about the children s ages, so that an age profile for the consumption of specific garments could be deduced. A further analysis was carried out on 1200 images from clothing retailers catalogues for the same date range, quantifying the types of garments offered for sale, and the typical age ranges and price ranges for each. The quantitative analysis of separate sources provided a multi-dimensional picture of the making, selling and wearing of clothing. Comparing these sets of data gave evidence of consumer choices, such as garment types offered in retail catalogues in sizes up to 12 years old, but seen in photographs mostly on boys under 8. These analyses gave a firm evidential base for the discussion of clothing practices and their meanings.

3 Barnardo s entry photographs as a source of data From 1875, Dr Barnardo s Homes took identity photographs of each child, not used for publication. These are visually distinct from posed publicity photographs taken before 1877 (after which they were banned) The identity photographs continued into the late twentieth century, and represent the largest single archive of documented images of children, with 21,000 for the period alone. Barnardo s entry images after 1888 are stored with documentation which makes it possible to use them as a source of information on family practices. The name and age of the child, his/her institutional number, and the date are inked on the photograph. Sibling groups are photographed together and are readily identifiable.

4 Entry and exit photos taken by Barnardo s Entry images have varied clothing, mugshot' poses, siblings together Exit images have identical clothing, portrait poses, siblings separated Images Barnardo's Aftercare Department

5 Sampling of data For the period , all sibling groups with at least one brother were selected, and complete ledger pages for the months of January and July were also added as a randomized control. This gave a total of 1550 images, which were analyzed quantatively to show the types of garments worn, and the degree of raggedness or respectability. Raggedness in clothing was categorized by obvious holes, patches, or worn areas and with clothing that was visibly too small. Respectability was categorized by the lack of wear or tightness, and the presence of collars and ties.

6 Raggedness and respectability in Barnardo s entrants from sample Families in the sample were categorised as ragged, respectable or mixed on the basis of a visual analysis of their clothing

7 Respectable brothers: 125 families, 260 boys Respectable families followed clothing styles, and age ranges, presented in shop catalogues aimed at middle-class consumers. 74 out of the 125 families in this group had two or more brothers wearing jackets in the same style and often in the same fabric also. Brothers aged 9 and 13, entering Barnardo s in 1895 Images Barnardo's Aftercare Department

8 Ragged brothers: 88 families, 190 boys Brothers aged 8, 10 and 16 entering Barnardo s in 1889 Images Barnardo's Aftercare Department Even when clothing was ragged, many families showed an attempt to conform with the practices observed in respectable groups Age differentiation through clothing (younger boys wearing sailor suits and short trousers, older boys wearing corduroy jackets and long trousers)

9 Mixed brothers 37 families, 113 boys Mixed families had either differences in levels of clothing between brothers (one ragged and one respectable ) or the clothing of individuals showed a mixture of qualities such as a white collar on a ragged jacket. Looking at the way these differences correlated to age clarifies how changing family circumstances affected clothing. We might expect boys at the age for seeking work to be better dressed. In fact, there were several examples where school-age younger brothers were better dressed than working-age elder ones. In a few of the families in this sample, there was a difference between the clothes of older and younger siblings that suggests a downward trend in family status. Brothers aged 7, 9 and 11, 1899

10 Retail catalogues: garment sizes and prices 510 dated retail catalogues and advertising flyers, containing 1200 images of boys garments, were found in the John Johnson Collection (Bodleian), and Stationers Hall Archive (TNA) These were analysed for information on the prices and age ranges for garments Catalogue page, Chas Baker & Co (nationwide chain), Author collection Catalogue page, Dallas s Ltd, Glasgow FRAS 799/5, House of Fraser Archive, University of Glasgow Archive Services

11 School group photographs: age cohorts 25 dated school group photographs containing images of 535 boys from Board Schools were found in local archives Data from these indicated clothing practices for an age cohort in a known time and place Mixed infants at Holden St School, London, 1897 All the boys wear sailor or blouse tops

12 School photographs were taken in groups of Infants (mixed, age 4-8) and older children (single-sex, aged 8-12) or in Standards. These gave age ranges for the groups. Older boys at Elizabeth St School, London, 1896 Three (out of 36) boys wear sailor blouses Two boys have white collars with visibly ragged jackets

13 AGE at which sailor suits worn by Barnardo s entrants, % 70% 60% 50% Percentage of Barnardo s sample wearing sailor suits, by age 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% age 2 age 3 age 4 age 5 age 6 age 7 age 8 age 9 age 10 age 11 age 12

14 Findings The relationship between clothing behaviour and economic activity in the Barnardo s entry photos was not so clear-cut as might be expected. The typical age for putting on long trousers was thirteen, even in the most ragged (and probably poorest) families, whose boys might have been working at the age of ten or eleven. We might expect boys at the age for seeking work to be better dressed, following the observations of Russell and Lanigan. In fact, there were several examples where school-age younger brothers were better dressed than working-age elder ones. The Barnardo s sample images show an understanding of the different conventions governing clothing in the workplace and in schools. They also suggest that the schoolboy was potentially, if not actually, of higher status than the young worker.

15 Conclusions Brothers aged 10 and 12, 1891 White collars used to add respectability' to ragged jackets and caps Images Barnardo's Aftercare Department The images in the Barnardo s archive indicate that even poor families understood what respectable clothes meant (white collars; ageappropriate styles; matching outfits for brothers) and tried to provide them Images created by charities can be used to see through the rhetoric of charities themselves They also act as a warning of the gap between charities presentation of the truth, and the actuality (Koven, 2004)

16 Bibliography Breward, Christopher The Hidden Consumer, Masculinities, fashion and city life Manchester: Manchester University Press. Cunningham, Hugh The Children of the Poor: Representations of Childhood since the Seventeenth Century. Oxford: Blackwell. Davin, Anna Growing Up Poor, Home, School and Street in London London: Rivers Oram. Koven, Seth Slumming: Sexual and social politics in Victorian London. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Murdoch, Lydia Imagined Orphans, Poor families, Child Welfare, and Contested Citizenship in London. Camden, NJ: Rutgers University Press. Rose, Clare Raggedness and Respectability in Barnardo s Archive, International Journal of Childhood in the Past I: Rose, Clare Making, Selling and Wearing Boy s Clothes in late-victorian Britain. Farnham: Ashgate. Ross, Ellen Love and Toil, Motherhood in Outcast London Oxford: Oxford University Press. Ugolini, Laura Men and Menswear, Sartorial consumption in Britain Aldershot: Ashgate.