Fun Photo Puzzle, 1920s Style - More info #19

[SJ.]

This evening I came across an old family photo.  There has been some dispute as to the gender of the children in the photo.  The photo was probably taken sometime between 1922-1924 in rural northeast Ohio.  What do you think?

 

ETA - I forgot to attach the photos!  Trying to do so now.

 

ETA2 - Arrrgghhh!!!  I keep getting an upload error.

 

ETA3 - Still can't post the photo but changed it to my profile picture.  Can you see it?  Any tips on how to post the photo?

 

ETA4 - Figured it out!  Whew!

 

Edited March 27, 2017 by SJ.

[SJ.]

Still can't post the photo but changed it to my profile picture.  Can you see it?  Any tips on how to post the photo?

[SJ.]

Pictures are posted! 

[maize]

Clothing looks like dresses to me, so I think both are girls. They look too old to be boys in smocks.

[Innisfree]

Girls in our family had haircuts like those around that time.

[LucyStoner]

I think they are both girls.  The taller one is definitely a girl.  The smaller one might be a boy but something about the face and the clothing make me think probably a girl.  

[mmasc]

I think they're both girls. The clothes are the same, and I think the bob style hair cut of the shorter one was popular for girls in the 1920s (I think).

[displace]

Girls x 2. I think boys would have had shorter hairstyles.

Edited March 26, 2017 by displace

[abba12]

No doubt the older is a girl. The younger could go either way

[JonesinIndiana]

I think the younger could be a boy. Looking at the older girl and her long hair and the cut of the younger child's makes me think it might be a boy. Clothing (what we can see) indicates a girl though.

 

Sorry, I was no help! 😃

[Guest]

Is that a pig they're standing with?

[eternalsummer]

100% the hind end of a pig

[MercyA]

As a young boy my grandpa had a haircut like the child on the right. The outfits appear to be matching ones, though. I voted both girls. 

[Mothersweets]

I voted for both to be girls. I think in that time and place the child with the bob would be more likely to be a girl than a boy.

 

Are you going to tell us if we're right? :)

Edited March 26, 2017 by Mothersweets

[JFSinIL]

Looks like they live on a farm - I can't see a farmer letting his boy have that haircut ;-) so I vote both girls.  Short bobs were a common girl haircut 20s-30s.  On a little boy it would come across too Little Lord Fauntleroy, I think. 

Edited March 26, 2017 by JFSinIL

[poppy]

I think that child is a boy with an unfortunate Shemp Howard haircut.  Early 1920s boys had fairly long hair, see this 1920 photo or this 1925 photo

[Tap]

Both girls.

Same bangs, the shorter girl may have her hair pulled back in a braid/ponytail, so her hair may be long too.

Same outfit.

[Lady Florida.]

The taller one I'm pretty sure is a girl. The shorter (younger) one is iffy. It looks to me like she's a girl, but there's the small possibility it's a boy. I chose Other because I'm unsure about the shorter child.

Edited March 26, 2017 by Lady Florida.

[SJ.]

Here is the backstory of the picture:

 

A cousin has this picture and the back of the picture says L., her sister , and her sister's children.  L. only has one sister, E.  Her three children are BoyG (1917), BoyW (1920), and GirlB (1922).  

 

 

E. and her family lived in Cleveland but E's family home was in the Ohio countryside, hence the farm photo.  E. had a difficult life and lived in poverty in the city.  

 

i think it is plausible that the two children in the photo are boys, specifically BoyG and BoyW.  Regarding the clothing - there is a seam down the center of the clothes of the child on the left, possible baggy pants or shorts?  And the child on the right you cannot see whether the child is wearing pants, shorts, or a dress.  The hair I think is just bad hair cuts.  The hair of the child on the left looks disheveled, perhaps from a day of playing outside on the farm.

 

Or perhaps the outfits were made by their immigrant grandmother (whose house I believe they are visiting) and very old fashioned even for the 1920s?

 

My mother disagrees and insists they are girls.  IMO there is no one else the children could be but the two boys.  

 

Thoughts?  

 

My mom sent me a few additional photos today.  The child alone is BoyG and the other photo is both brothers.

 

 

Edited March 27, 2017 by SJ.

[TrixieB]

I think you are correct.  Both children are boys.  That was my initial thought, but when I showed the photo to my dd, she convinced me that they were both girls (so I voted that way).

 

If the children didn't live on the farm, maybe they were dressed in "made by Grandma" nicer clothes for visiting or for the photo.

 

Assuming 1924 for the photo, that would make the children ages 7 and 4, which looks appropriate.

[happi duck]

Interesting thread!!

[Farrar]

I think it could easily go either way. If you have more info that pegs them as boys, then I find that completely plausible. I'm a bit surprised so many people are so sure it's two girls.

[Sherry in OH]

I think the children are wearing rompers.  These were common playwear for both boys and girls.  (Think of the scene in Cheaper by the Dozen where Annie is asked to button up her younger siblings' rompers.)    

 

 

[SJ.]

I think the children are wearing rompers.  These were common playwear for both boys and girls.  (Think of the scene in Cheaper by the Dozen where Annie is asked to button up her younger siblings' rompers.)    

 

I believe you are right.  I found an old Sears advertisement for boy rompers and the outfits in the photo look similar to the coverall design on the left with a belting detail similar to the other rompers.  

Edited March 27, 2017 by SJ.

[SJ.]

Is that a pig they're standing with?

 

Yep! 

100% the hind end of a pig

Definitely! Haha!