C.B. Vignoles
The child in this picture stands perfectly by what appears to be his mother. He stands firmly on the ground, clutching a strong stick and from all appearances seems to be the protector even as he is young and small. We see in him the “little man,” the adult in a children’s body able to protect. Standing still and without motion, this picture gives us a keen sense that children, and specifically male children, needed to protect, be responsible, and gentlemanly to the fairer sex. These traits, more typified than adults and not typified of children now, depict how children and childhood was viewed through a different lens comparative to now.
