CIVIL DRESS AT LOUISBOURG: 1713 - 1758
CHILDREN'S DRESS

BY

MONIQUE LA GRENADE

OCTOBER 1973

Report H F 16B E

Fortress of Louisbourg

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II. HEADGEAR

The people of the 18th century almost always had their heads covered. They slept with nightcaps, and in the daytime wore headgear, even in the house. The men wore cotton, wool or linen caps, [53] as well as felt hats. [54] As for the women, the headgear, mounted on a bonnet, decorated their hair. [55] Women's head-dresses were very original, as there were many models of varying degrees of simplicity, and a great variety of fabrics, from ordinary linen to the finest lace.

Children also have their own headgear. At the age when they are dressed like small adults, they were, of course, wearing headgear like the "grown-ups". But when they were younger, there were head-dresses made specially for them.

A. HEADGEAR FOR YOUNG CHILDREN OF BOTH SEXES

1. Baby's cap (béguin)

From the first days, the newly-born child wears a bonnet. The young children wear them up to the age of three or four. [56] "The bonnets for two-year, three-year and four-year olds are similar (to that of the one-year old), but gradually increase in size."[57]  The bonnet which is worn under the cap covers the child's head completely. It is made of linen, and the front rim may be decorated with a band of pleated muslin. This rim fits perfectly around the lines of the face. "At the bottom on one side there is attached a small strip of linen which goes under the chin of the child and is tied to the other side with a pin." [58] The bonnet can also be tied with two ribbons knotted under the chin. [59]

We have no details on those they had at Louisbourg, but it is certain that the children wore them, as there were "three children's béguins" at a store there. [60]

2. Bonnet

The bonnet is also a head-dress worn by the child from birth to the age of three. It can be made of wool, linen or muslin, [61] and resembles the béguin very closely. However, the front is different: instead of pleated muslin, it is trimmed with a strip of wider material decorated with lace. [62]

Among the children's bonnets mentioned in documents of the St. Lawrence Valley, nightcaps are included. [63] This is not specifically mentioned in the Louisbourg documentation, where we found only a mention of the "small children's bonnet". [64]

3. Toquet

There is a third head-dress for children: the toquet. The latter does not seem to have a specific model. It is rather the material of which it is made which characterizes it, material more luxurious than simple linen. In fact, this "small children's cap ... is made of taffeta, silk, linen trimmed with lace." [65] Certain children wore them at Louisbourg, since a "small toquet" was sold there in 1756. [66]

4. Têtière or Têture

The expression "têture'" mentioned in the Louisbourg documentation can not be found elsewhere. The term which is closest is '"têtière" (baby's helmet), and there is every indication that the word was deformed, which happens frequently in the manuscript of the time. It is all the more plausible that, in both cases, the term explicitly alludes to a baby's head-dress. First of all, it is specified that a Louisbourg merchant had four "baby's têtures".[67] On the other hand, the "têtière" forms part of the layette. [68] Unlike the other headgear mentioned above, this one is used exclusively for the newly-born, as it is removed before they reach the age of one month. The "têtière" has somewhat the form of a quite roomy hood, which covers the head and neck and goes down lower than the shoulders. [69] It is a "kind of linen veil which holds the head of the newly-born child, and which that child wears until he can support his own head a little." [70]

B. COIFFES FOR GIRLS

The little girls of Louisbourg wore coiffes, as, in 1756, "nine coiffes for little girls" were sold at a store. [71] This is another piece of raiment which makes them look like their mothers. The coiffes are mounted on bonnets and are made in a great variety of models and materials, all the details of which can be found in the section concerning "feminine head-dresses." [72]

C. HATS FOR BOYS

The boys also look like little men with their hats. We can see them wearing the "men's tricorne" or the "cotton cap" on the illustrations of contemporary scenes .[73] As for the adults, it is again the social milieu which determines the value of their clothing. The cap was no doubt the most common headgear. But certain parents also purchased felt hats for their children. Thus, a Louisbourg engineer had ordered "a Cordebec hat for his son", for which he had paid 12 livres in 1738. [74] "Cordebec" here refers to Caudebec, a small town in Normandie which was the first one where "Caudebec hats ... made of lambs wool, waste wool, or ostrich down, or camel hair" were made. [75]

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