Discover the traditions and costume regarding children and childrenswear in the Jewish culture around the world this July on the Europeana Fashion Tumblr!

The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, is the new curator of the Europeana Fashion Tumblr. During this month, the Museum will focus the Tumblr on children and childrenswear: a photographic journey unearthing the cultural traditions that offers interesting perspectives on the latest directions of contemporary fashion.

Rosie, Margit, and Arjie Fischer, in Temesvár, Hungary (now Timişoara, Romania), 1910. Collection of Tehiya and Harry Sapir, Jerusalem, Photographic Archive of the Isidore and Anne Falk Information Center for Jewish Art and Life, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem http://www.imj.org.il/en/

The pictures are selected from The Photographic Archive at the Isidore and Anne Falk Information Center for Jewish Art and Life, house to an extensive collection of rare photographs documenting the daily life of Jewish communities around the world. Its tens-of-thousands items include images of synagogues, cemeteries, and ceremonies, as well as various aspects of everyday life – costumes, jewelry, homes. Many photographs date from the latter part of the 19th century and the early 20th century, and constitute culturally, historically, and ethnographically valuable testimonies of a world now forgotten. Often these are the only surviving images from a once-thriving community that no longer exists.

Ester Talkar and her family, Bene Israel Community, Bombey, India, early 20th century. Photographic Archive of the Isidore and Anne Falk Information Center for Jewish Art and Life, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem http://www.imj.org.il/en/

The pictures show how many children’s garments looked like miniature versions of adult clothing, as children in traditional societies were considered adults-in-the-making from an early age; this testifies how the idea of ‘childhood’ as a distinct period of life only emerged in Europe in recent centuries, eventually spreading to other cultures. In the Baghdad Jewish community, for example, the outfit worn by an eight-day-old baby boy at his circumcision resembled the coat worn by a bridegroom.

Boy wearing an embroidered outfit in the style of Aqra, Iraqi Kurdistan, 1979. Photographic Archive of the Isidore and Anne Falk Information Center for Jewish Art and Life, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem http://www.imj.org.il/en/

Important additions accompanied many of the adult-looking clothes of babies and toddlers: special amulets to protect them from harm, at a time when child mortality was widespread. Since traditional societies placed a higher value on male children, in some communities an attempt was made to confuse the evil forces intent on harming young boys by dressing them in girls’ clothing. Later on, the Western idea of using color to distinguish between boys and girls also exerted an influence.

Learn more about these traditions or let yourself be fascinated by this visual history in black and white in the Europeana Fashion Tumblr. Visit it everyday to find a new picture – and a new story.