As boys neared the age of six, they began to identify more strongly with masculine characteristics and tendencies.  Where gender played a negligible role in the way boys were treated throughout infancy, by the time they reached childhood they were expected to fulfill the strongly defined role of the “real boy”.  Photographs of boys of this age contrived to display the transition from infancy to boyhood through choices in costume, positioning and setting.

            Boys had more closely cropped hair, wore trousers, and were often captured outdoors.  The world of games and sports outside of the home that boys began to discover played an increasingly important role in their lives—and as they grew, the youth culture of Vermont males developed along with them.