Here’s another A.C. Kendig photo, this one taken in the early 1800s of Naperville toddler Arthur Henry Hobert and his toy cat, posed on a piece of furniture. This image is known as a carte-de-visite, a style of small photographs — usually about 4.5-inches-by-2.5-inches — that became popular starting in the 1860s because they could be easily shared and traded among friends and visitors. And, yes, while it appears young Arthur, who was born in 1881, died in 1958 and is buried in Naperville Cemetery, is wearing a skirt, that was the custom in the day. According to one account from the Maryland Center for History and Culture, it was likely more practical from the standpoint of changing diapers. But it also could have represented the child’s dependence on its mother until the boy was “breeched” — given his first pair of pants or breeches — when the father was to take over his son’s education. Another school of thought is “small boys and girls were dressed alike because they were seen alike. Infants and toddlers were all seen as innocent, meaning sexless or without gender,” the center’s publication said.