Lurch once donned a suit inspired by the Harry Potter of the 1800s

Little Lord Fauntleroy suits were all the rage.

Image: Wikimedia Commons

For The Addams Family episode "Lurch Learns to Dance," Lurch plans to turn down his annual invitation to the Butlers Ball for a simple reason: the towering man can’t dance.

Naturally, the Addams family swarms to help teach him, and their dance lessons lead up to Lurch’s entrance to the ball, where he dons one of the most fashionable and memorable trends for young boys of all time: the Fauntleroy suit.

In the late 1800s, the Fauntleroy suit became peak fashion for boys between the ages of 3 and 8. And although the trend originated in England, nowhere was it more popular than the United States.

To get the Fauntleroy suit look, boys wore fancy blouses with ruffles or lace at the collar under velvet suits with cut-away jackets, making them look quite distinguished.

On The Addams Family, Lurch accentuates his schoolboy look by wearing knee-high socks, and not to be outdone, his blouse features ruffles and lace.

You might wonder what led so many boys to embrace ruffles, and the answer is a book that critics have since dubbed the Harry Potter of the 1800s.

Little Lord Fauntleroy was a novel written by Frances Hodgson Burnett that was published as a serial in a magazine. As installments came out, readers were hooked by the story of a poor boy who suddenly becomes heir to an earldom.

In the stories, Lord Fauntleroy was depicted as having a distinct charm, and each installment was accompanied by illustrations of the boy by Reginald B. Birch, who depicted the little lord’s clothes as what later became the fashion trend known as the Fauntleroy suit.

This fashion craze stuck around long enough that eventually, teens were sporting the look, which occasionally saw fashionable young men wearing their hair in ringlet curls.

Because the serial was so popular, the merch didn’t stop at suits, either. Fans could buy Fauntleroy velvet collars, playing cards, and chocolates.

Like Harry Potter, Fauntleroy was a hit because of the rags-to-riches story at its core. Back in the 1800s when most fiction was considered sentimental, the sensational story struck a chord with Americans.

And like Harry Potter, Little Lord Fauntleroy and his velvety suits were not a passing trend. Decades after the stories were published, stage productions were still popular, including one that cast Buster Keaton to don the Fauntleroy suit at the age of 11.

Four decades later, Little Lord Fauntleroy became a silent film in 1921, and around the world, TV adaptations were produced in every decade, most recently in 2012.

The Addams Family is just one tiny fold in the fabric of the Fauntleroy suit’s influence on pop culture, but we have to say Lurch pulls off the look and we’re glad he didn’t forget to add the lace to his decadent collar.

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76 Comments

bagandwallyfan80 34 months ago
Does Anyone know whatever Happened to These Actors
Since They Left HAPPY DAYS:
1 NEIL J SCHWARTZ (BAG)
2 RANDOLPH ROBERTS (CHUCK CUNNINGHAM)
3 BARRY GREENBERG (MOOSE)
4DENIS MANDEL (EUGENE BELVIN)
5 SCOTT BERNSTEIN (MELVIN BELVIN)
6 DANNY BUTCH)
(7) TITA BELL(TRUDY)
8 MISTY ROWE (WENDY)
GOMER PYLE USMC
1 Ronnie SCHELL (Duke Slater)
2 Elizabeth MacRae (Lou Ann Poovie)
Petticoat Junction
Russ Horton (Junior Hockey
Leave It To Beaver
1 Joey Scott(Bengie)
2 Rusty Stevens(Larry Mondello)
3 David Kent(Bill Scott)
4 Keith Taylor (Harry Henderson)
5 Buddy Hart( Chester Anderson)
6Tiger Fafara(Tooey Brown)
7 Jeri Weil (Judy Hensler)
8 Karen Sue Trent (Penny Woods)



















K
Correction
Russ Horton played
JUNIOR HOCKER on
Petticoat Junction.
Does anyone know whatever happened to
Actresses
CAREY WILLIAMS
CAROL WILLIAMS
Both actresses were on
Happy Days.
Carol Williams played
MARALEE on Fonzies New
Friend and Carey Williams
Danced with MOOSE Barry Greenberg in the Happy Days episode Guess Who's Coming To Visit which had
the attempted drag race
between Fonzie and Skizzy
bagandwallyfan80 34 months ago
Does anyone know who said this
Line on a TV Show:
"You wouldn't want to see me
when I'm angry!!"
The Incredible Hulk
Thank you for the answer
Of The Incredible Hulk!!
You’re welcome 🙂
bagandwallyfan80 34 months ago
Freakazoid and The Tick and
Run Buddy Run and The Roy Rogers Show and Sky King
On METV.
bagandwallyfan80 34 months ago
On Leave It To Beaver the episode Farewell To Penny was
NOT the LADT EPISODE of
PENNY WOODS played by
Karen Sue Trent.
Beaver The Bunny has the
Last Appearance of Penny Woods.Beaver And Ivanhoe is
the ONLY episode of LITB with
BOTH Judy Hensler (Jeri Weil)
And Penny Woods (Karen Sue Trent). The Last Episode with
Judy Hensler is the episode called Beaver The HERO.
bagandwallyfan80 34 months ago
CHUCK CUNNINGHAM
(Gavan O'Herlihy and Randolph Roberts ) on Happy Days is NOT
The Only Chuck to disapear with
No Explanation.
There is another character on one of the 3 Mayberry Sitcoms
Who vanished into thin air
With no explanation.
Does anyone besides me know
Which Chuck that I am talking
About?
The character with the first name Chuck Disappeared from the Sitcom with no explanation
And was Replaced by another character ..Also can anyone name the actor who played
Chuck on one of the three
Mayberry Sitcoms?
Put on Your thinking cap like
Tom Terrific on Captain Kangaroo.
On the Roller Coaster episode of Leave It To Beaver which one of these
Roller Coaster Riders Got
SCARED and Terrified
While riding the Roller Coaster:
1 Wally (Tony Dow)
2 Lumpy Rutherford (Frank
Bank)
3 Bill Scott (David Kent)
4 Eddie Haskell (Ken Osmond)
5 Beaver(Jerry Mathers)
bagandwallyfan80 34 months ago
The Jetsons are coming to
METV on Sunday Feb.13 the at
11:30am !!
bagandwallyfan80 34 months ago
Several Months Ago METV did
A List of The 30TH Favorite
Characters on Happy Days
But I hope that METV will
Change that List To The 40th
Favorite Characters on Happy Days because The Following
Characters of Happy Days
Were Left OFF The List of
The Favorite and Best Characters on Happy Days:
1 WENDY Misty Rowe
2 MOOSE Barry Greenberg
3 DAPHNE Hillary Horan
4 TRUDY Tita Bell
5 STICKS Downey Jr John Anthony Bailey
6 MELVIN BELVIN Scott Bernstein
bagandwallyfan80 34 months ago
When will METV Plus(+) be
Available in all 50 states?METV
Plus can't be picked up with
An indoor TV antenna or outdoor
TV antenna.
I wish that the FCC had not
Made Local TV Stations switch
From ANALOG To DIGITAL.
I used to receive the following
TV Stations With Analog Signals:
Ch.2 WFMY Greensboro NC
Ch.8 WGHP High Point NC
Ch 12 WXII Winston Salem NC
Ch5 WRAL Raleigh NC
Ch 11 WTVD Durham NC
Ch9 Greenville NC
Ch6 WTVR Richmond VA
Ch8 WXEX WRIC Petersburg VA
Ch12 WWBT Richmond VA
Now with Digital Signals I can't
Receive all of the local channels
In Roanoke VA.
I can't receive ch15 WBRA in
Roanoke and ch15 IS A LOCAL
Channel and the DIGITAL signals
Of ch 7 WDBJ in Roanoke VA
And ch 10 WSLS in Roanoke VA
Get Messed Up a lot.
ANALOG Signals were STRONGER than DIGITAL signals
And ANALOG Signals in my
Area (Roanoke VA) traveled
100 miles like TV Stations in
Greensboro NC Winston Salem NC and High Point NC.
Why did the FCC force Local
TV Stations to switch from
Analog Signals to weaker DIGITAL Signals?
Q: When will METV Plus(+) be Available in all 50 states?
A: When they're ready - Haven't seen any articles on their expansion of MeTV+. (not likely published).
Q: Why did the FCC switch from Analog to Digital?
A: From a Google Search:
How do you ask the FCC a question?
Federal Communications Commission
Website: Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
Contact: Contact the Federal Communications Commission. ...
Email: [email protected].
Toll Free: 1-888-CALL-FCC (1-888-225-5322)
Good Luck in your query for info about FCC conversions (Analog to Digital).
lynngdance LoveMETV22 34 months ago
I saw on a notification that you replied to me on this page, but I think MeTV didn’t like the “Bunny Rabbit War” that was going on so they deleted all our comments 😕. Soooo, if it was important, you’ll have to repost it, sorry 😐
LoveMETV22 lynngdance 34 months ago
Lol, I think that happens from time to time, It just tucks them aside (temporarily), it looks like they're still there.
lynngdance LoveMETV22 34 months ago
Ah yes. Now I see. Ok 😆
bagandwallyfan80 34 months ago
I hope that someday METV
Will show an Ernest T. Bass
Marathon with all 5 episodes
That he appeared in.
bagandwallyfan80 34 months ago
I would like to see reruns of
The Andy Williams Show and
The Danny Kaye Show on METV.
bagandwallyfan80 34 months ago
Sugarfoot a western starring
Will Hutchins for a suggestion for a TV show for METV to carry.
bagandwallyfan80 34 months ago
I would like to see reruns of
ALICE on METV .
bagandwallyfan80 34 months ago
I have a Suggestion for METV.
Please have a movie show called
COMEDY PLAYHOUSE once a
Week showing COMEDY MOVIES.
From the Wikipedia MeTv page:
Despite access to content from Universal, CBS Media Ventures and 20th Century Studios libraries.
Movies have a relatively limited presence on MeTV's weekly schedule.
The network airs Svengoolie on Saturday evenings, and most likely that will be the extent.
Although in the networks earlier years movies were more prevalent, it appears they are satisfied with the Saturday night Svengoolie movies filling that category. You could always use the
Contact MeTV link for your suggestion as it may get more attention. Just a thought.
bagandwallyfan80 34 months ago
Black Saddle with Marshall
Gib Scott played by Russell Johnson would be a good
Western to put on METV.
I would also like to see
The Roy Rogers Show and
Sky King and The Gene Autry
Show on METV .
bagandwallyfan80 34 months ago
I noticed that Richard (Richard
Correll) disapeared from Mayfield right In The Middle
Of The sixth season of Leave
It To Beaver and Lana Shields
Vanished from Three's Company
Soon after she and Ralph FURLEY (Don Knotts) arrived
On the show.
bagandwallyfan80 34 months ago
Even in a Bunny Suit FONZIE
Is COOL.
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