Forget Blue Steel: These Toddler Models Had the Looks

Looking back across the decades, the story on Merry Mites clothing that appeared in the March 15, 1948 issue of LIFE is chiefy notable for the adorable photos produced when LIFE staff photogtapher Nina Leen aimed her lens at an unusually young group of models. Leen had done a number of memorable stories for LIFE involving teenagers and college students, and in this case she warmed to the challenge of even younger subjects by dressing up the shoot with props such as toy trains and briefcases.

The result is a series of pictures that are fun and smart, highlighting both the kids and the elevated sensibility of the photographer.

But the clothing featured in the shoot was actually something of attention-getter back in 1948. The debut of the innovative Merry Mites line garnered coverage not only from LIFE but from The New York Times and Time magazine.

As explained by LIFE’s story, headlined “Sharp Styles for Small Boys,” the promise of Merry Mites was that their high cost would be “offset by their washability, toughness, and the fact that they can expand to allow for two years’ growth.”

All 40 of the new styles ranging from shirts to overcoats, combine durability with grownup tailoring and fabrics. Roominess, big buttons and strategically located zippers make them easy to get on and off. Tucks of extra material and adjustable buttons allow each garment to be let out in all directions two or three times as a child grows.

The Merry Mites line was the creation of Merry Hull, an award-winning designer whose real name was Gladys Whitcomb Geissmann. She created the look for B. Altman and Co., a retail giant of the mid-20th century. Her son Jon Christopher, who was three and a half years old at the time, is one of the models in the shoot, and he helped inspire the Merry Mites idea with the way he grew out of clothing so quickly.

And all these years later, the clothes still have their fans. You can find vintage Merry Mites items for sale on sites such as Poshmark and Etsy.

Toddlers modeled the Merry Mites clothing line that was introduced by B. Altman and Co., 1948.

Nina Leen/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock

In a story on the Merry Mites clothing line of 1948, this image illustrated how the same outfir was designed to be adjusted as a young boy grew.

Nina Leen/Life Picture Collection/Shutterstock