Vintage Photos: Crossdressing for Mom

August 9, 1951.  California. Left-click photo to enlarge.

"Eleven-year-old Sammy Leonardi dresses as a girl to get into a hospital where he will visit his mother and new sister." -- L.A. Herald-Examiner

More photos and Sammy/Samantha below the fold.

Sammy and his grandmother Josephine.

Success.  Sammy leaving the hospital in Glendale, California.

 

Above and below: Sammy with his father, Joseph Leonardi.

So why did they bring a newspaper photographer along for the trip?

Comments

[K]

Why did he have to dress as a girl?

I suspect it was age. Girls were probably allowed in at a earlier age.

I am (was?) familiar with hospitals of that era and recall age restrictions up to about 10. Younger children tended to misbehave.

Perhaps new mothers were in a ward together and they might not have wanted men passing through.

Childbirth isn't neat and tidy or designed to put women in the mood to see strangers, let alone curious boys, close by.

[Dr X]

K,

Thanks. That makes sense.

[Tom]

He wears that dress well.

[robert]

This is a good story, but lots of boys were crossdressed by their mothers. The dress he is wearing looks a little long for him and probably should have been age appropriate (11 yrs. old) I know there were little girl dresses that were just as nice. I know from experience.