The Temple of Dagon

How sure are we that the photo of HPL with his parents is actually HPL? Baby-doll dress aside (I know all tots wore them, regardless of gender), that kid looks like a little girl, curls and all.

I'ld heard before that they used to dress baby boys as baby girls to throw off the demoness Lillith who supposedly would kill only the boys.

According to Sonia H. Davis ("Memories of Lovecraft: I" [1971]; in LR), Sarah had wanted a girl and had started a hope-chest for that eventuality; she dressed HPL in frocks until he was about four, and kept him in long, golden curls until he demanded at the age of six that they be cut.

Sarah of course being Lovecraft's mother, and Sonia H. Davis being Lovecraft's wife.

That quote is from "An H. P. Lovecraft Encyclopedia" by S. T. Joshi and David E. Schultz. Joshi is the Lovecraft authority. For those who did not hear about it allready, the Temple of Dagon's interview with S. T. Joshi will be put up very soon!

I would say it is most definitly Lovecraft in the picture, with all the research and study around him.

Good enough explanation for me. Sounds like Mama Lovecraft had some real issues, though.

Some might say the whole family did. Have you ever read any Lovecraft biographies? Quite interesting!

Never got around to reading more than just the usual one- or two-page bios that just gloss over the man's life. Are there any in-depth bios online?

Practical matters are that putting boys in frocks in that era was commonplace. It was a big deal to get your first page of pants at around five. I have tons of family pictures from the same era of boys in dresses. I knew they were boys, because my Mama (their sister) told me so, giving me their names and this odd bit of lore from the times. I am guessing that with infants and toddlers it at least made it easier to change little boy's nappies