Were We So Scared Of The Future That Kids Once Dressed In Foil?

This is an awesome picture taken in the early 1900s in America. All the boys are wearing foil for some odd reason. Was foil in style? Was it to protect themselves from an alien invasion? Did it represent the future?

I have so many questions and sadly none of them can be answered. All I know is those boys don’t look happy at all. I’m pretty sure foil would chafe. [Shorpy via Gearfuse]