Portraits from the first 100 years of photography
This multi-generational portrait was made at Atelier Fritz Tschira in the scenic town of Osterode am Harz. Osterode is at the edge of the Harz mountains, which are the highest in northern Germany. The postcard isn't dated, but my guess would be late 1920s. If anyone has a different guess, based on clothing or hairstyles... Continue Reading →
Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire called conscience. --George Washington On February 21, 1906, an unknown photographer created this time capsule of the inside of a fifth-grade classroom. The photo is mounted on a card, on the back of which is a note: "Leighton's First School, Bellefontaine, O." ... Continue Reading →
These college-age women have a determined air about them, as if they're on a mission. They've arranged themselves around a pedestal with a Union Jack flag draped over it, adding a patriotic aspect to the portrait and perhaps suggesting political activism. Were they participants in the women's suffrage movement? What does the ribbon on the... Continue Reading →
This studio portrait is a mystery to me. Like the wedding portrait in the previous post, it came from Texas with no information. The words DEMACHI. SAITO. SEI. are printed below the photograph on the cardboard mount. If anyone knows what they mean, please comment below! Two of the men are wearing hats with red... Continue Reading →
According to information in an article in the St. Cloud Times in July 2015, the town of Richmond, Minnesota, was officially called Torah for nineteen years, from 1890 until 1909. It had been called Richmond informally by locals before that, but when the town was incorporated in 1890, the name Richmond was already in use at... Continue Reading →
This undated postcard was addressed by a man named René to a friend, also named René, who was probably working at the Café Monico in London. The sender is very likely one of the men in the group above. The postcard was printed by the firm of G. W. Gibson in Coldstream, a town in the... Continue Reading →
They must be two sets of twins. The back of this CDV doesn't tell us anything about them, but it does identify the photographer, C. W. Gill. I didn't find anything about Gill online. The Hubbard Block was built on Public Square by Volney Stow Hubbard in 1868, which is about when this photo was... Continue Reading →
The day of the party has arrived. She and her friends have been working on their dresses for weeks. "Let's take pictures!" "I don't know, I have a lot of things left to do. Maybe later." "It'll only take a few minutes to set up the camera. We might be too busy later." "You're right. ... Continue Reading →
This postcard has no message or information on the back, but it came from a dealer in Pennsylvania who specializes in photographs from Imperial Russia (pre-1917). The empire of the Tsars was truly vast, encompassing areas of northeastern Europe and Central Asia which today are made up of independent nations. It's impossible to say exactly... Continue Reading →
This formal portrait has a handwritten inscription on the back: "Rudolf Holsti, Tallinna, 1923, helmikussa." Tallinn is the capital of Estonia, and helmikussa means February in Finnish. Rudolf Holsti (1881-1945) became one of the founding fathers of the Republic of Finland after that country declared its independence from Soviet Russia in December 1917. He served... Continue Reading →
The two cartes-de-visite above were made by Henry Cushing in Windsor, Vermont, in February 1865. Windsor is on the Connecticut River, which forms the boundary between Vermont and New Hampshire. The town is connected to Cornish, NH, by the Cornish-Windsor Covered Bridge, the longest wooden covered bridge in the United States. Coincidentally, the portraits were... Continue Reading →
This snapshot was for sale in a shop near Bellows Falls, Vermont, called The Big Red Barn. The names of the women in the photo are written on the back, along with the location: Elliot Elm Cafe, Brattleboro, VT. I haven't found any information about the Elliot Elm Cafe, but the Elliot Street Cafe was located... Continue Reading →
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