About

My name is Brad Purinton and I live in southern Vermont.  I started collecting old portrait photographs around 2010, finding them by chance in local second-hand shops.  Soon I started seeking them out, asking shop owners if they had any photographs stashed away in a storeroom.  Usually they did–sometimes hundreds–and I’d spend hours looking through them, leaving with two or three that I thought were special for one reason or another.  Later I started buying them on eBay, where the selection is vast and ever-changing.

In 2017 I thought it might be fun to share some of my collection on a blog, and this website is the result.  The blog focuses on portrait photographs made between 1839 and 1939.  All the photos on the site were scanned from original prints in my collection unless otherwise noted.  I hope to share images of historical, genealogical or aesthetic interest to visitors.  Comments are welcome!

All original text on this website is Copyright ©2017-2023 Brad Purinton.  My scans may be downloaded or shared for non-commercial purposes.  Please credit me as the owner or include a link to the original post.

In a few cases, photos I’ve shared on this website may still be under copyright.  It can be difficult or even impossible to identify a copyright holder.  If you own the copyright to an image I’ve shared, please contact me and I will credit you as the owner or remove the image from the site.