Portraits from the first 100 years of photography
This early cabinet card has no information on it, but we can make a few reasonable assumptions. The cabinet card format was introduced in London in 1863 and in the United States in 1866. The two boys lying on the ground are wearing dark blue hats of the type worn by Union soldiers during the... Continue Reading →
The first thing I noticed about this class photo was how stern all the boys look. That isn't exactly normal for a group of 29 little boys. Then I realized that no one is blinking or fidgeting, which is pretty amazing. Whatever the photographer said to them, it definitely got their attention. Another striking thing about... Continue Reading →
On November 18, 1918, Latvia declared independence from the new Soviet government in Russia. In November of this year, Latvians celebrated the centennial of that event. Neighboring Lithuania and Estonia will be celebrating the centennial of their own independence in February 2019. Finland's centennial celebration took place on December 6, 2017. The photo above was... Continue Reading →
When I bought this postcard, I assumed the Juneau Restaurant was in Juneau, Alaska. Naturally, I was wrong. The restaurant was attached to the Hotel Juneau in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The hotel was named for city founder Solomon Juneau, a French-Canadian fortune-seeker who arrived in the area in 1818. (The state capital of Alaska is named... 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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
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 →
This photograph came from a dealer in Llangefni, Wales, who didn't know where it had originated. It appears to be a gelatin silver print, mounted on heavy cardboard, and I'd guess it was made around 1900. Although the photo isn't particularly old, the image has a timeless quality. Nothing about it looks modern or industrial.... Continue Reading →
The young man appearing on this carte-de-visite could be certain everyone would remember his profession. You might even say he was in tune with the latest trends in advertising and self-promotion. The one thing he neglected to do was write his name on the back, which is a pity. The CDV was made by James... Continue Reading →
I'm guessing about the relationships between the sitters in the previous post and this one. Do you think the baby in the portrait above looks like the one below? I think this may be the same child, a little older: A year ago today, on April 23, I published my first blog... Continue Reading →
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