Portraits from the first 100 years of photography
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 →
Along the bottom edge of this photograph are the words "Tompkins Square Citizenship Aid Class," followed by "Intermediate." On the chalkboard at the back of the room, the teacher has helpfully recorded the date: Tuesday, March 15, 1921. The photo may be examined in higher resolution below. I've divided it into two parts. Click on... Continue Reading →
The two cartes-de-visite on this page came from an antiques dealer in Greenfield, Massachusetts, in the northwest part of the state. On the back of the carte above is the name Adolphe with a question mark: The portrait was made at the studio of E.v. Eggert, which probably stood for Emmanuel von Eggert (see... Continue Reading →
The name "L.C. Pike" is written on the back of this carte-de-visite. Generally a name on the back of a portrait refers to the sitter, but not always, so it's important to try to find corroborating information. I searched on Ancestry for an L.C. Pike who was about forty years old in the early 1860s and... Continue Reading →
The image above is the right half of a stereograph (stereoview) published by Benjamin West Kilburn and James M. Davis in 1898. The Klondike Gold Rush began in 1896 and lasted until 1899, with many fortune hunters arriving in the summer of 1898. Canadian authorities required all prospectors to bring a year's supply of food, weighing... 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 →
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