Portraits from the first 100 years of photography
The woman in this carte-de-visite portrait isn't identified anywhere on the photo. When I bought it last year, I never expected to learn her identity. Three weeks ago, while browsing the website of Britain's Royal Collection Trust, I noticed a woman who looked very familiar. The first thing that drew my attention was her shawl,... Continue Reading →
This carte-de-visite may be the only photo from South America in my collection. The family isn't named, but a stamp on the back identifies the studio. It looks like Compania Fotografica, Rivadavia 420, Buenos Aires: Avenida Rivadavia is a major thoroughfare, and 420 is in the heart of the downtown area, surrounded by museums and... Continue Reading →
The man above is Henry Lenthall (1819-1897), a photographer who operated a studio at 222 Regent Street, London, where the photo was printed. The studio had been established in 1856 by pioneering daguerreotypist William Edward Kilburn (1818-1891), when Kilburn moved there from his original (smaller) studio at 234 Regent Street. In 1862 Kilburn retired from... Continue Reading →
This postcard has a message on the back in Norwegian. At the top of the message is the name of a town, "Thief River Falls Minn," followed by numbers which may be "17/12." They could mean 17 December or December 1917. This type of photo paper was manufactured between 1904 and 1918. A very kind... Continue Reading →
This is my first post with photos from California. I don't know the names of the kids or the year the photo was taken. It was for sale together with another class photo that must have been taken a year or two earlier, because many of the same kids are in both photos (see below). ... Continue Reading →
Does anyone have any idea what this family is up to? The photo came to me from Oregon, but their clothing looks European. Also, the brick wall in the background looks very old. As in ancient. My guess would be that this family was in France or Belgium, but that's just a guess. The photo... Continue Reading →
March is Women’s History Month in the United States, and few professions have historically been as closely associated with women as nursing. Update, April 11, 2019: I made a significant error in the initial version of this post. When I first searched online for information related to the Montefiore Hospital School of Nursing, the only... Continue Reading →
This photograph has faded and lost some of its clarity, but it's a photo I'm very glad to have. It was taken on a wintry day in Exeter, New Hampshire, outside a shop owned by my great-great-grandfather, Ivan Tilton Purinton (1843-1904). Signs on the wall say "I. T. Purinton" and "Carriage & Sign Painter." Also... Continue Reading →
This cabinet card portrait was made at the studio of Sweet & Kinloch in Rothesay, on the Isle of Bute ("N.B." refers to North Britain). A genealogy of the Sweet Family in the West of Scotland identifies one of the studio owners as Charles Sweet (1864-1945). Born in Glasgow, Charles opened his studio in Rothesay in... Continue Reading →
The Soviet Union (USSR) formally came into existence on December 30, 1922, after three years of world war and five years of civil war. When this photo was taken, sometime in 1933, the country had existed a little more than ten years. On the back is the following note in Russian: Собрание уполномоченных артели "Кр.... Continue Reading →
This cabinet card came to me from Bath, England, but it has nothing written on it to give us a clue as to its origins. Two women stand protectively behind a third, who is seated in a wheelchair. The three resemble each other so closely that they must be sisters. Posed in a triangle, they... Continue Reading →
When I saw the carte-de-visite above, I wondered if it was a real scene or an elaborate joke. Could they really have sailed on ice? It turns out they could have! The sport is called ice yachting, and that's all I know about it. The guys to the left of the boat are skating and... Continue Reading →
Tokens of Companionship 
Recent Comments