Portraits from the first 100 years of photography
Along the bottom of this carte-de-visite is a handwritten inscription: Oh! A very shy young Quakeress am I And they call me Pretty little Ruth When I first published this post, I speculated that these lines might have come from a play, and that the young woman in the photograph might have been wearing a... Continue Reading →
No bicycles appear in this photograph, but the sign at upper right tells us that the occasion for this gathering was a cycling club rally of some kind. Unfortunately, no one in the group is identified, and some of the names of the clubs are cut off at the edge of the photo. The... Continue Reading →
This postcard appears to show a group of international students at the University of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England. Perhaps they were members of a club or student association? I was hoping to identify some of them, but so far no luck. A few are old enough to be graduate students, or possibly faculty... Continue Reading →
This undated cabinet card portrait was taken in the ancient shipping town of Gravesend, Kent, England. Gravesend is on the south bank of the Thames Estuary, about 21 miles (35 km) from central London. The photograph was taken at the studio of Frederick Charles Gould, who became known for images he captured of the many... Continue Reading →
This carte-de-visite has me stumped. I assumed the girl in the image would be easy to identify, but so far that hasn't been the case. At first I thought she was holding an oar, but a rower I contacted told me it was a paddle. Well, that's a start! Actually, I think the most interesting... Continue Reading →
This post features seven photographs. The first five were taken on August 1, 1891, in a small area of Cheshire, England, called Middlewood. Just southeast of Middlewood is Lyme Park, which is now part of the Peak District National Park (created in 1951). Less than ten miles west of Middlewood is Manchester Airport. In these... Continue Reading →
This cabinet card portrait was made by photographer George James Maddison, whose studio was at 9 Norfolk Road in Dalston, which is in the London Borough of Hackney. (In 1938 Norfolk Road was renamed Cecilia Road.) Information on the website photoLondon suggests he may have been the son of John Maddison, a photographer and retired... Continue Reading →
This cabinet card photograph came to me from Herefordshire, England, but could have originated elsewhere. It has nothing written or printed on it. Update (March 21): Readers quickly informed me that the man in the photo was a postman. His hat has the letters GPO on it, for General Post Office. (Thank you to Val,... Continue Reading →
At the top of this cabinet card photograph is a painted sign: John Rigby, Boot & Clog Maker. Under that is another sign: Longshaw Post Office. Wikipedia describes Longshaw as "a small residential and agricultural area within Billinge Higher End at the western boundary of the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, in Greater Manchester, England." Historically,... Continue Reading →
I don't know what the proper administrative term would be for this group, but they must have worked together as a team. Someone wrote Devonshire Hospital on the back of the postcard, but nothing else. If anyone sees any clues about when the photo might have been taken, please leave a comment. Devonshire Hospital closed... Continue Reading →
This carte-de-visite came to me from Massachusetts, but it didn't originate there. The title of the post is taken from a handwritten note on the back. Update: Readers all agree that the location referred to was most likely the village of Leeds in Kent: The British Hop Association has the following information on its website: The... Continue Reading →
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 →
Tokens of Companionship 
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