Portraits from the first 100 years of photography
Balloons have been in the news a lot recently here in North America. The idea of "spy balloons" may seem amusing today, but observation balloons have long been used for military purposes, most notably during the First World War. The postcard photo above may have been taken near the end of the war, or it... Continue Reading →
This carte-de-visite is part of a series called "Costumes de Suisse," published around 1869 by French photographer Adolphe Braun (1812-1877). Braun's studio was in Alsace, France, in the village of Dornach, near the borders with Germany and Switzerland. Each photo in the series presents a young woman in a traditional costume from a particular Swiss... 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 →
Tokens of Companionship 
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