Who Were They?

I really need to stay off of eBay, haha. I found this fabulous little gem album a while back and I really could not control myself. Once you see inside of it, you will understand why. The album holds gem tintypes, those tiny representations that were popular during the second half of the 19th century. Since I previously gave you a history lesson on the gem tintype, I won’t go into that today (just click the link there).

Here’s the reason I call this little book the Haberdasher’s book. Nearly every photo is of a man and many of them have terrific hats! This is the first page seen when you open the book. It was previously repaired by someone skilled. You can see just a bit of the webbing in the upper center binding. Each page has 4 gem tintypes. There are 38 images in all.

   

Do you not just LOVE this?! Take a close look at the first image…not only does he have a snazzy bowler, but he has pince nez spectacles! We have bowlers, mustaches, bowties, spectacles and tons of character, all on one little page. I think I’m going to hyperventilate! :-) Some of the faces are repeated and two images have been removed, but for what it’s worth, this is a truly spectacular find and I can’t wait to share it with you.