Who Were They?

Lost and forgotten photos from the past

I often see stereoscopes for sale in the antique shops. They were the first real home media, enabling people to see foreign lands, exotic animals, and even the simple and mundane of other people’s lives, all from the comfort of their own parlour. The stereoscope will remind many of you of the View-Master of our …

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From the late 1880s-1890s, this cabinet card shows a pretty young girl showing off her dress. She is nicely groomed with curls, a fancy dress with lace trim, black stockings and shiny black shoes with buckles on them. I learned recently about an interesting aspect of 19th century photography, which is that colors photographed using …

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This small child photographed at Sutter’s Studio in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is wearing an ethnic costume, likely from Poland. After 1870, Polish immigrants were second in population to German in the city. There was great promise for jobs in the city’s industrial area. According to The Making of Milwaukee, the Polish neighborhoods were known for small …

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These two photos are from my friend P. Bingham, who knows they are some relation, but exactly who is unknown. The first photo, of the duo, is mounted on a black card, but no photographer information was imprinted on the back or front. Black cards were not quite as popular as pink and buff. The …

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A. B. Cross Photo, Salem MA Alva Pearsall Photographer, Brooklyn, NY Turner, Boston MA L. W. Cook, Boston, MA Glines, The Fotografer, Boston MA G. A. Underwood, Worcester, MA These are a selection of unidentified photographs in my collection. They do look like the faces of a ship’s crew to some degree. The two fellows …

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