Who Were They?

Lost and forgotten photos from the past

What could be the occasion?

Mrs Marvel

3 comments

December 22, 2010


When posting photographs, I often wonder what was the occasion for the sitting. While photography was becoming less expensive to the masses it was still somewhat of a privilege in many areas. Sitting for a photograph was often associated with a special occasion – an engagement, birthday, graduation, birth of a child, etc. Much like today, actually. The photograph above was taken sometime in the 1880s, I believe. The dress has lovely adornment, I don’t know what those are called, but they are like opened pleats, that’s the only way I can describe them. They appear to go all the way down the princess seams from shoulder to waist. This woman also has quite a lot of jewelry on, including a necklace, pin at the throat, earrings, and something else pinned or laying (?) next to the necklace, right by the curls of her hair. It’s reflective and that’s what caught my eye. She also has on the jabot (our “turkey neck” decoration), which is probably laying over the bodice of her dress. If there is photographer information, I’ll have to find and post it later as I don’t currently see any in my files.

Was this the town square?

Mrs Marvel

7 comments

December 20, 2010

This is the second in a series of square photos I found a while back. Unfortunately, the photographer was so far away from the group of people that it’s very difficult to figure out what exactly they are doing. At first, I thought it was a funeral procession, due to the appearance of the carriage in the right foreground. Later, I noticed that one woman on the left is holding and/or playing a bass drum, so I began to wonder if this was a Salvation Army or church display. Perhaps a funeral in New Orleans? The fellow by the horse and dog appears to be watching whatever is going on. I wish he’d turn around and tell us! Click to enlarge the image, let me know what you think.

UPDATE: Thanks to Intense Guy, I am fairly certain this is a Salvation Army gathering in Norwalk, CT. Iggy found several other images with similar long robes and bonnets supporting this theory. Of course, I don’t know if I will ever have concrete proof, but it’s a fairly good conclusion!

Storefront

Mrs Marvel

8 comments

December 17, 2010

This terrific photo is part of a collection of square photos I just had to have. The collection was a bit pricey, at $25 for the whole packet, but it included around 27 photos, so worth it. The photos measure 4×4 with a 3/4″ matte around the 3×3 photo. This particular matte features embossed stars surrounded by a floral vine. There’s a large variety among the photos, but I particularly love this one. Not only is there a large sign for laxatives – who knew we were so constipated in the past! – but also Peruna tonic and Cascara. This reminds me of a really funny song my grandmother used to sing to us kids, so the photo probably dates to the late teens or 1920s.

As I was walking down  the street, a billboard caught my eye

The advertisements written there could make you laugh or cry

The wind and rain had come that night and washed the paint away

And what was left of all those signs just made that billboard say

Just smoke a Coca Cola, drink katchup cigarettes,

see Lillian Russel wrestle with a box of Cascarettes*

Pork and beans will dine tonight and have a finish fight,

come and see the lecture on Sapolio** tonight!

Bay rum is good for horses, none better on the town,

Peruna*** cures the measles if you pay five dollars down,

Teeth extracted without pain for cost of half a dime,

overcoats are selling now that are slightly out of time.

*Cascarettes = laxatives

**Sapolio = rough soap to wash the sink

***Peruna = all purpose tonic/medicine

This is a proud Sepia Saturday submission. Please click through and take a look at other sepia goodness from around the world.

Fancy

Mrs Marvel

1 comment

December 15, 2010

Scalloped edges

This image is one of the Keeper’s treasures. There’s no photographer information on it, and I think that around the turn of the century there was a trend away from the photographer’s information. I can’t really think of a reason why, but there seem to be many from the 1900-1910 era that have no info. Later we saw the photographer’s information on the matte frames again, but the photos were often able to come out of those frames and become separated.

I liked the lovely scallop pattern on this photo’s edges. The card is about 3″x4″. I’ll date this to 1900.

A picture of wealth

Mrs Marvel

3 comments

December 14, 2010

I think of this as a picture of wealth because this lady is quite done up! Her hair is coiffed in  stylish manner with the side curls draping on her shoulder, the bodice of her gown has beautiful pleating that without a sewing machine is tedious to get just right. Heck even with a sewing machine it’s tedious! Moving on, she has rather large earrings that appear to be heavy due to her ear lobe being pulled down with the weight; a brooch at her throat that looks like it has some type of stone set in the center; a fancy silk tie; a delicate dickie showing above her neckline; and the work on her bodice is all very well done. She was either an expert seamstress or had the funds to hire one. I also noticed that her hair is arranged in such a way that a long braid is wrapped around the crown of her head, then more hair is wrapped over it, as you would tuck into a french braid. She had long thick hair, evidenced by the braid.

The photographer was C. R. Clark. Research found that he was located in Troy, NY. Based on other photographs of his, this is an earlier version of his work, as his later work has more decorated cards and backmarks.

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