Who Were They?

Lost and forgotten photos from the past

I don’t think she’s pregnant

Mrs Marvel

2 comments

September 13, 2010

Today we have an anonymous CdV from the “bunch of old photos” off ebay. This couple looks to be in their 40s, middle class family. The woman has a distinctly protruding stomach, but I don’t think she is pregnant. The reason I don’t is that during the Victorian era, morality was so strongly upheld that pregnancy wasn’t even discussed in mixed company because it reminded people about the process of becoming pregnant in the first place. Images of Victorian  pregnant women are virtually nonexistent. While it certainly is possible that she is pregnant, I’m thinking she isn’t.

Did her mother take the time?

Mrs Marvel

14 comments

September 10, 2010

I’m a little early for Sepia Saturday #40, but I know I’m going to be busy tomorrow. This 1864-1868 vintage CdV features a girl of about five to eight years old. Her dress is a typical gathered front bodice with short petal sleeves and a full skirt gathered to a waistband. It likely buttoned down her back. The dress is adorned with yards of braid work. It is possible her mother found the trim pre-made because the swirls appear to be very uniform, but it is also possible that her mother tacked all that trim down by hand. You can see her eyelet trimmed pantlets peeking out below the hem of her skirt, white stockings and black kid leather shoes.

This style of dress was popular for boys and girls from the 1850s up to the 1880s, but we know this is an 1860s photo because of the square trim border on the card.

A proud Sepia Saturday submission! Please click over and view some of the other great sites.

Who is this lovely?

Mrs Marvel

3 comments

September 9, 2010

This beautiful lady is one of our mystery Streeter family members. We saw her previously in this post, in which I wondered if she wasn’t all that happy. After researching the entire family, I am speculating that this is Alice Fullington Streeter, wife of Charles Streeter. I came to this conclusion after studying the family tree, and also after studying the faces of those pictured in these cabinet cards.

One, the family consisted of siblings Charles, Alfred, Abbie, Eva, and Arthur.  Alfred, Abbie and Arthur have been identified. Eva shows up on one and only one census, so I concluded that she passed away as a child. That left Charles. I studied his face and it appears to have some family resemblance to the three identified siblings. Interestingly, Charles outlived his wife Alice and even remarried in the 1900s. And yet, if I’m correct in my detective work, the previous portrait featuring this woman and who I think to be Charles specifically indicated on the back that a bust portrait would be made of Charles only. I would have thought that the deceased wife might be the one featured in a large portrait? Maybe they used this as a companion piece to that one? This is a very beautiful likeness, who ever she is.

It’s all a guessing game, but I do wonder if this is Alice.

Civil War Era Boy

Mrs Marvel

1 comment

September 8, 2010

This CdV is a Civil War era photograph of a young boy in an elaborate suit. We know this is a Civil War era CdV by the border’s square corners, the size and quality of the card. There is no photographer information on the back of the card and no identifying information on who the boy was. He looks like a Willie to me.

Vintage baby

Mrs Marvel

1 comment

September 7, 2010

Today we have a tintype in a paper folder. There is no identification of the child in the image and this was purchased as part of a large lot of “old photos” off ebay. If you enlarge the photo, you can see what appears to be the arm of a parent reaching in from the right side and holding the child in place. It’s difficult to date a tintype because they were popular in various forms from 1860 through World War 2! However, it’s likely that this tintype is from 1865 to 1880.

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