Who Were They?

Lost and forgotten photos from the past

Many tiny pleats

Mrs Marvel

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January 18, 2021

This 1870s-80s image features an attractive woman in heavily embellished dress. Note all the tiny pleats that surround the front of the bodice, as well as the netted trim on her neck tie. It has been carefully laid flat to show off the handiwork. Netting is among the lace techniques that I have never learned and seem to be fading into the past. She also has a pin in the center of her collar and quite large earrings. There is a visible headband or comb on top of her head, in front of her large braid crown. It’s a lovely, nicely composed image.

The photographer of this fine image was A. A. Line of Carlisle, PA, at the SE corner of Market Square and Main Street. The current presence of a Farmer’s Market in Carlisle has hindered my sleuthing, so we will have to simply imagine what the area looked like at the time.

X Bowtie

Mrs Marvel

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January 15, 2021

This carte de visite photograph carries no back mark or other identifying information, leaving the handsome soul to be lost to the ages as unknown. I am guessing at the decade 1880s for the vintage of the image but I could be off by 10 years or more. I really don’t know much about men’s fashions, and definitely not enough to give an educated guess. Women’s fashions were so distinctive, it’s relatively easy to pin down at least a decade. Sometimes you can spot something that didn’t exist prior to a certain time and went out of fashion before another certain time. But, men just seemed to muddle along, changing lapel widths and necktie fashions, but all of the basics can be seen year after year in relatively anonymity.

Another Transition Dress?

Mrs Marvel

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January 11, 2021

I suspect this might be another transition dress – a dress from the 1860s that has been remade to suit the changing skirt styles of the 1870s. The volumes of fabric used on 1860s and earlier skirts made these prime candidates for remaking as skirt fashions changed. There was plenty of extra fabric to work with. In the early 1870s, I suspect women would have simply reused the existing bodice. This bodice has the wide round look that was popular in the ’60s. There is now an apron and a drape you can just see in the back. Remaking a dress was an economical use of existing clothing to create a new wardrobe.

This lady sat for her portrait at H. G. Pearce, Photographer, Providence.

Jacob Black

Mrs Marvel

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January 8, 2021

This older fellow is identified as Jacob Black. Mr Black looks a bit like a pragmatist to me. He is accepting of this photograph sitting, perhaps because Mrs Black wants it. He sat for his image at W. H. Whitehead’s Parlor Gallery in Pittsburgh, PA.

Happy New Year Greetings

Mrs Marvel

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January 2, 2021

We don’t much send New Year greetings anymore. I suspect the proximity of Christmas to New Year’s dampens the desire to address cards and write letters. In our modern society, sending Christmas cards is almost a rarity anymore. Younger generations find them wasteful, Gen Xers want to send them but instead deal with the guilt of not sending them, and Baby Boomers send the most tacky, glittery cards they can find. :-)

But, if you are not Christian or don’t celebrate Christmas, there is no reason you must refrain from sending a winter greeting to friends and family. Here’s a nice wish for luck from Anna Kennedy sent to Will Morley Jr of Chicago. She wrote:

With love and best wishes for a thrice happy New Year to yourself and Mrs Morley, I am your sincere friend.

What a heartfelt and sentimental greeting!

This one is a folded card, but it’s blank inside.

I hope you enjoyed the series of Christmas cards and these New Year’s greetings. I fell off a bit at the end of Christmas, so will have to save those treasures for next year!

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