1890s Bohemia

1890’s 1/6th plate tintype. Private Collection.

The photographer caught them a bit blurry, but there’s enough here to imagine what these two were like.

They’re posing exactly the same with their beer bottle in one hand and cigar in the other. The young man on the left is wearing a striped black shirt with the white collar and a loud plaid tie he looks to have creatively tied like a small bowtie by the neck! And he’s not wearing the typical waistcoat either, choosing to let his tie do the talking.

And his friend with the black and white striped turtleneck under the coat. They both look unconventional; artists perhaps, or just on the fringe…Maybe a couple. For example, from what I read of Victorian and Edwardian New York, working class men who advertised their homosexuality accessorized with unconventionally loud patterns or colors -checkerboard waistcoats, red ties,etc… I wish I could see these two in color because what looks like black on a tintype could have been any loud color like red or purple.

They both parted their hair in the middle too instead of the typical side part. Whoever they were, what a pair!