Category Archives: Types of Photographs

August 19, 2016

Fashionably Victorian in Adrian, Michigan

By C.E. Ryan
cabinet-wt-barnum-michigan

W.T. Barnum, Adrian Michigan cabinet card of young man with cross tie tack.

This handsome teen’s hair was a mess of waves in the front. He didn’t fight it with pomade, instead choosing to let it do its thing! He wears a distinguished white tie with a cross tie tack the focal point. A nice piece of jewelry with the chain hanging by the side. The cross itself appears to have horseshoes and bell symbols, and is this a saint in the middle? I’d like to find out what the cross represents, aside from being what I suspect is a luck charm. Could it be a military cross, a type of iron cross? It looks like the American sharpshooter one, except that one has a target in the center.

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This card is of the 1870s-90s when flat and fat ties were extremely popular (and yet -random thought- I never see them in period films!). The fabric looks beautifully regal too. This portrait reminds me of this other cabinet card of the same era, with the similar type of tie and collar combination (and pose).

Update: this young man was a university student, member of the  Alpha Tau Omega fraternity. The local chapter -Alpha Mu- in Adrian, Michigan was founded in 1881, and is still active today. This cabinet card is most likely from the 1880s! It would not be impossible to find out who he was. 

Thank you, Val, for your research!

10 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , | posted in Cabinet Cards, Teens

August 18, 2016

De’Ath & Condon vignette portrait

By C.E. Ryan

vignette-de-ath-condon

Alaric Hawkins De’Ath operated a studio portrait at 32 Bank Street, Ashford (England), and from 1913 on partnered with Arthur James Condon. He passed in 1931. They may have taken this small vignette portrait during the Great War or after, and the sitter isn’t too shabby, is he? There is no name to aid IDing this fine English gent. We only hope he came out of those troubled years relatively unscathed.

vignette-de-ath-condon-whole

2 Comments   |  tags: , , , , | posted in Cabinet Photos, Gentlemen

August 17, 2016

Against the rose curtain

By C.E. Ryan

 

blending-in-restored-copyright-bowlersandhighcollars

I enjoyed spending some time restoring this beautiful portrait. The original has a print defect and is sprinkled with black ink from the process. But fortunately Photoshop corrected these tiny imperfections to reveal this shot’s true beauty. I absolutely love the window and gorgeous rose curtain behind this young man, and the use of lights and dark to create chiaroscuro. And one cannot miss his eyes.

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With the belt, collared shirt and thin, straight tie I’d date this portrait from the late 1910s to early ’20s (if so, it was printed on older stock).

RPPC: AZO up triangles, 1904-1918

9 Comments   |  tags: , | posted in Gentlemen, RPPCs, Teens

August 15, 2016

The same couple on two postcards

By C.E. Ryan
'Honey won't you love me like you used to.

‘Honey won’t you love me like you used to.” postcard. Private Collection.

Same woman, same (lovely) hairdo, different dress:

'Swinging was never like this'. Postcard. Private Collection.

Swinging was never like this. Postcard. Private Collection.

I’ve been collecting these postcards from the same series. I want to say they’re from the late 1910s. Two others, here (with the same hammock but different woman) and here with the same man.

3 Comments   |  tags: , , , | posted in Couples, Postcards

August 11, 2016

As if catching his reflection in the oval mirror…

By C.E. Ryan
cabinet-mirror-like

1890’s-1900’s cabinet card. Private Collection.

This one gave me a chuckle. This gentleman looks like a deer in the headlights with his wide eyes. And with him looking partly off-shot, it gives the impression he just  came into view and got caught off guard by his own reflection.

On a side note, yes it’s been a month since I last posted, to the day. I didn’t realize it’s been this long. Like everything else in life there are periods when I actively collect (and feverishly so!) and others when I don’t so much.  However, the drought is soon to pass and I will be responding to emails today. ;)

 

5 Comments   |  tags: , , , | posted in Cabinet Photos, Gentlemen