1860’s working class little boys. CDV. Private Collection.
These two seem about the same age but they don’t look like twins, fraternal twins maybe? If you look closely there is a contrast of personality between them. The one to the left looks like he ran everywhere and climbed everything in sight while the other looks more calm and poised. The unbuttoned jacket, the couple of stains on the trousers…the left one looks a bit more shabby than the other one, probably the most terrible of the two whose parents couldn’t keep clean for more than an hour! He has a furrowed brow, probably questioning the photographer’s use of a body stand for him and not his brother!
There’s no expensive furniture on this one, the photographer choosing instead to hang a flowered drape from the ceiling down over a small round table.
Photographer: A. Chapman. Oneonta, N.Y.
2 Comments | tags: 1860s, A. Chapman, civil war era, New York, Oneonta, USA | posted in Boys, CDVs
Cyanotype. A. Noyer romantic postcard. Private Collection.
Sometimes less is more, and in the case of this postcard it is exceedingly true. I find this image incredibly sexy. The way she looks into the distance with her arm resting under the head. And his light kiss on the curve of her jaw.
I find it interesting the picture was shot vertically with the man on top, yet the postcard company decided to publish it horizontally. Well, I choose to post this picture the way it was shot. If Americans could do really sweet and funny postcards, this one proves the French did the sexy with flair. A hundred years later this image still feels timelessly gorgeous and sensual.
Photographer: Alfred Noyer. France.
6 Comments | tags: 1910s-1920s, A. Noyer, Alfred Noyer, cyanotype, europe, France, french postcard, kiss, sexy | posted in Couples, Postcards
RPPC. Private Collection.
Don’t get in gambling debt with this rising star; he’ll take you out on a dark street with a crowbar.
When I saw this RPPC I grinned. Rock solid, self assured, charming on the edges…this gentleman looks like a character I envisioned.
The lucky (diamond?) horseshoe tie stack brings it all together. And the chain hanging off the lapel buttonhole should be attached to a fob…Better pay up on time ’cause this guy’s keeping track.
RPPC: AZO 1907-1918
Leave a comment | tags: 1900s-1910s, horseshoe tie stack, Italian, mobster look, old school gangster | posted in Bad Boys, RPPCs
1880’s 1/6th plate. Private Collection.
A good looking, bright-eyed and high-cheekboned gentleman with the hint of a smile. Behind him you can see the foot of the device meant to keep his body still, a ‘posing stand’. Some photos of people with that device are commonly mistaken for post-mortems and unfortunately sold as such for much more than the photographs are worth.
He’s resting his hand on a fringe chair so popular with photographers of the Victorian era. The fringed support area was adjustable and most often used for people to rest their arms on while seated. He looks taller than average for his era too.
(Click for larger image)
1 Comment | tags: 1880s-1890s, boater hat, fringe chair, props, sack suit, victorian | posted in Gentlemen, Tintypes
Leonard Spiller (1890-1952) Cabinet card. Private Collection.
When I first saw this photograph I thought the boy looked familiar…then I see he’s IDed. Success! What a lovely photograph too, very clean which is always a plus. This cabinet card was taken on June 11,1903 when Leonard Spiller was 13.
And this is the second photograph I have of him, the first a CDV taken in 1910 when he was a student at Cambridge. I learned some more about his family too. Leonard was the son of John Spiller, a consulting analyst chemist and once the President of the Royal Photographic Society (1874-1875) in London.
Leonard came into this world late in the life of his father John (1833-1921) who married Emma (born Davenport), his second wife. Leonard had much older half siblings from his father’s first marriage to Caroline Ada Pritchard: Ethel Mary (1857-?), Arnold John and Claude Pritchard (1870-1938).
I found some photos of his family from the same seller. A photo gallery of Leonard and family members after the cut.
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4 Comments | tags: 1900s, Acton, edwardian, edwardian boy, edwardian collar, edwardian family, Emma Spiller, England, Ethel Mary Spiller, europe, Islington, John Spiller, Leonard Spiller, London, Norfolk jacket, reverend Leonard Spiller, RPS President, smiling, UK, vicar Leonard Spiller, victorian, victorian family | posted in Cabinet Cards, Teens
Bowlers And High Collars 