Category Archives: Gentlemen

August 22, 2015

Axel in the Bowler Hat

By C.E. Ryan
axel-f-hall

Axel F. Hall of Minneapolis. Private Collection.

Handsome Axel F. Hall chose to have one glove on, the other off for the picture. His collar is extremely high. He reminds me of the bowler hatted gentleman often portrayed by the painter Magritte.

Axel was born in 1871 in Sweden. He immigrated to the United States and settled in Minneapolis where he married a Swiss lady named Anna M. Hall who was 12 years his junior. With her he had three children, Fred W. Hall in 1906, Mabel A. Hall in 1909 and Edgar E. Hall in 1910. On the 1910 census Axel was living with his wife, children and a ‘boarder’, Minnie Christen, 15. Minnie was related to his wife (her sister maybe) with both parents born in Switzerland but herself born in Minnesota. At the time Minneapolis’ population was about 23% foreign born.

On the 1940 census, Axel was 70 and still living with his wife. His children had moved out but his mother-in-law lived with them. Anna B. Christen was 13 years his senior.

Axel F. Hall. Cabinet card. Private Collection.

Axel F. Hall. Cabinet card. Private Collection.

Photographer: A. H. Opsahl. Minneapolis. MN.

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August 18, 2015

The fire’s still burning bright in this old man

By C.E. Ryan

Old smiling man. CDV. Private Collection.

1870’s old smiling man from Algona, Iowa. Burlingame. CDV. Private Collection.

The oldest sitter in my collection!  He must have been in his 70’s or 80’s at the time of this picture, always a feat at a time when the average lifespan was much shorter. I find it fascinating to think this man was born in or around 1800. I cannot begin to imagine what his life was like, the changes he witnessed, what he had seen and experienced, good or bad, and after all that for him to smile like this. So unusual too for a carte de visite of the period.

He looks like someone who led a very fulfilling life. There is fire and a zest for life in his piercing eyes old age did not manage to dim. And to complement the effect he still had a headful of thick, snowy white hair.

There is a different kind of true beauty that transcends age and is deeper than the fleeting skin-deep one of youth; this content looking, dignified old man is proof. (I bet though, that he was quite the gentleman in his younger days too!)

I love his generous neck scarf too, the way he tied it in a nice bow.

CDV back

CDV back

Photographer: D.W. Burlingame’s. Fine Art Gallery, Algona. Iowa.

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August 15, 2015

Mr. Handsome of Rochester N.Y

By C.E. Ryan
Rochester Victorian young man. Cabinet Card. Private Collection.

Rochester Victorian young man. Cabinet Card. Private Collection.

What was going on in his head when he decided to pose like this? His long front hair’s curled atop instead of slicked back like his contemporaries, not only that but his tie is going sideways too. Cuckoo bird! Did he try to be different? His hair reminds me of Mr. Burghy of the Civil War era. We’ll forgive him. He’s still a cutie!

Miller. Rochester N.Y. Handsome young man with curl. Cabinet Card. Private Collection.

Miller. Rochester N.Y. Handsome young man with curl.

Photographer: Miller. 146 State Street. Rochester. N.Y.

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August 14, 2015

Clear blues within a frame, within a frame -and a theory on those unbuttoned waistcoats of the Civil War era

By C.E. Ryan
Carte de visite. J.W. Gould. Ohio. Private Collection.

1860’s Carte de visite. J.W. Gould. Ohio. Private Collection.

A handsome sitter from the 1860’s with very light blue eyes!  Several points to make about this portrait:

I like that the picture was framed within the border lines of this carte de visite.

Also, the way he tied his neck ribbon is interesting.

And he chose to open his waistcoat with the top and bottom still buttoned, like many Civil War soldiers did on the pictures of the era…Was he a veteran in civilian suit? A good chance, the lines and corners of this CDV date this picture to be between 1864 and 1869. The next decade saw the rise of a civilian fashion trend where men wore their coat with the top buttoned but not the bottom.  The thought behind it was to show the waistcoat, but I have a theory on it. I think the trend emerged out of respect for soldiers whose uniforms were standard issued and were too small for their frame…For example, the trend of bushy beards became popular with mature Victorians when they wished to imitate the soldiers who fought the Crimean war. I believe people were looking up to those brave boys and adopted their style…so why not the way a coat or waistcoat is buttoned?

Photographer: J.W. Gould. Main Street. Carrollton, Ohio.

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August 12, 2015

1920 Eddie Wilkinson of Los Angeles

By C.E. Ryan
2/27/20 Eddie Wilkinson. RPPC. Private Collection.

2/27/20 Eddie Wilkinson. RPPC. Private Collection.

There are people who don’t write their info, and then there are some like Eddie here. He was thorough writing down his full name on both sides with his complete address. He wrote the picture’s date not once or twice, but three times!

rppc-eddie-wilkinson-back

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