Category Archives: Types of Subjects

October 20, 2015

A Fashionable Edwardian boy

By C.E. Ryan
Well dressed Edwardian boy. Cabinet card. Private Collection.

1890s-1900s well dressed Edwardian boy. Cabinet card. Private Collection.

This little boy was extremely well dressed with his wool overcoat and cap with the double-breasted gingham suit. Every single piece of his outfit looks new. With the lack of backdrop and the picture looking so crisp, it feels modern made too.

He’s wearing his gloves instead of holding them. His parents must have loved how this portrait came out. While the photograph was decently preserved, the card itself is less so. It is dark green, clipped at the bottom, and has no photographer info or name.

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , | posted in Boys, Cabinet Cards

October 18, 2015

That nagging woman again!

By C.E. Ryan
1880s tintype. Private Collection.

“I’m just going to pretend she’s not here.” 1/6th plate tintype. Private Collection.

In fact, posing like this I’m sure these two had the best of relationships. They weren’t going to pose like all the others; too boring! I think this is a small horse whip she’s teasingly tickling him with from behind the tree, or is it an arrow? But what is he reading, a love letter? For his own sake it better be hers!

How would you caption this one?

5 Comments   |  tags: , , , | posted in Couples, Humorous, Tintypes

October 17, 2015

A tiny remnant of our friendship

By C.E. Ryan
1

1″ x 2.5″ photo strip. Private Collection.

Those tiny photo strips feel so fragile in hand. One wonders how they survived a hundred years without being destroyed. I love these two. Obviously they were quite close. Yet we don’t know their names or a shred of their lives.

2 Comments   |  tags: , , , | posted in Groups, Photobooths

October 16, 2015

A flashy smile on a tintype

By C.E. Ryan
A particularly flashy smile on a tintype. Private Collection.

A particularly flashy smile on a tintype. Private Collection.

These two dapper gents in their 30s are posing in front of a cloudy and hilly backdrop all smile! The people with them must have said something really funny for them to look this entertained! This tintype seems late period, maybe around 1910. Their popularity dropped in the first decade of the 1900s, but they were still fairly common with travelling photographers until the 20s.

The glare is from a small bend in the middle reflecting the scanner light. Unfortunately many tintypes have such bends through decades of handling.

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October 15, 2015

The Good Fellows

By C.E. Ryan
RPPC. Private Collection.

The dapper gangster look of the 20s-30s. RPPC. Private Collection.

These four gents are wearing the classic suits and hats made iconic by the bad guys of the era. The gentleman to the front right has the perfect looks and demeanor for the style, doesn’t he? He looks like the leader of the pack, and he stands out wearing a light colored suit against his friends’ darker ones. Interesting detail is no one’s holding a smoke in their hand, but they’re all smiling!

RPPC: I haven’t seen this type before. It has a stamp box with S in each corner.

4 Comments   |  tags: , , , , | posted in Bad Boys, Groups, RPPCs