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.

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October 14, 2015

Student and Mentor

By C.E. Ryan

1/6th plate tintype. Private Collection.

Were they? The more mature gentleman has on his right hand (reversed) a round stone ring on display, and his striped pair of pants! They remind me of circus ringmasters. The photographer added gold tones to the younger gent’s triple chain.

They’re both resting their elbows on the small table between them; a pose at professional distance, and they do not look related to me. Business partners or student and mentor? We will never know for sure, but they looked respectable.

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October 13, 2015

A Fine Golf Day

By C.E. Ryan
Snapshot. Private Collection.

1920s golfer ready for a fun day. Snapshot. Private Collection.

Nice day for a round of golf! This gentleman’s got everything: the clubs, the foldable Kodak camera, and what I assume are the plus-fours for the sport folded under his arm.

I was given this snapshot as a gift. How nice!

2 Comments   |  tags: , , | posted in Gentlemen, Others

October 12, 2015

A working class young couple from the 1870s-1880s

By C.E. Ryan
1/6th plate tintype. Private Collection.

Working class couple. 1/6th plate tintype. Private Collection.

He has long, slender and tanned hands, and these look like working ones too, almost as if they should belong to someone older than him. This could be my imagination but the top of his head looks lighter, as if he worked outdoors a lot but wore a large brim hat. The young woman by his side I can only assume is his wife is resting her hand on his arm, and her white (cotton?) top is interesting; simple but nice, wrapping down over her skirt. It was accessorised with a pearl necklace, leaf brooch and belt. All this makes me think this was taken in the summertime.

He’s wearing a type of necktie/scarf popular of the 1870s-80s.

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