June 7, 2015

Harris Norris, the Thinker in Mary-Janes

By C.E. Ryan
Man in mary janes shoes. RPPC. Private Collection.

Edwardian man in Mary Jane shoes. RPPC. Private Collection.

Harris Norris. University of Virginia

I did a double take on this one. Look at this cheeky gentleman! While today these shoes are exclusively worn by women and girls, I read on (the always reliable *cough cough*) wiki some pre-WWI men wore them too, but apart from this photo I have yet to see evidence of this and I’ve seen many. I believe that if some did indeed wear them, the shoes were never popular with gentlemen. By the time this image was taken the name of Mary Jane was already in use. I think the university student was being humorous by wearing ladies shoes! He’s smiling in that “what do you think of this?” sort of way. This was taken in the mid 1910s, seeing the pants cuffs.

RPPC: AZO 1904-1918

8 Comments   |  tags: , , , , , , | posted in Gentlemen, Humorous, RPPCs

June 7, 2015

The Cosy Two

By C.E. Ryan
1890s tintype

1890s tintype

A cute tintype found on eBay of two gents being cosy together. Once again, the one on the left is wearing a fancily arranged neck tie.

2 Comments   |  tags: , | posted in Gay Interest, Groups, Tintypes

June 7, 2015

On a front porch

By C.E. Ryan
On a front porch. Snapshot. Private Collection.

On a front porch. Snapshot. Private Collection.

A sepia candid of an American gent sitting on a front porch in the sun. Simple and nice.

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June 7, 2015

Yours truly

By C.E. Ryan
Private collection. Of course!

New Orleans snapshot. 2015. Private collection. Of course!

I thought I should sometimes update you with pictures of me, the blogger, and the gents of today who cross my path. We look photo-ready don’t we? *cough cough* And I look like I’m past my bedtime hour (it most certainly was). Hee hee.

5 Comments   |  tags: , | posted in Groups, Others

June 7, 2015

An uncanny resemblance

By C.E. Ryan
Cabinet card. Private Collection.

Toasting in Frankfurt Germany. Cabinet Card. Private Collection.

A group of friends toasting, one of them a soldier. The one in the middle is definitely the brother of the one sitting to the left.

I have a lifelong friend with the German last name of Kurzendoerfer who looks like he could be a descendant of the chap to the left. I showed this picture to his brother and him and got his go-ahead to post this.

A side by side. Uncanny, hm? A hundred years later and the same exact look in their eyes (and the same love for beer lol).

side-by-side

Click for larger detail.

Click for larger detail.

Sometimes I think there are no coincidences in life.

Photographer: Friedr. Carbons. Frankfurt a/M. Blelchstrasse 2. Germany.

4 Comments   |  tags: | posted in Cabinet Cards, Groups