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
1880’s 1/6th plate. Private Collection.
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)
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.
Super tiny photo booth style strip. Dated 1915. Private Collection.
A cute early example of a photobooth style photo strip. Look at this one with the wide engaging smile. And he looks younger with his hat on!
Apart from the subject, what makes this photo strip interesting is that it is dated 1915 on the back in pencil. This means this strip was taken a good eleven years before inventor Anatol Josephewitz (later Josepho) patented his machine and opened the infamous New York based automated Photomaton Studio dubbed “Broadway’s greatest quarter-snatcher”. As many as 7,000 New Yorkers a day stood in line to experience his machine, and by the end of the first year Mr. Josepho had made a swell million dollars (in yesterday’s money!) contracting his machine for expansion Ok, I’m getting sidetracked here..!
I’d like to find out why strips like this one existed before the era of the Photomaton, but info on photo strips taken prior to Josepho’s invention isn’t readily available online. This particular example is very tiny. Each photo is about 1 inch by 1 inch. I think these were proofs for larger versions to be ordered, but the portrait poses look informal, like taken at a photobooth…
Circa 1892. Cabinet Card. Private Collection.
I was on a frustrating hunt for a caped gentleman and was happy to finally find this fellow (I don’t know why those are hard to find!). There’s this cloudy effect going on and it looks like it is original of the photo, but it could be some discoloration due to time. Intentional or not, I do think it makes this cabinet card look like the man was standing outside on a foggy morning! The gentleman is IDed as Dean Smith on the back.
A close up of Mr. Smith, and a little more on J.H. Kent the photographer after the cut.
Bowlers And High Collars 