“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?
Cross legged on low chair. Tintype. Private Collection.
This young gent with a hint of a smile looks relaxed on this low chair. It makes him look tall. I’m not sure what the backdrop is supposed to represent, maybe a fireplace. The checkered flower design to the right is a mystery, a creative wall decoration most likely.
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.
Photographer: A. H. Opsahl. Minneapolis. MN.
Show me the way. Postcard. Private Collection.
Barkeep serving group. Tintype circa 1880s-90s. Private Collection.
A tintype of a barkeep standing over a fur rug and re-enacting pouring ale to a group of gentlemen with a little boy looking on. The gent to the far right’s expression is funny. He looks disappointed as if saying “but there’s nothing in my glass…”
Studio photographs of fellows drinking together were very common. Because saloons were most always the main place for men to socialize and organize away from the house,they wished to remember their after-work get-togethers with a studio picture.
Bowlers And High Collars 