Dandy boy in studio prop top hat. Private Collection.
This boy’s evening suit is well tailored, but his studio prop top hat adds a touch of humor to the look. What a cutie!
The cigarette was most likely a prop too (it looks lit but with no smoke). I would think responsible parents considered tobacco to be like alcohol and didn’t let their children start this early (I don’t think he’s even 10).
RPPC: AZO squares 1926-1940’s.
Trio in top hats. 1/6th plate tintype. Private Collection.
The backdrop is worth noting. Nature themed it was tastefully done, conveying more the idea of trees than figuratively so.
Larger detail.
Easter Sunday 1933 Evelyn and George Steele on 5th Ave. ACME press photo. Private Collection.
A gorgeous 7″ by 9″ original press photo of a dashing New York Society couple dressed to the nines on 5th Avenue. Everything about this picture is breathtaking; the large orchids on her lapel, the gent’s crisp evening suit complete with top hat and white gloves, the (Ford?) car to the left, the gothic iron gates, and the smiles! They were head turners, some men in the background watching them strutting away (watching *her* strutting away). These two look as if they were laughing half embarrassed, half flattered a reporter chose to take their picture. It looks like it had rained too. A beautiful moment captured on a photograph.
The Steeles close-up.
The back talks of an annual Easter Sunday ‘promenade’ on 5th Avenue. People would dress up and parade on the street. What a sight this must have been!
Back of press photo.
Life of the party. RPPC. Private Collection.
Something uplifting now. Mr. Life of the Party is standing apart from his group, accessorized with a coat, top hat, cigar and cane. His buddies are laughing at his staged city boy cocky attitude (and I am too). Two women found it funny as well, but the four in the middle are more interested in taking a good picture of themselves!
Stereotypes were and always will be funny. This group seems to have had quite a good time on a sunny summer day. This picture was taken in Nebraska sometime in the 1910s.
RPPC: AZO 1904-1918
Father and son in top hats with a stiff drink. Private Collection.
Teaching the boy the grown-up ways! This father is posing with his little man with the adult sized top hat on his head, and he’s acting like he’s going to share a stiff drink with him. He found it humorous to pose with his son this way, and I do too! His son is holding on to the hat and looking at the bottle with keen interest!
After the picture I see the dad giving a sip to his eager boy and laughing at his reaction, and the little one saying “Eww…how can you drink this, dad?!”.
This tintype is quite endearing, and -bonus!- it has top hats. The father has that cheeky Harrison Ford smile too, doesn’t he?
It’s easy to imagine the son holding on to this photograph throughout his life, and with a fond memory of that day.
Digital restoration work titled “Drink This, It’ll Put Hair On Your Chest Son” by Caroline C. Ryan is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Bowlers And High Collars 