A Very Stylishly Dressed Woman, Nashville, Tenneessee

This is a late 19th (or very early 20th century) photo of a quite fashionably dressed woman. She's wearing a straw hat (I think it's straw anyway), a white blouse with a bow tie, a checkered vest, a jacket and holding gloves.  One can infer without too much effort that's she's also wearing a corset, which was pretty standard for the time.

She is very stylishly dressed.

The photo was made by Thuss of Nashville, Tennessee, and there is no other identifying information.    This was a professionally made studio photo, not a candid snapshot, and she was posed with her side to the camera.   It's not an unheard of pose, but it is unusual & adds a bit of interest.

Update:  Sold!

The Clover Leaf Picnic Club, 1895, Trenton, Missouri

So, 118 years ago members of a group call The Clover Leaf Picnic Club got together and had their picture taken, and an instant in time was captured and still survives. A bit faded maybe, but in the world of antique photos, it's alive and kicking.

I think there are 20 men and women in this photo, all look to be in their 20s or 30s. Everybody is pretty well dressed, much, much, MUCH more formally than people would be today.  Especially for a picnic.

I've looked at each individual, with a magnifying glass no less, just to see fashion details and expressions.  One person, the woman in the light blouse in the front row, is not looking at the camera.  I wonder what she was looking at and was thinking about.

This a large photo, almost 8 X 10.  The photographer was Smith of Trenton, Missouri.  My attempts to find anything about The Clover Leaf Picnic Club remain aggravatingly illusive.  Maybe I could contact the Trenton, Mo. Chamber of Commerce, see if they know anything.  I suppose it was a social club, a means for young men & women to put themselves in close proximity to each other during the late Victorian era.

Update: Sold!

Early 20th Century Photo of Mansion with American Flag - Ambassador's Residence?

This is an early 20th century photo of a mansion, with an American flag flying above it.  In the lower right corner there is a dog (looks suspiciously like a collie, but who knows), and there are trees and shrubbery around it.

Someone contacted me awhile back and had some good info about this building, but I have unfortunately lost  it.  The gist of it was that this was the old residence of the American Ambassador to Great Britain.

I can't date this precisely, but based on the mounting and type of photo (I believe it is gelatin silver), this is probably WWI era, give or take.

1898 Photo of a Man Tossed into the Air

This is an interesting photo of a person participating in a blanket toss, dated 1898.  The photo shows a couple of buildings, a crowd of people, and a man in mid-air, holding on to his hat.  A couple of people on the right side of the photo may be wearing military uniforms.

It is an albumen print with a cardboard mounting, and it is a bid faded. One thing that interests me is that it's 1898, and the photographer has managed to stop motion - the man in the air is obviously moving, and the shutter speed was apparently fast enough to capture it without any kind of blur.

The following information is written on back:  "Some of the sporting camp life.  Tossing in the blanket.  Taken by Corporal Harmon.  May 10, 1898."  It was signed by H. B. Roderick.  The corporal's name is hard to read - It could be Harman, or maybe even Herman.


Update:  Sold!

A Mysterious Antique Photo of a Young Woman

I don't really know what to say about this photo - it's just something I find visually interesting.  

It's not large - just over 5 inches tall and 4 inches wide, and there is no writing or photographer information on it.

The clothing and the mounting date this to the early 20th century, but I can't really say how early.  I assume, because it's mounted on cardboard with gold trim, that it was taken by a professional photographer.    Amateur snapshots started showing up in the early 20th century, but I think this is more professional than that.

Everything about this photo seems somewhat unique, to me. 

Starting from the top - she's wearing some kind of cap or hat that you didn't see many women wearing, at least in photos.  Most women's hats of the era were big, elaborate, flowery, feathery things.  This one is hard to make out in any detail - there is a band of cloth going around it, and I can't make out a brim or bill or anything else.  It looks almost like a pillbox hat.

She's wearing a tie, and what looks like a white vest - quite masculine - with hands either in her dress or jacket pockets.  My wife would be able to tell you what kind of sleeves those are on the jacket, but I don't dare even conjecture.  She's wearing a long ankle length dress, and I cannot make out her shoes in any kind of detail.  I suspicion they are lace up boots, but that's but I have no way to prove it.  She's probably wearing a corset, but who knows.  Her hair appears short, and she's looking slightly away from the camera.  The background is a plain wall, no chairs, plants, statues, pedestals or props of any kind.  That, all by itself, is interesting.

I don't know if anyone else sees what I see in this photo or not.  To me, the whole thing pretty mysterious.   A young woman was photographed 100 to 110 years ago, and that's about all I can  say about it with any kind of certainty.

She's young, late teens or early 20s.  Is she dressed stylishly for the time, or did she just get off the boat from some eastern European country?  I don't know.   

Leona Belle Cook - Age 3

 

This is a antique photo (cropped from the original) of a little girl named Leona Belle Cook, aged 3.  The photographer information is only given as "Taylor".  We've seen other photos with "Taylor" in a similar style from Rochester, New York, so perhaps that is where this is from.  We found some information on a Leona Belle Cook by doing a simple google search.  Assuming it is the same person, she was born in August 1913, and died in November 2007 in Venice, Florida.  If those dates are correct, then this photo dates from 1916-17 or there abouts.  Based on the type of photo those dates seem about right.

 

We have another picture of Leona Cook when she is older, looking like in her late teens or early twenties, and she has something of a not quite but almost flapperish hair style. 

 

This is a nice photo, and with the mounting it is fairly large.  I like it because it has toys in it - she 's holding on to a wagon with a doll in it. It may have just been a photographer's prop, but it may also have been a favorite toy of a little girl.

Rosen Kirche, Watertown, Buffalo County Nebraska, Antique Photograph

This is a colorized antique photograph of a church congregation in Nebraska.  To me it looks like the coloring was done by hand - the blue sky goes off the edges of the photo (it's mounted on a much larger piece of cardboard).   The actual photo is a little brighter than the picture I have of it.

This looks to be 1890s, give or take.  There is a lot of writing on the mounting, most of which is faded to the point that I can't read it.  But I can read several things:   below the picture is written Rosen Kirche.  I'm not sure if it is one word or two, either way I think it's German and it means Red Church.  On back someone has written Rev. J.E. Baumgartner, Watertown, Buffalo Co., Nebraska.    In the back near the middle of the line of people, a man is wearing clerical garments, and I suppose that is the good Reverend.  There are all kinds of people in this photo, young and old.

So, one day in the 1890s, give or  take, a church congregation gathered outside and had their picture taken.  Interesting.

UPDATE: Sold!

Meet Little Martha Sharples, 1892-1926.

This is little Martha Sharples - a bit larger normal Cabinet Photo with 3 views of the little girl. 

I know this is Martha Sharples because it says so on the back - and it also gives her married name (Hess), and her parents names - David T. & Adeline Sharples.  With that information you can find out a lot about this little girl.

She was born Nov 22, 1892 in Elgin (Kane County) Illinois, which means this photo was taken in 1897-98, give or take.   She married a Henry Lawrence Hess in on April 26, 1916 in West Chester, Pennsylvania - their 96th anniversary is coming up.  I have no idea of the events surrounding a move from Illinois to Pennsylvania, but apparently it happened.   She had two children in the next couple of years, and then a daughter on May 28th, 1926.  She died about a week later, June 2, 1926, at the age of 33 at Media (Delaware County) Pennsylvania.  Although I can't say with 100% certainty, it seems pretty obvious she died from some complication arising from giving birth, probably excessive bleeding or infection.   Both of her parents, David & Adeline Shaples, outlived her.  I believe she was their only child.

I suspect there is no one alive now who ever met or knew Martha Sharples.

Martha's daughter, the one born in 1926, died in 2010, at the age of 84. 

  

I look at these old pictures, and sometimes I find myself mourning for these people, who are for the most part long gone. I actually feel sad for them.  In this photo, Martha is a little girl.  She seems happy and well cared for, and I'm fairly certain no one expected her to die as a result of child birth.  Everybody expected her to get married, have children, become a grandmother and so on.  But fate had something else in store for Martha Sharples Hess.  She never saw her children grow up.

Update:  SOLD!

Old Photo of a man in a dress uniform

This is an antique photo of a man in a uniform of some sort, probably early 20th (maybe late 19th) century. 

I'm not sure what kind of uniform it is, but it has a military look about it.  Having a military look doesn't necessarily make it military, but on the other hand, there is a good possibility.  The overall appearance is right - a man with short hair standing more or less at parade rest.   Also there are shoulder epaulets, the "U.S" insignia on the collar, plus what looks like crossed swords behind it.   I can't see that clearly, so I could be wrong, but if it is crossed swords, then this is most likely an early military dress uniform of some sort.

The photo is mounted on dark cardboard, and embossed in that cardboard is "Monroe Ft. Sheridan".  I believe Monroe is the photographer & Ft. Sheridan is the location - specifically Illinois.

But I don't know for sure, so I hope someone who is expert in military uniforms (specifically US Army) will jump in and straighten me out if I'm wrong. 

Anyway, it's a neat photo.

Update: Sold!