U.S. Navy Sailor, Early 20th Century, Ralph V. Clark

This is a photo of Ralph V. Clark, a sailor in the US Navy.  It was taken by R. Yamamoto of Yokohama, Japan.

I cannot date this precisely, but I believe it to be early 20th century, pre-WWI.    It is interesting that the photographer information is displayed using the Latin alphabet - I imagine it was a busy port and they learned to cater to their visitors.

Someone has written on the back - "Ralph V. Clark, brother of Frank B. Clark".  It's a nice example of what a Naval uniform looked like at the time.

I also have a photo of his brother Frank, same era, but it's not as good and there is no photographer information.

Sold!

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!

Grand Army of the Republic Decoration Day Greeting Card

 

This is an intricate "Patriotic" post card commemorating "Decoration Day" and the Grand Army of the Republic,  which was an organization of veterans of the union Army during the American civil war (or the war between the states, if you're from the south). 

 

This card has embossing on top of embossing.  The five pointed star has the words "Grand Army of the Republic, 1861-1865".  On back it includes "Decoration Day Series No. 2" as part of the publisher information.

 

Decoration Day began in the south after the end of the civil war, and referred to the custom of visiting and decorating the graves of soldiers who had died during that conflict.  This developed into a national observance, typically on May 30th, and evolved into the present Memorial Day holiday.

 

I do not know the exact date of this card, but I'm pretty sure it would be in the 1908 to 1912 era.

 

 

CDV Photo Young Man in a Military Cadet Style Uniform 1870s

This is an 1870s (ish) CDV of a clean shaven young man in a military style uniform.  There is no information of any kind on the CDV - no backstamp, no photographer's info, no writing, absolutely nothing. 

That's too bad, because it makes it hard to even conjecture about this person.

So, primarily I'm interested in what kind of uniform he's wearing.  It is certainly a military style uniform, but lots of uniforms are military style, without actually being military.

My first thought was that this is probably a cadet's uniform, and I had to make an assumption, having nothing else to go on, that it was probably not one of these private military college prep type schools.  I had to assume it was something like West Point, or perhaps VMI or the Citadel.

So we spent a lot of time (well, some time) online looking at 19th cadet uniforms, especially at West Point and VMI.  And I can't tell anything for absolute certainty, but this looks closer to a West Point uniform.  The VMI collars seemed to be higher.  Also, I don't really know what color the jacket is - it looks gray, but it could be easily be something else. 

Any out there know for sure?


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!