Shades Of The Departed

Today's Shades' Old Photograph - Little Lord Fauntleroy X 3

2011-08-24T09:31:00.000-07:00

Three beautiful brothers, two of whom are dressed in Little Lord Fauntleroy suits. Little Lord Fauntleroy was a book written by Francis Hodgson Burnett. The suits described and illustrated in her book proved extremely popular with doting mothers and hated by the young men who wore them. The suit was a black velvet jacket and breeches, sometime worn with an elaborate lace collar and fancy blouse, as seen here. The hair was worn in long ringlets. The main period that the suits were popular was 1886-1899, but the suits were worn into the 1920s.

EDWARD T. BILLINGS:

Edward T. Billings' photographic studios were located at the corner of Main and Fifth streets, in Racine. Wisconsin. He was born April 12, 1852, the son of Bradish D. and Eliza (Harry) Billings, natives of New York State and Cornwall. England, respectively.

Edward was eight years old when he came with his parents to Racine county where he lived on a farm. When he completed public school he studied photography. He established his gallery in 1872, andit was considered one of the finest galleries in the State.

On the 20th of March, 1877, he married Mary Easson, the daughter of Captain Larry and Alice (Green) Easson. They were the parents of two children, Harry and Edna.

Sources:

Stamper, Anita A. Clothing Through American History: The Civil War Through the Gilded Age, 1861-1899. Greenwood : 2010.

Photograph:

Three Siblings. Cabinet Card. Billings, Edward T. Original Cabinet Card privately held by the footnoteMaven, Preston, Washington. 2007

Today's Shades Old Photo - Second In The Siblings Series

2011-08-23T08:47:00.000-07:00

Two little sisters in pinafores and bows.

McDonald's Studios
Ground Floor
301 South Michigan St. cor. Wayne
South Bend, Ind.
Duplicates of the Picture can be
had at any time.

McDonald had a showing at The Exhibition Of Photographs at The Chicago Convention. In 1887, The Photographic Times commented on his work; "McDonald of South Bend, Ind. showed some very good cabinet work, which was neatly and effectively mounted on 6 1/2 X 8 1/2 maroon cards, thus giving a liberal margin that neatly set off the picture."

Today's Shades Old Photograph

2011-08-22T10:27:00.001-07:00

This week's series is Siblings.

Today's Shades Old Photograph starts the week with a series called Siblings. Three impeccably dressed siblings; the photographed was taken by Falk.

Benjamin J. Falk was born 14 October 1853 in New York City. He was one of the leading New York photographers who specialized in celebrities. He was a well-known New York photographer from the opening of his first studio at 347 E. 14th Street in 1877 to his death 19 March 1925. This photograph lists his address as 13 and 15 West 24th St., Madison Square. A studio he designed and opened in 1892.

He also had a studio at Twenty-third Street and Broadway, on the site of the present Flatiron Building. He left Twenty-third Street and Broadway and established a gallery in the Waldorf-Astoria at West 33rd Street. (Dates not yet determined.)

Are these children celebrities, or were their parents celebrities? Or were they just the children of wealthy parents who wanted them photographed by Falk?

Photographs:

Three Siblings. Cabinet Card. ca. 1892 - 1904. Original Cabinet Card Panel privately held by the footnoteMaven, Preston, Washington. 2007

Twice Told Tuesday - Where Bad Citizens Are Made

2011-08-16T13:51:00.000-07:00

Twice Told Tuesday features a photography related article reprinted from
my collection of old photography books, magazines, and newspapers.

Wouldn't You Hate America If It Met You This Way?
By Marie De Montalvo and Rose Falls Bres
The Delineator
March 1921

Read this story of what women and children endure at Ellis Island, where many immigrants get their first taste of America. Then, while you are still boiling with the sense of injustice and outraged decency, write your congressman that conditions must be changed.

Talk the cause of these immigrant women and children in your church. It will not stand for this gross violation of Christian principles. Talk it in your club. The hatred that Ellis Island breeds is spreading like a plague to increase the discontent which menaces our institutions and the Government itself.

Like A Vision
The Great City Rises
Before The Newcomers
Kingstone View Company

Do you know what happens at Ellis Island, in the shadow of the Statute of Liberty, to the women who come to America from other lands because they think that this is the land of freedom, of justice, of plenty - women whose only crime is poverty, whose only offense is ignorance of our language and our ways?

Never mind the millions of men who are pouring into this country, and the millions more who are waiting over there to come, some with passports, waiting for a few inches of space on some American-bound ship, and millions more still waiting for passports. They constitute a problem of enormous importance - but we can leave it to the men. The thing that concerns the women of this country is that the proportion of women coming to this country is increasing and nothing is being done about it.

National and international problems are coming to a point of confusion and complexity which makes us feel that a man who seems to know what he thinks must be mistaken. Immigration is one of the complicated problems about which people think and feel, and hardly any one knows anything. Yet it may be possible to make one assertion which we can all agree to:

There are just two things to do with the immigrant - keep him out or treat him fairly.

Now, women of America! Do you know that women surrounded with children, carrying babies, squeezed into airless rooms among men, are found to stand day after day and week after week waiting for a man with a megaphone to yell their unpronounceable names at them so that they may know their relatives have come for them?

Do you know that after they disembark at Ellis Island they are pushed and jostled and shouted at and bullied by so-called "officials" whose qualification for the job seems invariably to have been a harsh voice and a hot temper?

Do you know that women with babies and luggage are forced to stand in line for at least half a day, and sometimes several days, and negotiate flights of stairs carrying with them everything they own on earth, before they pass their physical examinations which could all be performed much more quickly and effectively on the same floor?

Two thousand Men, women and children remained five days at
Ellis Island recently without bunks, and had to lie on the floor or sit
up all night, six squeezed together on each bench.
Brown Bros.

Do you know that there are 2,000 bunks on Ellis Island, provided with two blankets apiece; that because detained immigrants must be segregated into classes, only 1,500 of these beds are available - since if there are only 10 Chinese and the dormitory for the Chinese hold twenty-five, the remaining 15 bunks must remain empty rather than fill them with white people - and that recently on the Jewish holiday, Yom Kippur, 3,500 men, women, and children were without bunks and had to lie on the floor or sit up all night, six squeezed together on each bench?

Do you know that there is no place for women to wash themselves, their clothes and their babies, except at a sink out in the public hall? And no place to dry their clothes except strung over lines strung over their bunks in the unventilated dormitories, with bunks four deep up and down the walls, where they must remain anywhere from a single night to a year?

Can you imagine the mental attitude of government employees who stopped up the faucets in the eating halls because they might drip on the floors if immigrants were allowed to drink water with their meals?

Have you a picture of a baby whose underclothing remains unchanged for so long that its skin peels off with its garments when they are finally removed?

Do you know the inadequacy of the sanitary arrangements - such that a visitor hates to inspect them because their awful presence is made known long before they are visible to the eye?

In brief, do you smell Ellis Island when you read these words?

To Be Continued!
Next Twice Told Tuesday

Sources:

Magazine and Photographs

"Where Bad Citizens Are Made."The Delineator, March 1921, 8.

Twice Told Tuesday - How Much Is That Baby In The Window?

2011-08-02T13:23:00.000-07:00

Twice Told Tuesday features a photography related article reprinted from
my collection of old photography books, magazines, and newspapers.

The Delineator Child-Rescue Campaign. For The Child that Needs a Home and the Home that Needs a Child. Photographs were used to bring together the homeless child and the childless home. One of this country's most famous magazines, The Delineator published a Child Rescue Campaign combining sweet photographs of young children with a poignant story told in the style of the time.

Was this a Sofie's Choice? Did all seven go, or just these two? Probably the first photographs ever taken of these two young boys. The story of Charles and Vance. Tissues required.

The two little faces who look into yours are those of Charles and Vance, who were considered by the Michigan Children's Home Society, St. Joseph, Michigan, May 2, 1908.

Their mother was a woman of good mental ability, and was married when very young, to a respectable young man in poor circumstances. She died at the age of twenty-five, the mother of seven children, the oldest being but a little more than seven years.

Overcome by sickness, poverty and distress, she laid down the burden of life, March 15, 1908, with the words, "Be good to my children."

The father, unable financially to hire a good housekeeper, and finding it impossible to secure the necessary help from friends and relatives, thought the best way to fulfill the wife's request to be good to the children was to secure help from outside and appealed to the Michigan Children's Home Society, which gave the needed assistance. Then came the parting. Friends and loved ones joined in the good-byes, and tears and kisses mingled.

Little Vance was so young that he was quickly attracted by new sights and scenes but not so with Charlie. He did not so easily forget the old associations, and, leaning his head upon the window in the car, he sobbed: "I want to go back to grandma's house."

Oh, the love and sympathy needed to comfort these little hearts that are breaking because those whom they have known and loved are taken away from them!

Will someone come to the rescue of these two bright, healthy boys, and give them a home together, that they need not be separated?

Sources:

Magazine and Photograph

"The Delineator Child Rescue Campaign."The Delineator, September 1908, 405.

Shades The Magazine - Occupations - July/August

2011-07-15T21:06:00.000-07:00

Welcome To the July/August Issue of Shades
Occupations In Photographs

HAVE YOU READ?

MOURNING ISSUE

WEDDING ISSUE

MAY 2010 ISSUE

MARCH 2010 ISSUE

FEBRUARY 2010 ISSUE

JANUARY 2010 ISSUE

DECEMBER 2010 ISSUE
NOVEMBER 2010 ISSUE

Would You Believe -

2011-07-14T06:40:00.000-07:00

My Dog Ate My Homework?

No, Hunter pup didn't eat Shades.

It's just plain late. I'm late. I apologize. My time table was shorter than my workload. I'm very close, but I'm not going to give you a specific time. Who wants to look foolish twice? No, not me.

I'm just going back to work and finish.

Historic Market Street 1906

2011-07-10T20:48:00.000-07:00

I have seen parts of this film before, not restored and not full length. Last night on 60 Minutes we were treated to the restored researched "A Trip Down Market Street." Shot days before the San Francisco earthquake of 1906 we are transported to another time and permitted to watch the residents of 1906 San Francisco going about their daily lives.

I loved the one second glimpse of a woman negotiating the long skirts of the day as she catches a trolley car. She makes it look easy.

We see the dare devil traffic and the looks on the faces of those who at that moment realize they are being filmed. The end of the film shows a group of young newspaper boys who gather on the tracks to wave and mug for the camera. My favorite scene.

The mystery always has been who shot the film and when. Who were those carefree filmmakers and how did the film survive?

The Library of Congress had dated the film September 1905. Using the tools of any good historian or genealogist, California archivist David Kiehn vowed to solve the mystery. He researched the newly restored film for license plates and weather reports chasing the date into April 1906. Kiehn describes himself as having an incurable curiosity and a love for silent films. Add to that dogged determination.

Then Kiehn found The New York Clipper newspaper articles advertising "A Trip Down Market Street" by the Miles Brothers. The film was made one week before the destruction of every building shown in the film. One of those buildings was the office of the Miles brothers. The film makers had the good fortune to send the film by rail to New York the night before the quake.

I watched the film again. This time with the benefit of Kiehn's research. Now I know what is merely days away. Now I know the sad reality that many of the film's faces probably did not survive the quake and resulting fire.

What struck me was not that these smiling people didn't know what was about to happen to them, but rather that I did. And I am a hundred years too late.

DearPhotograph.com

2011-07-07T13:00:00.000-07:00

Are you familiar with the blog DearPhotograph.com? The premise of the site is to take a picture of an old photo held up in front of the place where the old photograph was originally taken and then post it online at DearPhotograph.com.

It is the idea of Canadian Blogger, Taylor Jones. While sifting through a shoebox of old photographs he happened upon one of his brother sitting in a chair. He looked up to find the same chair in front of him. He grabbed his camera and held the old photo up to the chair until it fit with the background.

Thus began a book deal and another internet sensation!

My personal favorite is the photograph below. The caption reads: "Dear photograph, thank you for everything we had."

It's worth a visit and will send you running to look for photos that just might be worth a submission.

Shades Of The Departed Magazine on Digital News Stands July 13, 2011

2011-07-07T10:04:00.000-07:00

Shades & Occupational Photographs
On Digital News Stands
July 13, 2011

This issue welcomes the first of Maureen Taylor's "Dressed To The Nines Column," Craig Manson's Appealing Subjects deals with "Occupation: Barber," and Penelope Dreadful is "Saved By Grace," plus many more interesting photographic articles from your favorites both old and new.

Oh, and don't miss the sweet Occupations Centerfold.

Lookin' through Shades Magazine 
Found something tucked there in-between

My blood runs cold
 My memories have all been sold
 Great Grandma is a centerfold
Great Grandma is a centerfold

A part of me has just been ripped
 The ages from my mind are stripped
 That unnamed woman can't deny it
 footnoteMaven had to buy it!

My blood runs cold
 My memories have all been sold
 Great Grandma is a centerfold
Great Grandma is a centerfold

It's okay, we understand 
Not all heirlooms are in our hand
 We know that when this issue's gone 
Great Grandma’s centerfold lives on

My blood runs cold
 My memories have all been sold
 Great Grandma is a centerfold
Yes, Great Grandma is a centerfold

Friday From The Collectors - Brett Payne Redux

2011-06-17T09:18:00.001-07:00

CONNECTING THE DIASPORA

BRETT PAYNE

Photo-Sleuth

A rare visit from my grandparents, April 1966

While I was growing up in what was then Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), I was often envious of my friends with their large networks of grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins. My parents had both emigrated from the countries of their birth – England and the Netherlands – before they were married and I hardly knew my grandparents. By the time I left home, I could count on one hand the number of times that I’d met members of my family outside the immediate circle of parents and siblings. The photograph above shows one of those rare occasions in April 1966, after my grandparents had made the adventurous journey by train and ship from the English Midlands to the Eastern Highlands of Rhodesia. A decade ago, events unfolding in the country of my birth precipitated a further scattering of family members, something my father resignedly referred to as La Diaspora Continua, and I emigrated with my wife and children to New Zealand.

Perhaps it was a lack of contact with extended family that precipitated my fascination with my Dad’s large accumulation of family photographs. He inherited the collection, along with a hefty archive of family papers, from his parents. Much of the older material had originated from his great-uncle Hallam Payne (1870-1960), who had been the family archivist, although the existence of several items from the early 1800s points to an earlier origin for the hoarding gene. With my Dad’s encouragement, I drew my first rudimentary family tree when I was nine or ten years old. Nevertheless, it was only fifteen years ago, with my purchase of an early version of FTM, and an introduction to the internet, that my interest was piqued.

Like many readers of this blog, I’m sure, I've since become a family history addict. Building on the archives passed down by family members, I’ve spent an enormous amount of my spare time researching and building up the framework of ancestors and cousins, boring and confounding family members and friends alike with my tales of discovery. I still do make the occasional breakthrough, resulting in the adding of an extra generation or two, or the discovery of a new umpteenth cousin.

Along the way I have developed an even greater interest in the vast body of material which envelopes the bare bones of the family tree. I find that I have an intense need to discover ever more and more details of the life of a particular ancestor – anything that might embellish the character that my mind builds up around the bare essentials of a name, two or three dates, and a position in the tree. That’s why I tend to use the term family history instead of genealogy to describe my passion. It is ironic therefore that, despite being bored to distraction by history in my school years, I am now most intrigued by the historical aspects of my research. So much so, in fact, that I have some considerable trouble keeping myself from getting “too distracted.”

Charles Vincent Payne (1868-1941)
St Andrew's Middle Class School
Litchurch, Derby
c.1876-77

I don’t really have much fascination with how major historical events in history might have influenced my family. Perhaps I have a little more interest in how a particular ancestor might have played a role in some local incident. I find myself more absorbed with building up a timeline of events that are likely to have shaped peoples lives, and hoping that this exercise will reveal something of their characters. In the course of this quest, I’m always hunting for new tools that might have the potential to open further avenues of research. However, I repeatedly find myself returning to the family photograph collection for clues and inspiration.

Postcard Photograph
Payne Family Off-Licence & Grocery Shop
New Normanton, Derby
c. 1908-1909

I would even go so far as to say that photographic portraits, both formal and informal, now form the fundamental framework of my attempts to unravel the life stories of these people who I never met, either because they lived so far away, or because they died long before I was born. Once the photos are assembled into chronological order, I am often able to gain an impression of what the person looked like and, if there are enough in the sequence, how they changed through the course of their life. While it helps me to build a concept of that person, I find that a detailed examination of the photographs can often reveal far more. Apart from a simple observation of the identity of the subject, other factors such as photograph type and style, studio name and location, inscriptions, clothing, studio backdrops and accessories used, other backgrounds, such as buildings, may also be usefully analysed. I will admit to setting less store on things like family likenesses, and expressions on the subjects’ faces, but they can be useful in certain circumstances.

My GG-Grandparents
Henry Payne (1842-1907)
Henrietta Payne nee Benfield (1843-1917)
A rather nice portrait, expertly colourised
by a kind Photo-Sleuth reader - just one of many examples of the
collaboration and co-operation which I have experienced.

Often, when I approach portraits from my family collection from a fresh point of view, I make exciting new discoveries. In my series of articles on Photo-Sleuth, I like to share these findings with fellow family and local history enthusiasts, and hope that they will prove to be of some use to others in their own research. It is, of course, a collaborative process, and I continue to learn a great deal from such exposure. I have presented my own analyses of some of the old family photos that researchers have kindly sent me from all over the world, and I value enormously the numerous and varying contributions that I receive.

It is to my own ancestors that I return perennially, building up a more detailed picture in my mind of who they were, how they lived, and why they chose to make certain decisions and changes in their lives. It is also important to me how those decisions and changes – in particular the successive emigrations, from village to village, county to county, country to country, and continent to continent – shaped the individuals and families that eventually produced me. The family photograph collection chronicles and illustrates many moments within that process of movement of my family through the Diaspora. What remains is for me, and others who follow, to document, describe and interpret, joining the lines between those moments to relate the stories of our tīpuna.

Read Brett's Latest Article - Train Wrecks

Article & Photographs
Copyright © 2008
BRETT PAYNE

Photo-Sleuth

Many Things Thursday - Don't Go In The Water

2011-06-02T10:53:00.000-07:00

"The time has come," the Walrus said, "to talk of many things."

Thursday, on Shades Of The Departed, will be dedicated to
many things, and nothing in particular.

Many Things Thursday

Bathing Suits and Trunks

Photographers went where the people went, and when the people went to the beach, so did many photographers.

They would set up seaside studios equipped with backdrops imitating the shore. Seavey, one of the most famous background painters of his time, sold a Sea Shore Ground backdrop for $13.00 in 1887.

The description of bathing apparel accompanied by the photographs below all offer sufficient reasons "not to go into the water."

Bathing "trunks" are usually made of knitted cotton or worsted, and shaped to cover the loins and trunk of the body.

Man Oh Man!

A Studio Tintype.

Year and photographer unknown

Bathing "suits" are of various shapes and made of many materials. Surah silk of thick quality is used extensively. It is claimed that it does not retain as much water as flannel, and that it does not cling so closely to the figure. The medium quality bathing suits are manufactured of flannel and of a coarse wiry cheviot.

Marie Jansen

The Lady GaGa of Her Time?

The more modest suits are made with the waist and drawers in one, cut in continuous pieces or attached to the same belt; a seperate skirt reaching to the knees is then buttoned on to this belt. The drawers fall below the knees and are quite wide with rubber in the hem to draw them into shape.

A beautiful background

painted and continuing

under foot.

Jersey suits are also manufactured and these do not shrink. The waist and skirt are all in one piece in this variety, and the skirt is made full. The drawers are close fitting like equestrian tights and have stockings woven with them—but how and where they are fastened no man has ever found out.

Just add sea shells

and mix.

Source:

Cole, George S. A Complete Dictionary of Dry Goods and History of Silk, Cotton. W. B. Conkey Company, 1892.

American Journal of Photography. Advertisement. 1887.

Photographs:

Women all courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Lillian Russell

2011-05-31T08:26:00.000-07:00

Lillian Russell's Portraits Outselling All Others
Mrs. Langtry's Pictures No Longer Popular

~ New York Times ~
25 February 1883

What we know from the photograph:

(1) The card mount measures 4 1/8 in. by 8 1/2 in. and is 0.063 in. thick, the photograh measures 3 1/2 in. X 7 1/2 in. The edges of the card are beveled. The card stock's original color appears to have been buff or tan (matte finish) front and back.

(2) The photographer’s imprint on the front (recto) of the photograph lists the photographer as The Falk Studio, 14 and 16 West 33rd St. N.Y.

(3) Handwritten in ink on the verso is Lillian Russell in "Lady Teazle." For story of her home Dec. 18. In small print at the bottom of the card is Lillian Russell panel cabinet card.

Card Analysis:

The card is smaller than a true Panel card, ca. 1900. Panel cards generally measure 4 in. X 8 1/2 in. for the image and 8 X 13 for the mount. It is also similar to a Boudoir card which measures 5 in. X 8 1/4 in., ca 1890.

Conclusion: The card properties are only one clue and do not offer a definitive answer. The card is consistent with cards printed 1890 to early 1900s.

Photographer and Imprint Analysis:

Benjamin J. Falk was one of the leading New York photographers who specialized in celebrities. His studio was originally at Twenty-third Street and Broadway, on the site of the present Flatiron Building. He was a well-known New York photographer in the 1880s. He left Twenty-third Street and Broadway and established a gallery in the Waldorf-Astoria at West 33rd Street.

The imprint contains the address only and is located on the front of the card.

Conclusion:

The Flatiron Building construction was completed in 1902. Falk would have had to have moved to the Waldorf-Astoria at least one year prior in 1901. I have found no information that indicates that Falk ceased operation of his business at any time. We will assume for purposes of this discussion that he occupied the West 33rd Street premises from 1901 until his death on 19 March 1925.

The photographer's information indicates a time period of 1901-1925. The period of operation is consistent with the card properties analysis of the early to mid-1900s.

Lillian Russell Analysis:

Here we have a significant clue. Lillian Russell is depicted in what was called a character portrait, Russell as the character "Lady Teazel".

In 1904, John Kendrick Bangs and Roderick C. Penfield created a comic opera version of Sheridan's play "The School For Scandal" for Lillian Russell. The role of "Lady Teazel" was played by Miss Russell. The photograph used to advertise the play at the Casino Theatre in 1904, in the New York Times, is very similar to our Photo of the week.

Miss Russell died in 1922 and it appears that "Lady Teazle" was her last role on the stage.

Conclusion:

The Lillian Russell in this photograph looks the approximate age of the advertisement in the New York Times. The advertisement and the role of "Lady Teazle" are dated 1904. The play ran from December 1904 into 1905. Lillian Russell did not appear as "Lady Teazle" after this run. The first run of Russell as "Lady Teazle" would be the most likely time for the character portrait to have been taken and sold, as this would have been the period when it was most economically viable.

The biography (role 1904, death 1922), photographer (West 33rd St. 1901, death 1925), and card stock analysis information are consistent with the date of the cabinet card being 1904/05.

Lillian Russell's story is too amazing not to explore. From her four marriages, to her affair with Diamond Jim Brady, her work as a suffragette, her fact finding mission on immigration for President Harding, and her beauty, she led a very full life.

Sources:

Books:

Darrah, William C. Cartes de Visite in 19th Century Photography. Gettysburg: Darrah, 1981.

McCulloch, Lou W. Card Photographs, A Guide To Their History and Value. Exton, Pennsylvania: Schiffer 1981.

Newspapers:

Unknown, "Benjamin J. Falk Obituary," The New York Times, 22 March 1925. Online archives. http://access.newspaperarchive.com : 2008.

Unknown, "Faces of The Noted" The New York Times, 25 February 1883. Online archives. http://access.newspaperarchive.com : 2008.

Unknown, "Lady Teazle in Baltimore" The New York Times, 20 December 1904. Online archives. http://access.newspaperarchive.com : 2008.

Photographs:

Russell, Lillian. Photograph. ca. 1904. Digital image. Original Cabinet Card Panel privately held by the footnoteMaven, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Preston, Washington. 2007

Lady Teazle Advertisement, New York Times Historical Database, December 25, 1904, New York, N.Y.
(http://proquest.umi.com/ : retrieved 15 March 2008).

The Overstuffed Baby Comes Full Circle!

2011-05-27T08:12:00.000-07:00

"A superb story - blogging works!"

~ Randy Seaver ~

Geneamusings

As you read yesterday, Shades and the Overstuffed Baby made a connection. I was contacted by Dorothy Gray's granddaughter, Emelie Williams, who wrote and has sent Shades photographs of Dorothy's life, bringing our story full circle.

From Emelie Williams:

I was bowled over when her baby photo came on my monitor.

God love the internet and people who love history.

We are fortunate to have quite a lot of photos from Dorothy's side of the family. She kept scap books that have some portraits of family members and also some of Virginia City, Tonapah and Goldfield.

Dorothy's Engagement Portrait

I must say that your detective work on her photograph was very accurate and your methodology may prove helpful as we are piecing together some of our unknown people. She was indeed born June 20, 1907 in Goldfield, so your theory that she was about 6 months old was correct. They were Catholic and that looks like a Christening gown. So your thought about going to Silver City has great possibilities.

As the secretary for the School Lunch program

Washoe County, Nevada

I will look forward to reading more about preserving, sleuthing, researching and opening up the paths to the past in your future issues.

Thank you, Emelie

Emelie, the thanks is all mine. Yes, the internet is a wonderful place and this story is proof that we all have the opportunity to make a connection, to break down a brick wall, to come full circle.

Yes, thank you Emelie, for contacting Shades and for being so generous with your family history. It was such a pleasure to find that the research of a photograph of a baby with nothing more than a name resulted in such accurate work. It is so encouraging.

And now, it is on to preserving, sleuthing, researching and opening up the paths to the past.

Shades and The OverStuffed Baby Make A Connection

2011-05-26T11:22:00.000-07:00

It is the reason why we do the things we do!

Shades received the following email from Emelie Williams:

Thank you for posting this! Believe it or not, Dorothy was my grandmother. She died last April (2010) in Reno, Nevada at age 102.

Her eyes were always her most noted feature -- clear, sky blue eyes. She was proudest of being a native Nevadan. Her grandparents from both sides immigrated in the 1850s and 1860s for the gold and silver rush and she was the second generation born in the US.

Dorothy was loved and adored by her parents as she was the only child to survive beyond age 4. Four sons did not due to childhood illnesses. Her uncle, William Counihan was a miner from Virginia City and moved to Montana for their mining rush. I suppose this is how baby Dorothy's photo got to Montana.

Dorothy still has three children aged 77 to 82 who are researching their past.

Thank you so much Emelie for telling us the story of baby Dorothy! We research, we write, and sometimes we are rewarded.

THE OVERSTUFFED BABY
Dorothy Margaret Gray

Today's Twitter #ShadesOP is an interesting orphan photograph with several clues. I purchased the photograph in an antique store in Missoula, Montana. The staff had lovingly nicknamed the photograph "overstuffed baby," and you can see why.

While I don't specifically collect photographs of babies, I was drawn to this particular baby, because of her eyes. They are beautiful and looking at them you must wonder just what color were they.

While the photograph has been identified on the verso, a good detective will never assume that the information is correct. The information must be investigated. That is what follows with the analysis of "the overstuffed baby."

What We Know From The Photograph:

(1) The card mount measures 5 in. X 7 in. and is 1.30mm thick. The photograph measures approximately 3 in. by 4 in. The corners of the card are rounded, the edges are beveled. The card stock is black morie silk, there is a raised embossed oval around the photograph. The back of the mount is a dark gray color with no photographic imprint.

It is an exceptionally well done trim of the oval. The photograph is clear with excellent contrast and is perfectly centered. The photograph appears to be of very good quality.

(2) The photographer’s imprint on the front (recto) of the photograph lists the photographer as O. L. Dowe, Artistic Fotografer. There is no address.

(3) The back of the mount reads Dorothy Margaret Gray, Goldfield, Nev., October 13, 1907. There is no photographers imprint.

Card Analysis:

The card is consistent with mounts of the 1900s in both size, thickness, board, bevel, and color.

Photographer and Imprint Analysis:

O. L. Dowe was Oscar L. Dowe. Dowe was active in Lovelock, Nevada, in 1891, 1901, 1904 and operated the Big tent below the Catholic Church" in Silver City, Nevada.

From 1879-80 Dowe was a retoucher with Davidson Brothers in Portland, Oregon. Dowe operated as an itinerate photographer in California, Idaho, Nevada from 1890 - 1919. No fixed address is listed; several of the time periods list his studio as a tent.

The Biographies of Western Photographers lists Dowe as Oscar S. The census and this imprint list Dowe as Oscar L.

The problem with this information is that we can not determine the exact location where the photograph was taken. While the back of the card indicates Goldfield, Nevada, biographies for Dowe do not indicated that he operated in Goldfield. During this period of time, 1907, Dowe is listed as operating his studio in a tent in and around Silver City, Nevada.

Dorothy Margaret Gray Analysis:

The 1910 Census lists William Gray and his wife Emma living on East Elliott Street in Goldfield, Nevada with their two children, Dorothy age 2, and a son Gordon age 3 months. William works as a bookkeeper for a mining company.

Gold was discovered at Goldfield in 1902, the year of the town's inception. By 1904 the Goldfield district produced about 800 tons of ore, valued at $2,300,000, 30% of the Nevada's production that year. This remarkable production caused Goldfield to grow rapidly, and it soon became the largest town in Nevada.Goldfield reached a peak population of about 30,000 people in 1906. In 1907 Goldfield became the county seat.

In 1920 we find William Gordon Gray, his wife Mary Emma, and twelve year old daughter Dorothy living on University Street in Nye County Nevada in the Township of Tonapa . William is working as a pay teller in a bank. Missing from the Gray home is baby Gordon. Too young to have already left home since the last census, it can be assumed that baby Gordon has died sometime between the 1910 and 1920 census.

On 18 and 19 April 1910, Dorothy is listed in the census as being two years old. That would make her date of birth between 18 and 19 April 1907 and 18 and 19 April 1908. The baby in the photograph only looks as if it is a few months old. The birth date of 13 October 1907 would be consistent with the baby being approximately 6 months old at the time of the photograph.

Clothing Analysis:

The satin and lace trim on the bonnet and cape, the embroidered shoes indicated that this was clothing for a special occassion, not clothing purchased for a studio portrait. The clothing would be consistent with christening outfits of the early 1900s.

Conclusion:

It has been determined that Dowe operated his photography business in numerous locations in California, Idaho, and Nevada from 1890 until 1919 as a traveling photographer. Although his biography does not indicate he had a studio in Goldfield in 1907, Goldfield was a Nevada boom town beginnng in 1906 and Dowe could have easily traveled there to take advantage of the newly rich miners, mine operators, their employees and their families. Therefore, the photograph could have been taken during 1907 or later, and the photograph could have been taken in Goldfield.

In the alternative, we know that studio portraits were taken to mark a passage in the portrait sitter's life. Although the date listed on the back of the photograph is October 13, 1907, it may be the date of Dorothy's birth rather than the date the photograph was taken. As such this may be a photograph of Dorothy's christening and the date would be around 13 April 1908. The clothing is consistent with christening outfits of the early 1900s.

Both William and Mary Emma are of Irish descent. If their religion is Catholic, they might have traveled to Silver City to the Catholic Church to have Dorothy christened. Just down from the church in Silver City was Dowe's tent. The Grays may have gone directly from church to the tent for a photograph to commenorate the event.

This is far too much supposition and too little proof, but does show the process of analysis.

Sources:

Books:

Darrah, William C. Cartes de Visite in 19th Century Photography. Gettysburg: Darrah, 1981.
MacPhail, Anna. The Well Dressed Child. Atglen, Pennsylvania: Schiffer, 1999.
McCulloch, Lou W. Card Photographs, A Guide To Their History and Value. Exton, Pennsylvania: Schiffer 1981.
Mace, O. Henry. Collector's Guide To Early Photographs.Iola, Wisconsin: Krause, 1999.
Mautz, Carl. Biographies of Western Photographers. Nevada City, California: Carl Mautz Publishing, 1997.
Nickell, Joe. Camera Clues. Lexington, Kentucky: University Press of Kentucky, 1994.
Palmquist, Peter. Pioneer Photographers Of The Far West A Biographical Dictionary, 1840-1865. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 2000.
Severa, Joan. Dressed For The Photographer. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 1995.

Census:

1900 U.S. census, Inyo County, California, population schedule, 1-Twp, p. 2, dwelling 48, family 48, O. L. Dowe (Head); digital images. Heritage Quest (http://persi.heritagequestonline.com/ : retrieved 2 May 2008); citing NARA microfilm publication T623, roll 87. Occupation - photographer.

1910 U.S. census, Esmeralda County, Nevada, population schedule, Goldfield, p. 82, dwelling 99, family 100, William Gray (Head); digital images. Heritage Quest (http://persi.heritagequestonline.com/ : retrieved 2 May 2008); citing NARA microfilm publication T624, roll 858.

1920 U.S. census, Nye County, Nevada, population schedule, Tonopah, p. 84, dwelling 369 , family 374, William Gordon Gray (Head); digital images. Heritage Quest (http://persi.heritagequestonline.com/ : retrieved 2 May 2008); citing NARA microfilm publication T625, roll 1005.

Photograph:

Dorothy Margaret Gray. Photograph. 13 October 1907. Digital image. Privately held by the footnoteMaven, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Preston, Washington. 2007

Many Things Thurday - Burton Homes & My Grandfather at The George Eastman House

2011-05-19T13:49:00.000-07:00

"The time has come," the Walrus said, "to talk of many things."

Thursday, on Shades Of The Departed, will be dedicated to
many things, and nothing in particular.

Many Things Thursday

My Grandfather and His Straw

A Close-Up

A photograph found with this one has written on the reverse, "Everywhere you go there's someone to take your picture." Usually those taking the photographs were Holmes and Greene.

E. Burton Holmes and E. Jesse Greene traveled the world together taking photographs and making films for the Burton Holmes empire. Always, I might add, dressed to the nines no matter where they were in the world.

Burton Holmes was a mega star of his day; for sixty years he was America's most famous travel showman. Yes, Burton Holmes traveled the world, but he didn’t travel alone. Producing the Burton Holmes lectures required the efforts of a close knit group of tough ground-breaking professionals. While much has been written about Burton Holmes’ career, little has been known about the men and women who traveled with him and contributed to his empire.

One of those men was my grandfather, Edward Jesse Greene. Greene left school at sixteen to begin his career with Holmes. Burton Holmes personally gave my grandfather an education in photography, travel, and the world. The stories of my grandfather and his association with Holmes, as well as his personal photographs are my legacy.

The George Eastman House has acquired several hundred of Holmes' films and is working to preserve his legacy. They have released the following video.

View more interesting occupations in the May/June

Issue of Shades published this week!

Photograph:

Holmes & Greene. Unmounted Photograph. Photographer Unknown. Unknown. Privately held by the footnoteMaven, Preston, Washington. 2008

Twice Told Tuesday - Occupations - Photography & Women

2011-05-17T08:17:00.000-07:00

Twice Told Tuesday features a photography related article reprinted from
my collection of old photography books, magazines, and newspapers.

Shades reprints a chapter from the book on Occupations For Women, describing Women and Photography. Don't miss Shades Of The Departed Magazine - out this week with a look at occupational photographs.

PHOTOGRAPHY is especially adapted to a woman's artistic taste and delicate touch. Many girls practicing photography as amateurs, do their work well and it seems unaccountable why so many who reach a creditable degree of excellence in the work should be satisfied and so cease to produce better results. Why should they not continue in the art, master every detail, enter the field as professionals, and pursue the work as a business? Hundreds of women might accomplish far more in this occupation than at present.

Is it lack of energy, of courage or capital that deters them? It cannot be lack of energy, for the hours spent in the work by the ambitious, enthusiastic and painstaking amateurs prove the contrary. It should not be on account of insufficient courage, for it has been said that "the business woman is a nineteenth century production. She is honestly proud of her work, and of being a link in the great chain which keeps the business world moving." The hesitation should not be based upon the plea of "no capital," for the bright, determined girl of the present will always overcome this difficulty.

The work is not too difficult for a woman. For years it was regarded as a particularly occult and mysterious process, requiring a special gift, a knowledge of chemistry and years of professional study. During these years photography, to the woman, suggested untidy work, blackened hands, and soiled aprons. Today it is acknowledged to be a fascinating work, easily understood, requiring no superior knowledge, and demanding but a comparatively short time of study and preparation.

The introduction of electric lights, dry plates, light machinery, and dainty photographic devices renders the work more agreeable and available to women besides offering at the present day a most inviting field.

Nearly two-thirds of a photographer's patrons are women and children, and a woman photographer of pleasing manners, obliging disposition and artistic sense is most successful in securing happy results when the critical moment of posing arrives. There is but one best position, one best view of all objects. It is acknowledged that in woman the artistic sight is more perfectly developed than in man. This natural gift enables her to immediately discover the one best position--the one best view of her subject.

A woman quickly grasps the beautiful and harmonious in nature and in art. She naturally understands posing, colors in dress, and all the details that make up the artistic photographs of women and children. She will quickly tell why this line, shade or curve is more desirable. She possesses the faculty of bringing out the best in the patron who poses before her.

Many years elapsed in the history of photography before the public became assured of these neutral gifts in women--gifts so admirably adapted to this work, so favorably suited to its success. The photographers in several of our cities were assured of woman's efficiency in this work after securing her aid in their studios. It was when thus employed as assistants that women fully realized their adaptability, discovered opportunities for improvement, and resolved to pursue the work as a profession.

Julia Margaret Cameron

Mrs. Julia Cameron, of England, early realized that the ideal portrait consists in portraying a glimpse of a man's soul; not only the face but the intellect, the genius, the spirit in its completeness--these must all enter into the faithful portrait. This she aimed to accomplish and seldom has the work been more satisfactorily accomplished. She produced portraits which were an immediate inspiration to others who were striving to do sincere and truthful work. It is said: "She was of a most distinguished and fine nature, and was of unique pre-eminence in the profession of which she has made a great and noble name." Tennyson was her neighbor, and often he posed for her. The faces of Browning, Carlyle, Sir John Herschel, Charles Darwin and Tennyson were among her noblest of English portraits. In these she succeeded in portraying the loftiest aim and the utmost steadfastness which were the principles of their lives. It is this that vivifies their portraits. "When I have had these men before my camera," she once said, "my whole soul has endeavored to do its duty toward them in recording faithfully the greatness of the inner as well as the features of the outer man." This is the secret of her power and her success: "Truth in art for truth's sake." It has been said that her work merits comparison only with the best portraits from the old masters.

London to-day has the most celebrated woman photographer in the world. Miss Alice Hughes, the daughter of Edwin Hughes, the portrait painter, has earned this enviable reputation.

Her photographs are more expensive than any others produced in London, and yet she is scarcely able to attend to her orders. Her work is all done at her home in Gower street, London, and here there are no surroundings usually associated with photographic galleries, No outward sign on portal or windows suggests the atelier. Her studio is built out over the garden and from the drawing-room one descends to it by three or four steps. The secret of her success is that she makes her subjects perfectly at ease. She lets them pose themselves and makes only the changes that are absolutely necessary. Among her photographs are nearly all of our American girls who married Englishmen, from Lady Randolph Churchill to Lady Terence Blackwood.

Mrs. Emily Stokes of Boston, is an example of what a woman may accomplish in photography. When compelled by misfortune to give up her London home, she came to America to begin life among strangers. Having been associated with enthusiastic photographers in England, and believing that the position could be filled by women as well as men, she resolved to enter the field as a professional. For sixteen years she has aimed to produce the true child portrait. She has conquered difficulties, and is an enthusiastic and successful artist. "This one thing I know," she said brightly, and it would be well if many girls could say the same. "I know every detail of the work; it is the only way to success," she added, as she glanced about the room at the pictures of sweet child faces.

Since the first public exhibition of photographs in London in 1852, and especially since the Paris Exposition in 1889, photography as an art has steadily advanced, and in the recent exhibitions in European and American cities the photographs executed by many women have been an inspiration urging others to enter the field. Not only have these women exhibited portraits, but their photographs of landscapes, marine views, mineral and vegetable specimens have won for them a wide reputation.

Frances Benjamin Johnston

Some of the most beautiful photographs in the United States have been produced by Miss Johnston, of Washington. She has attained a superior degree of excellence in all her work. As a professional she ranks among the list of leading photographers in the country. The truthfulness and artistic beauty in all her photographs have earned for her a name pre-eminent among photographers. She has done much work for newspapers and magazines, giving to the public truthful pictures of much that is constantly occurring in the public life of the capital city.

Miss Beatrice Tonnesen

Miss Beatrice Tonnesen, of Chicago, has opened a studio in that city, and her photographs of women and children, especially the latter, are already noted for their beauty.

Mrs. Farnan, a California woman, has earned the reputation of accomplishing remarkable results in photography.

In February, 1896, the Youth's Companion offered prizes for the eight best amateur photographs submitted during the following six months. Over six thousand photographs were received in response to the offer. Miss Emma Farnsworth, of Albany, N. Y., submitted a most truthful scene, "When the Day's Work is Done." This was awarded the first prize, and strikingly illustrates the perfection to which a young woman has brought her art.

Others who obtained prizes were Mrs. Sarah Holm, of Wisconsin, and Miss Kate Matthews, of Kentucky.

The girl who decides to leave the army of amateurs and enter the professional arena must feel assured that she has patience, an artistic taste, determination and business ability. She must be willing to inform herself of the multitudinous operations to be performed; she must expect waste and loss, and she must be able to rise above disappointments and trials. To be successful in working a "four-by-five" outfit does not imply an equal success with an "eighteen-by-twenty-two." The ability to make a few blue-prints daily does not mean equal success in producing five hundred to one thousand a day in albumen, ilo or platinotype[.] To be able to please a few interested, intimate friends is widely different from contending with the capriciousness of disinterested strangers. To take a picture and secure a local artist to do all the work requires little ability when compared with understanding the operating, printing, mounting and finishing. Possession and production are widely different in their meaning. It is one thing to work for pleasure and one's self and quite another to work for profit and the public.

Too often a girl thinks if she buys a camera, some plates and a few chemicals she can become a photographer. In her mind all that is necessary is to expose the plate properly, develop it, print from it, tone and fix the prints, and then the art will be mastered. She forgets that few can expose a plate with perfect success, that judicious, painstaking care is necessary to develop it, and that toning requires skill. It must not be supposed that with the cheapness of material and the present comparative simplicity in applying it, the pictures require less care than formerly. The conditions of light and composition are the same as they were in the early days of photography, and the laws of lenses and theories of light must still be studied with the greatest care.

The girl who would be a photographer should consider her adaptability for the work, and, having decided to pursue the occupation, she will do well to work with some reliable firm. When once an opportunity is found in some photographic studio she must work earnestly and hard in learning the details of the work. After a short time is given she will obtain a position as assistant in the work. If she be on the alert for opportunities she will, when fitted, find the right locality and here build up a business of her own. The cost of materials, furniture, rent, wages and the fund for emergencies must then be considered. One young woman of the East fitted up a skylight for fifty dollars. The expense incurred will vary according to the taste of the young woman. Once furnished and equipped the subsequent outlay is but trivial, and if good work is furnished the profits are assured. A young woman may choose to devote herself to but one branch of the work. Should she excel she will find with determination the opportunity of assisting in some large studio. The operator and the one who poses the subject hold positions of importance and responsibility and are usually paid the highest salary. An education in photographic science is required, a knowledge of light and its effects, an artistic taste, and a knowledge of theories that constitute art in portraiture. Women who excel in these, who are professionals, will receive from fifteen to fifty dollars a week.

Especially adapted to a woman's delicate touch is the process of retouching photographic negatives. Before entering upon this branch of the work it is essential that she should draw and possess a knowledge of anatomy, especially of the face, neck and shoulders. If the work be undertaken without this knowledge, distorted, unnatural productions will be shown, and failure will result. The work also requires strong eyes, for the use of artificial light is a constant strain upon the eye. The amount paid for this work in large cities varies from ten to fifteen dollars a week.

Printing is the most interesting part of the work. Several women in the larger studios receive from twelve to eighteen dollars each week.

Girls who enter the work to mount the pictures should be alert, detect at a glance any imperfection, and must have artistic feeling.

During the past thirty years there has been a demand for the application of color to photographs, and to-day hundreds of young women are devoting themselves to supplying the demand. The technique of the work is simple. Many women earn from twelve to fifteen dollars a week by executing orders. After a short course of study they are able to earn more. A knowledge of drawing is necessary, or the artist is unable to produce form, and the work is flat or distorted; there must also be a knowledge of color, or the tints will be dry and hard.

One young lady of the East has supplied the teachers of schools with figure subjects. She has reproduced with exactness the little dramas and comedies of life. Here there are pictures of boys, their work and pastimes; school girls in their natural pleasures or duties. Kites, hoops, marbles, tops, dogs, are all so truthfully pictured that the teacher is seldom required to tell long stories for the children's amusement and instruction, for the photograph's explanation is clear, and from these the numerous stories are told or written.

Another young woman with her camera has reproduced engravings, and her copies of famous old pictures in European galleries and prized ones in America, have earned for her reputation and profit.

One woman makes a specialty of children's photographs, another confines her work to landscapes, a third takes photographs of interesting events in the city and sends them to the illustrated papers.

Everywhere in the scientific world the power of the photographic camera has been felt. Physics, Chemistry, Mechanics, Astronomy, Zoology convince one that by patience and study a woman may put her camera to a most excellent use.

Many eminent scientists are constantly preparing and publishing scientific papers. However perfect their language may be, however clearly their thoughts may be expressed, the words are often found inadequate to convey an actual visual impression. These papers, to satisfy the public and make the thoughts of more value, should be illustrated. The old illustrations of mammals, birds, reptiles and fish are frequently untrue, misshapen representations.

The young woman whose photographic work possesses merit and accuracy may in this field pursue her work to most profitable ends and to the advancement of learning. This field is full of interest to the gifted young photographer, but one in which ingenuity is demanded.

This is an age of books and book illustrations. The various processes of book illustration are annually enriched by new applications of photography. The present knowledge of the flights of birds and the motions of animals can be produced by the camera in a most accurate degree. Here the young woman may choose her work, and if she would succeed she must strive for the best and seek to do not only good work but a superior quality of work.

Sources:

Willard, Frances Elizabeth. Occupations for women: a book of practical suggestions for the material advancement, the mental and physical development, and the moral and spiritual uplift of women.Cooper Union, N.Y.: The Success Co., 1897. 504.

Photographs:

Unknown, photographer. “[Frances Willard, portrait bust]” Glass negative. Washington, D.C. : Library of Congress, 1867. From Library of Congress: George Grantham Bain Collection, [no date recorded on caption card]. (accessed September 19, 2008).

Cameron, Julia Margaret. Self-Portrait. Date Unknown. Wikipedia.

Frances Benjamin Johnston with camera on balcony of Treasury Building, Washington, D.C., 1888. Photographer Unknown. Reproduction number: LC-USZ62-91952 (b&w film copy neg.)

Unknown photographer. Beatrice Tonnesen. Godey's Magazine. Published by The Godey company, 1897. p. 124

Exhibition of Young America: Daguerreotypes of Southworth and Hawes

2011-05-16T08:36:00.000-07:00

An addition to my new fascination with videos about old photographs.

Hear about the former occupations of Southworth and Hawes

in preparation for the May/June Issue of Shades

Occupations

This Week!

Reflections

2011-05-09T12:13:00.000-07:00

I spent Mother's Day afternoon again trying my hand at building a video. Here is another attempt. I have so much to learn, but I promised myself this would be the year I mastered some of the programs I am so fortunate to own.

Here for your enjoyment are a few Mother's from another time. Caution to those who are at work. A music box plays in the video.

Photographs of Mother's of Old.

May Is National Scrapbooking Month - Today Is National Scrapbooking Day

2011-05-07T11:11:00.000-07:00

Marry the two fastest growing avocations and what do you have? Heritage Scrapbooking. But just as your family has history, so does the pastime of scrapbooking.

SCRAPBOOKS An American History
Jessica Helfand

One only has to look at these scrapbooks to realize that history isn't what historians tell us.

~ Jessica Helfand ~

Scrapbooks by Jessica Helfand examines scrapbooks from the nineteenth century to the present, concentrating particularly on the first half of the twentieth century. The book is filled with color photographs from more than 200 scrapbooks; some made by private individuals and others by the famous, including: Zelda Fitzgerald, Lillian Hellman, Anne Sexton, Hilda Doolittle and Carl Van Vechten.

This book is so fascinating, I'm not sure I'll ever be able to put it down. I am so taken with the hundreds of examples of yesterday's scrapbooks, their brush with history, their tangible examples of real life. The scrapbooking of yesterday seems so far removed from that of today; they're not a contrived version of history or life. And yes, green!

These scrapbooks of old are filled with the bits and pieces of their authors' lives. Ticket stubs, torn letters, stamps, fabric, string, and a thousand things we throw out on a daily basis.

There are several scrapbooks shown with very inventive themes. I was particularly drawn to the scrapbook of locks of hair. My husband's family has a photo album filled with locks of a cherished child's hair. A child who died young and tragically. Do we still collect locks of hair? I don't know anyone who does. The album of monograms, once a very prevalent part of life, was graphically beautiful.

Modern day scrapbookers can draw on some of the more inventive ideas and incorporate them in today's themes. F. Scott Fitzgerald's mother had a scrapbook page of his signature at different ages, starting at five. What a brilliant idea! I am going to do this for my grandson's.

Of this project the author, Jessica Helfand tells us:

This project percolated in my brain (and my sketchbooks) for years until I realized that scrapbooks were simply visual autobiographies filled with stories waiting to be told. I am fascinated with the degree to which non-visual people felt, for whatever reason, compelled to keep these remarkably visual records of their lives. Its a chapter in American history (and in graphic design history) that has not been told: in my book I call it outsider art with insider knowledge. It's raw and primitive and heartbreaking and real, and if it bears little if any resemblance to contemporary scrapbooking, it's probably because a generation ago, people made things from the detritus of their lives: they rescued things, saved and savored them, and pasted them in the pages of books. And therein lies the scrapbook's particular and enduring magic.

Jessica also authors a blog called The Daily Scrapbook with beautiful examples of some of the scrapbooks she's collected.

This richly illustrated book is the first to focus on the history of American scrapbooks — their origins, their makers, their diverse forms, the reasons for their popularity, and their place in American culture. I loved it!

Take a look at this beautiful book and draw inspiration from the scrapbookers of old.

You might also be interested in:
Web Wandering Wednesday
Scrapbooks Of Old

Shades gives it:

A four out of four camera rating - Recommended Buy.

From The PhotoHistory Dictionary

2011-05-04T13:07:00.000-07:00

educated

edu·cated (-kāt′id)

adjective

1. having, or showing the results of, much education
2. based on knowledge or experience an educated guess

Source:

Photograph:

Graduate. Card Mounted Photograph. Privately held by the footnoteMaven, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Preston, Washington. 2007

Twice Told Tuesday - Hold Still!

2011-04-26T09:00:00.000-07:00

Twice Told Tuesday features a photography related article reprinted
from old photography books, magazines, and newspapers.

While there were many reasons for our ancestors not smiling in their portraits, one look at this torture chamber might give you a clue. Even when exposures were only four or five seconds some photographic studios continued their use.

The Passing of the Head-Rest

Farewell to thee, old, time-worn Friend!
All things at last must have an end —
Your time has come to go away,
For "every dog must have his day."
You have served us, long and well;
Many secrets you could tell.
The bridal-pair, the rustic youth,
The palsied dame, the man uncouth,
From grandparent to infant small,
Your firm embrace has held them all.
Farewell!

ONE by one the constituents of the photographer's conventional studio equipment are reaching the end of their usefulness and are fast disappearing. That old, familiar accessory, the head-rest, is among them, and with it what was once an important industry.

Its disappearance has been preceded by the burnisher, a heavy, clumsy, troublesome and time-consuming implement, and no one has regretted the end of its brilliant career except the manufacturer and the dealer, both of whom profited considerably by its sale.

The cold, firm clutch of the head-support rarely, if ever, contributed to the much-sought-for pleasant expression, neither was it calculated to impart ease or grace to the pose of the sitter, and the adjustment of its burly form was often accompanied by startling and ominous sounds. Yet it managed to hold sway for more than half a century, until, with the advent of high-speed dry-plates, its use has become more and more restricted, so that only a few studios continue to recognize its utility.

Many eminent practitioners have ceased more than ten years ago to work with the head-rest, and would prefer to give up portrait-photography than to resume its use, on account of the psychological and irritating effect of the instrument upon the sitter.

Those workers who have taken this advanced attitude claim that the head of the sitter, freed from its restraining influence, is disposed to oscillate gently in the direction of the lens, out of the plane of optical sharpness, thus producing a degree of indistinctness highly desirable and which could not be obtained in any other way.

On the other hand, one finds here and there a practitioner who still clings with affection to the accessory, finding it quite useful during necessarily prolonged exposures when the light is weak, or for other reasons, in which cases the support is not pressed against the head or neck of the sitter, but rather against the crown of the hat and accompanied by a remark calculated to divert the sitter's attention.

All the same, the days of the ponderous, rattling source of irritation are practically over and will soon pass into the realm of forgetfulness.

Note: You can see the stand behind the young girl in the photograph above.

Article Source:

The Passing Of The Head-Rest. Photo-Era: The American Journal of Photography. Boston: Wilfred A. French, 1909.

Photograph:

Young Girl With Head-Rest Stand. Photograph (Cabinet Card). Unknown. Privately held by the footnoteMaven, Preston, Washington. 2009.

THE Civil War App for your iPad

2011-04-20T10:11:00.000-07:00

I'm in love with the iPad app that marks the 150th anniversary of the Civil War produced by the History channel. While the app costs $7.99, you will receive real time "This Day in Cvil War History" updates every day. It features photos, newspaper clips, and first-hand accounts from the war in the form of letters and diary entries, and help using Morse code to send telegrams via Twitter. It's a hoot, and a bargain when you consider you will be receiving daily updates that let you live the events in “real-time” over the course of four years.

The app also uses the iPad's multi-finger swiping feature allowing users to navigate through time. History says a one-finger swipe moves a day, a two-finger swipe for a week, a three-finger swipe for a month, and a four-finger swipe can jump the user one year in time.

The Civil War Today includes:

Daily Civil War updates from April 12, 2011 through April 26, 2015. The app content updates ONE DAY AT A TIME, precisely mirroring the events of 150 years ago
“In the Headlines” featuring newspapers from every day of the war.
Running tallies of the North and South casualty counts.
“A Day in the Life” with personal letters and diary entries from 15 individuals including Abraham Lincoln, Horatio Nelson Taft, and Mary Boykin Miller Chesnut.
Photo of the day and photo galleries.
Quote of the day.
Articles and video on featured topics.
Authentic period maps from key battlegrounds.
Daily North-South quiz.
Detailed background scenes that put you in the time and place of the Civil War. (Northern city, Southern plantation, Western frontier town, military camp).
Twitter integration to send a telegram via Morse code.
GameCenter integration to earn Civil War era appropriate achievements - and display them in a virtual medals case.
Airplay integration for viewing of app video via Apple TV.
Advanced multi-finger gesture functionality and custom toolbar for deep navigation.

It's everything you could wish for in an app. You can find it in the iTunes store.

Twice Told Tuesday - Suffrage & Backhanded Reasoning?

2011-03-22T09:00:00.000-07:00

Twice Told Tuesday features a photography related article
reprinted from old photography books, magazines, and newspapers.

Men will find it far pleasanter and more elevating to
live with an equal than with an inferior in the home.
There is no one so hard to manage as a fool.

Yes, the answers to the questions asked are far more interesting than the questions themselves. After reading this, I was amazed women ever got the vote. This article was excerpted in the "Politics in Photographs" issue of Shades The Magazine. The author of this article, Mr. Henry Blackwell, was the editor of the Woman's Journal.

Woman's Journal was a women's rights periodical published from 1870-1931. It was founded in 1870 in Boston, Massachusetts by Lucy Stone and her husband Henry Browne Blackwell as a weekly newspaper. This new paper incorporated Mary A. Livermore's The Agitator, as well as a lesser known periodical called the Woman's Advocate. It specialized in suffrage news.

What are the chief objections now urged against Woman Suffrage, and what are the best answers to them:

1. Suffrage is not a right of anybody.

To say so is to deny the principles of the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. "Governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed"—women are governed. "Taxation without representation is tyranny"—women are taxed. "Political power inheres in the people "—women are people. To deny these principles is to justify despotism. "The men who refuse the ballot to women can show no title to their own."

2. Nobody asks for Woman Suffrage.

Over 21,000 citizens of Massachusetts have petitioned for it within six months. More than 50,000 others have petitioned for it in previous years. Not a dollar has ever been spent in circulating these petitions. Repeated efforts have been made and money spent to circulate petitions against Woman Suffrage, and they have few signers.

3. What eminent men have favored Woman Suffrage

Among others, Abraham Lincoln, Chief Justice Chase, William Lloyd Garrison, Wendell Phillips, Samuel G. Howe, John G Whittier, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Charles Sumner, Henry Wilson, President Hayes, Governors Banks, Boutwell, Claflin, Washburn, Talbot, Ames and Long. Senators Geo. F. Hoar and Henry L. Dawes, John M Forbes, Robert Collyer, Bishops Haven, Bowman and Simpson, Rev. Joseph Cook, Bishop Phillips Brooks, Neal Dow, George William Curtis, the republicans of Massachusetts in successive platforms since 1870. The national republican platforms of 1872 and 1876. The Democrats of Massachusetts in their platform of 1882.

4. What eminent women have favored Woman Suffrage

Among others, Margaret Fuller, Lydia Maria Child, Frances D. Gage, Lucretia Mott, Florence Nightingale, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Julia Ward Howe, Mary A. Livermore, Louisa M. Alcott, Elizabeth Stuart Phelps, Clara Barton, Frances E. Willard, Abby W. May, Lucy Stone, Mary F. Eastman, Frances Power Cobbe, Harriet Prescott Spofford, Mary Clemmer.

5. Most women do not want to vote.

Except in years of presidential election, a majority of men in Massachusetts do not vote. This is shown by statistics. The right to vote for governor, state legislature, municipal, town and county officers, usually calls out less than half the male voters, in spite of public opinion, party machinery, torchlight processions, newspaper articles, expenditure of money, and personal efforts of candidates.

Over seven thousand women in Massachusetts registered last year to vote merely for school committee. Yet this is only a small and disjointed part of the system of Municipal Suffrage. It does not include a vote on the management of schools, or a share in the nomination of candidates. Small as it is, the right is restricted in the case of women by limitations which make it troublesome and costly to exercise. A woman must apply to be taxed and registered. She must give a statement under oath of all her property, and thus incur taxation to an extent which most men escape. Under parallel conditions not five hundred men would have voted for school committee. That even seven thousand women have done so, under such restrictions, is a proof of eminent and unselfish public spirit.

6. The number of women voting has diminished each year since School Suffrage for women was granted.

Only when the interest of men voting has also diminished each year since School Suffrage for women was granted. When a real issue was to be settled four years ago, 21,000 Boston women paid a voluntary tax and registered and voted and settled the question right. In every case the falling off has been due to a general lack of political interest, which temporarily affected both sexes. In the case of women it is due also to the limitation of the right, and the vexatious restrictions imposed upon the registration of women by the present law.

7. It is a step that once taken can never be recalled.

Municipal and presidential suffrage for women is an experiment which can be repealed at any time by a Legislature of men alone, elected by men alone. If the presence of women at town-meetings and municipal elections proves distasteful to the men, the Legislature will soon repeal the law. Every fair-minded opponent of Woman Suffrage should vote for Municipal and Presidential Woman Suffrage, as the shortest way to put an end to the agitation for Woman Suffrage by exposing its supposed evils.

8. We have too many voters now.

Where will you draw the line? No one proposes to disfranchise any class of men who now vote. Every extension of suffrage has proved on the whole a benefit to all concerned; first to poor white men; then to ignorant colored men; why not now to intelligent women? Are democrats who have given suffrage to poor men of foreign birth or republicans who have forced negro suffrage on the reluctant South, afraid to share political power with their own intelligent mothers, sisters, wives and daughters?

9. Women are represented already.

Men cannot represent women, because they are unlike women. Women as a class have tastes, interests and occupations which they alone can adequately represent. Men specially represent material interests; women will specially represent the interest of the home.

10. Only bad and ignorant women would vote.

Our ten years' experience of School Suffrage for women proves the contrary. The twenty-two thousand women who have voted are admitted to have been good and intelligent. The demand for suffrage comes from the respected leaders and educated representatives of their sex. No woman can vote in Massachusetts unless she can read and write.

11. It is contrary to experience.

Not so. In England women have voted for twenty years in municipal elections. Hon. Jacob Bright has written to the Massachusetts Legislature that in England Woman Suffrage has proved "good for women, good for Parliament, and good for the country." It has worked so well there that it has just been extended to the women of Scotland. Are American women alone unfit to be trusted with political responsibilities?

12. There is no precedent in this country.

In Wyoming, women have voted for twenty-two years on all questions, on the same terms as men. Every successive governor—the judges of the Supreme Court, the Senators in Congress, the presiding elder of the M. E. Church, the newspapers of both parties, all agree that Woman Suffrage works well and gives satisfaction in Wyoming. The State constitution guaranteeing equal suffrage to women has been ratified by Congress, and the women of Wyoming will vote in the next Presidential election.

13. It would put the control of state and nation into the hands of the foreign element.

In every State there are more women who can read and write than all the illiterate men and women combined. In every State there are more American women than all the foreign men and women combined. In every State the votes of women will double the intelligent majority, thus diminishing the influence of the ignorant minority one-half. In the Southern States taken together, there are more white women than all the colored men and women combined. So that the white majority, when women vote, will be larger than the total number of white male voters, if all women and colored men were excluded. There are in Massachusetts 454,852 women over twenty years old who can read and write; 326,731 of these are Americans; 128,121 of foreign birth. (See Carroll D. Wright's statistics for 1875.) Vol. ix.—No. 50. 10

14. It would put our cities under Roman Catholic control.

There are, in all our large cities, even in New York, more Protestant women than Roman Catholic women ; more American women than foreign women. There are in Boston 91,367 women over twenty years old who can read and write; 52,608 of these are Americans, 38,759 are of foreign birth. (See Carroll D. Wright as above.)

15. It would diminish respect for women.

Voting is power. Power always commands respect. To be weak is to be miserable. How many men are tolerated in society only because they are rich and powerful! Woman armed with the ballot will be stronger and more respected than ever before.

16. It is contrary to the Bible.

Not so. In the beginning, we are told, God made man in his own image, male and female, and gave them dominion ; not man dominion over woman. Among the Jews, God's chosen people, Deborah, the wife of Lapidoth, a married woman, was judge, and led their armies to victory. In Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, bond nor free, male nor female, but all are one. Women as well as men are commanded to "call no man master." Nowhere is it said in the Bible to women, "Thou shalt not vote."

17. Women have not physical strength to enforce laws; therefore they should not help make them.

One-half our male voters have not physical strength to enforce laws, yet they help make them. Most lawyers, judges, physicians, ministers, merchants, editors, authors, legislators and congressmen, and all men over forty-five years old are exempt from military service on the ground of physical incapacity. (See statistics of the late war.) Voting is the authoritative expression of an opinion. It requires intelligence, conscience and patriotism, not mere muscle. All the physical force of society is subject to call to enforce law, but cannot create law. Moral force, such as women possess, is as necessary as physical force to national well-being.

18. If women vote they must fight.

Women are the mothers of men. Lucy Stone says: "Some woman perils her life for her country every time a soldier is born. Day and night she does picket duty by his cradle. For years she is his quartermaster, and gathers his rations. And then, when he becomes a man and a voter, shall he say to his mother, 'If you want to vote you must first kill somebody? It is a coward's argument."

19. It will make domestic discord when women vote contrary to their husbands.

In cases where husbands and wives vote together it will be an additional source of sympathy and bond of union. In cases where they vote differently they will agree to differ, as they now do in religious matters. A man will not respect his wife the less because she has an opinion of her own and is free to express it.

20. It is unwomanly to vote.

This can only be true if voting is a purely masculine function. If so, it is right that men should monopolize it, but not otherwise. Or if it were a purely feminine function then women should monopolize it. But it is a human function and demands for its exercise qualities common to both sexes. What is suffrage? A choice between principles, measures and men. Are women capable of forming an opinion? Have they the capacity of rational choice? Are they interested in good government? If so they ought to vote as citizens, just as they now vote as stockholders in banking and manufacturing corporations.

21. The polls are not fit places for women.

Then they are not fit places for men. But if this were ever true, it is true no longer. The Australian ballot system has put an end to all disorder and removed every such ground of objection. Wherever women meet with men they are treated with respect. If the polls were as bad as represented they would not degrade women, but women would reform the polls.

22. Women have no grievances.

Women have many serious grievances growing directly or indirectly out of their disfranchisement. As workers they are not fairly paid. From many profitable occupations they are altogether excluded. In the older states they are not freely admitted to colleges and professional schools. They find it difficult to get instruction in skilled labor. Suffrage would give them larger independence and wider industrial opportunities. It would enable them to control legislation. As wives, mothers and widows they have special rights to protect and special wrongs to remedy. But the laws regulating these relations are often unjust and unequal. In only three states of the Union has a married mother, while living with her husband, any legal right to her children; everywhere else the father is the sole legal guardian. Widows and widowers do not have equal rights of inheritance in each other's property. During the husband's lifetime he is the sole legal head of the family and the sole owner of the accumulations of the married partnership. In most of the States marriage is a relation of superiority on the part of the husband, of inferiority and dependence on that of the wife, whereas it ought to be recognized as a noble and permanent partnership of equals with reciprocal rights and duties. Where additional rights have been secured for wives, mothers and widows, it has been almost always by the efforts of friends of woman suffrage. But the greatest of all grievances is the fact of disfranchisement. It is a stigma upon any class of citizens that their opinion is not thought worth counting.

23. What good will it do women to vote?

Just what it does for men. It will give women power to protect themselves in their persons, property, children, occupations, opportunities and social relations. It will enable them to get done what ought to be done, and to get undone what ought not to be done. As it has made certain classes of men, formerly treated as inferiors because disfranchised, more nearly equal with other men, so it will make all classes of women more nearly equal with men and with each other.

24. What good will it do men for women to vote?

Whatever enlarges the minds and hearts of women makes them more agreeable companions and better wives and mothers. The brains and conscience of an educated mother are the best inheritance of her children. Men will find it far pleasanter and more elevating to live with an equal than with an inferior in the home. There is no one so hard to manage as a fool.

25. What good will it do society for women to vote?

It will make government more fully representative. It will put an end to bribery in elections by doubling the number of voters and making it difficult to use money corruptly. Formerly when only a small class of men were allowed to vote, "every man had his price " and bribery was the rule. The wider the constituency the purer will be the political atmosphere. Candidates of better moral character will have to be nominated in order to secure the support of a majority of the women voters. Vice will be discouraged, poor and defenseless women will be better protected, and there will be a higher standard of public morals. Crimes against women will be more adequately punished, and children will be better cared for. Primary meetings will be made orderly, when women are expected to attend them. The manners and atmosphere of the smoking-car will be replaced by those of the lecture-room and the church-meeting. The caucus will be lifted to the level of the parlor. The presence of women will purify politics as it has already purified literature and refined society.

26. It will only double the vote—women will vote as their husbands do.

Then the family will cast two votes instead of one. But the quality of the voters changes the quality of politics. A political party of men and women will not be the same as a party of men alone. Women are more peaceable, refined, temperate, chaste, economical, humane and law-abiding than men. These qualities will influence the character of the government. The united votes of men and women will give the fullest, fairest, and most accurate expression of public opinion.

Source:

Blackwell, Henry B. "Expert Opinion." Our Day, A Record and Review of Current Reform. February, 1892.

Photograph:

Courtesy of the Library of Congress.

March April Shades

2011-03-16T12:50:00.001-07:00

Welcome To the March/April Issue of Shades
Photographs in Politics

Now Cross Your Fingers!

March/April Shades

2011-03-15T11:07:00.000-07:00

Welcome To the March/April Issue of Shades
Photographs in Politics

Well, if you're wondering what's happened to Shades, you're not alone. So am I. For some unknown reason Shades will not load on my Issu platform. After having tried since yesterday and for hours, I am certain it is a technical problem at the provider. I have contacted them.

And I had a surprise for you! Cross your fingers.

Grammatically Correct Photo Captions

2011-03-04T14:16:00.000-08:00

In celebration of National Grammar day, I direct you to an extremely interesting article, How To Write Grammatically Correct Photo Captions. (National Grammar Day is brought to you by The Society For The Promotion Of Good Grammar.)

Did you know, "When you’re putting yourself in a list with other people, you should always put yourself last"?

If you know "How To," thank a teacher!

Shades The Magazine 2.0

2011-02-26T15:38:00.001-08:00

There are exciting changes to Shades The Magazine for 2011. We'll call it Shades 2.0.

Shades 2.0 will be published six times a year. January/February, March/April, May/June, July/August, September/October, November/December. The date of publication will be between the 1st and the 15th of the beginning month. The next issue of Shades is scheduled between the 1st and the 15th of March.

We are bringing back some old favorites and adding some soon to be new favorites in Shades' content.

Returning Columns:

Appealing Subjects – Where Law & Photography Meet - Craig Manson
Healing Brush – Preserving Our Ancestors One Pixel At A Time - Janine Smith
In2 Genealogy - Discovering Family History Today - Caroline Pointer
Penelope Dreadful – A Dreadful Tale - Penelope Dreadful
The Last Picture Show – Behind The Photograph - Editor
The Year Was – What Happened The Year Of – Sheri

New Columns:

Ancestor ArtiFacts – Questioning Preservation – Denise Levenick
Putting Down Roots – Writing Your Family History - TBA
iAncestor – Picturing Technology - Denise Olson
A Brush With History – Scrapbooking Old Photos (Tips & Tricks) - fM
Dressed To The Nines – Godey’s Ladies - Maureen Taylor, The Photo Detective

Special Appearances:

A Date With An Old Photograph – Case Studies & Clues Dating Old Photographs -Editor
Behind The Camera – Photographers of Old – Editor
Captured Moments - Featuring Heritage Scrapbooking and Art - Show & Tell From Readers
The Future of Memories - Where Memories Meet The Future - Denise Olson
The Humor Of It - Through A Different Lens – Donna Pointkouski

With the advent of several new columns we're asking you, the reader; "Would you like to contribute?"

ANCESTOR ARTIFACTS

Great-Aunt Agatha’s treasures got you down? Are you confused about how to undo past preservation mistakes and best save your family heirlooms for the next generation?

From photos stuck with hardened glue to funny-smelling movie film, from crocheted lace to crumbling newspapers, family historians are faced with a myriad of preservation problems. Caring for family treasures is a great responsibility, but it’s not hard when you are armed with Ancestor ArtiFacts.

Shades of the Departed is delighted to announce a new column dedicated to helping you find answers for tough questions. Denise Levenick is our resident expert, but if she doesn’t know the answer, she’ll find an expert who does!

Send your preservation, archiving, and restoration questions to ancestorartifacts@gmail.com. Include your question, name, email, and the URL of your blog or web site if you have one.

See below for submitting photographs.

CAPTURED MOMENTS

Do you have a beautiful digital heritage scrapbooking layout or artwork you'd like to share. Submit it to Captured Moments at Shades. We would like to feature the very best digital artwork from readers' submissions.

You're the one who Captured The Moment. Show and Tell.

Submissions are to be emailed to footnoteMaven@comcast.net with the words Captured Moments in the subject line.

Please submit a brief paragraph telling us about your design, who is featured and why you were inspired. Include your name, email, and the URL of your blog or web site if you have one.

This is not a how-to, but we would like to know the software photo editing program and products you used. Credit the commercial backgrounds, elements, brushes, frames, layouts, etc. you used; or yourself if they were your own creation.

Also submit a high resolution image of your work.

See below for submitting photographs.

One Of Our Nation's First Gun Safety Demonstrations

2011-02-21T00:01:00.000-08:00

The Unintended Target
A Bonnet of 1802

Lewis and Clark's secret weapon - a late 18th Century .46 cal. 20 shot
repeating air rifle by Girandoni , as used in the Napoleonic Wars.

"Lewis had proceeded only three miles when he pulled over at an island and at the request of the pioneers living on it gave a demonstration of his air gun, purchased from gunsmith Isaiah Luken of Philadelphia. It was a pneumatic rifle. The stock was the reservoir, and it could be pumped full of air to a pressure of five to six hundred psi, at which point it was not much inferior in hitting power to the Kentucky rifle. That it produced no smoke or noise astonished the frontiersmen.

Lewis fired seven times at fifty yards 'with pretty good success.' He passed the curiosity around for examination. It went off accidentally; the ball passed through the hat of a woman about forty yards off, 'cutting her temple; she fell instantly and the blood gushing from her temple. we were all in the greatest consternation supposed she was dead but in a minute she revived to our enespressable satisfaction, and by examination we found the wound by no means mortal or even dangerous." Never again did he pass the air gun around when it was pumped up and loaded. (Emphasis added.)"

Sources:

Ambrose, Stephen E. Ambrose. Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the opening of the American West. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1996.

A Treasure Gun from the NRA National Firearms Museum. See more at http://NRAmuseum.com. Narrated by Phil Schreier.

Note: Lewis & Clark Expedition (1806-1806). Could only find an 1802 bonnet illustration, but doubt pioneer women had the latest fashion.

Maureen Taylor Shares Couple Love!

2011-02-14T10:45:00.001-08:00

Select Photo

I love The Photo Detectives' videos. In this one, she takes a nostalgic look at couples in photos.

Valentine's Love From Shades

2011-02-14T09:26:00.000-08:00

Hearts United Live Contented

Love and rings are, they say, intimately associated. Mary Queen of Scots wedding ring was made of a center heart shaped stone, three stones set in an ancient crown on each side, and beyond a fleur-de-lis in gold.

Gold. Have you ever been curious as to where the gold in so many Valentine's gifts came from? Gold originated in the center of stars. It's heated until the star runs out of fuel. Then the star collapses. When the star collapses it blows sending precious gold deep into the universe until its bits condense into a planet.

From inside the planet they make their way to the surface where we may dig them up. All the gold we give and receive on Valentine's day was forged in a collapsing star. The journey represents 3 million light years. (This is a rather simplistic version, for the real deal read Galactic Gold.)

So, as you hold that lovely piece of gold in you hands, you will have a new found respect for its origin.

Oh, and the guy who dug it up for you!

Sources:

"Gossip On Rings." Cassell's Family Magazine. Volume 8. London, 1891. pg. 601.

Photograph:

Cabinet Card of Old Miner Type Fellow w/ Canteen 1890. Unknown. Sold Feb.2, 2011 by eBay zippershark.
(I tried contacting the winning bidder for permission to use this photograph without success. If it is yours, please email me and I will credit.)

Twice Told Tuesday - The Crisis - Black History

2011-02-01T14:41:00.000-08:00

Twice Told Tuesday features a photography related article
reprinted from old photography books, magazines, and newspapers.

Our history, warts and all.

The Present Crisis

by James Russell Lowell

. . .New occasions teach new duties; Time makes ancient good uncouth;
They must upward still, and onward, who would keep abreast of Truth;
Lo, before us gleam her campfires? We ourselves must Pilgrims be,
Launch our Mayflower, and steer boldly through the desperate winter sea,
Nor attempt the Future's portal with the Past's blood-rusted key.

The Crisis was founded by W.E.B. Du Bois as the official publication of the NAACP in 1910. It is a journal of civil rights, history, politics, and culture and seeks to educate and challenge its readers about issues that continue to plague African Americans and other communities of color. The Crisis has been the magazine of opinion and thought leaders, decision makers, peacemakers and justice seekers. It has chronicled, informed, educated, entertained and, in many instances, set the economic, political and social agenda for our nation and its multi-ethnic citizens. The Crisis takes its name from the poem excerpted above.

EDUCATION
March 1912

In public school No. 3, Brooklyn, N.Y., Miss Rosa Taylor, a colored girl, completed the course in six and one-half years (a thing which has not been done since the founding of the school 250 years ago), and took the bronze medal in the spelling bee.

In the same school Miss Marion Allen, a daughter of Mrs. William Trotman, took the silver medal for proficiency in German at the midyear promotion.

There were 108 pupils in the class and eighteen of them were of German descent. The silver medal was the highest honor and was given by the German-American National Bund.

The German gentleman who presented the medal nearly lost his breath when he saw the little colored girl of 14 years who took it.

These two were the only prizes offered and they were taken by the only two colored pupils in the class. The audience of 5,000 roared in applause.

Sources:

Magazine and Photograph

"Education."The Crisis, March 1912, 215.

There's Nothing Good On eBay

2011-01-04T12:02:00.000-08:00

Twice Told Tuesday features a photography related article
reprinted from old photography books, magazines, and newspapers.

This is an article previously published on footnoteMaven.com in 2007, but with a few additions. I would love to post both sets of captions. I should have kept the buyer and seller information, but have been unable to find it (three computers ago). Even fM loses things. This also points out that in my beginning blogging days I assumed that links were forever.

Foolish me! Do as I say, not as I do!

Sunday, September 16, 2007

(The links to the eBay sale have been removed as they are no longer valid.)

My husband is adamant - "There's nothing good on eBay." I disagree, and this post is my attempt to prove him wrong and to direct family historians with a connection to the 1898 Alaska Gold Rush to something for sale on eBay that may be of benefit to them, and that I WANT! It is, however, out of my financial league.

So, what is it? It is a previously unknown album of original photographs, illustrations, and captions of the 1898 Alaska Gold Rush compiled by a Boston Newspaper Correspondent named C. J. Messer. All of the information contained in the album could be used by the family historian to paint an historically accurate depiction of this place and time.

As of this post the latest bid is $3,500, as I said, out of my league.

If you have an ancestor named Jackson, who was a mail carrier in Alaska in 1898, wouldn't you want to know he was "the wickedest man above parallel 60 degrees" and what the wickedest man looked like?

Jackson, the mail carrier
The wickedest man above
parallel 60 degrees

Here is the Benedict's version of the caption held by the Alaska State Library - Historical Collections, PO Box 110571, Juneau AK 99811-0571, displayed by the Alaska Digital Archives, photograph found here.

No. 158. Jackson, the Mail-Carrier,
at Lake Klutana.

Now you can see why I'd love to publish Messer's comments to Neal D. Benedict's report The Valdes and Copper River Trail. I think I'd have to go with Messer for giving us the true flavor of this trip to Alaska.

The following is the description as posted by the unknown seller (as written):

Very rare and historically important, 1898 Alaska Gold Rush Album of original Photographs compiled by a Boston Newspaper Correspondent named C. J. Messer who traveled to the Klondike Gold Mining Region with Neal D. Benedict in March of 1898.

This Album is a recently discovered variation of the Neal Benedict “Report” which is among the most important collections of photographs documenting the early days of the Klondike Gold Rush. The Album / Scrapbook measures approx. 12" x 10" and contains 86 interior pages. Sixty of those pages contain original photographs taken along the route of this historic expedition. There are 176 original photographs each measuring 3 3/4” square and mounted 4 to a page. All 176 photos are of the same format and each has a detailed, hand written title beneath the image.

Besides the 176 images taken on the journey to the Gold Fields, the album also includes approx. 22 photographs of "Folk Art" type drawings of the Gold Region and of Gold Miners in camp which appear to be the work of one of the members of Messer's group or perhaps the work of someone they met along the way. There are also a number of photographs, in various formats, mounted on the final pages of views in the Gold Regions, views of Portland, Oregon, and a few miscellaneous images (including a candid snapshot of Theodore Roosevelt).

Glued to the some of the early pages of the Album are a series of newspaper clippings that tell a story of a trip to the Gold Fields. It seems that this is a serialized "story" written by Messer and published in an unknown Newspaper (he was a correspondent for the Boston Telegram, the Eastern Syndicate and the Associated Press). The tale of the trip (titled “Existence’s Price” ) is told in the style of a novel rather than a typical newspaper or magazine report. It reads almost like something written by an aspiring "Jack London". The author plays the part of a newspaperman who manages to attach himself to a group of associates headed for the Klondike Gold Fields and seems to follow the path that the Benedict / Messer group traveled during this expedition.

The journey (and the Photos) begin in Seattle on March 10th, 1898 where C. J. Messer and Neal Benedict board the Connecticut & Alaska Mining and Trading Co.’s Schooner “Moonlight” which carries 32 passengers and 35 tons of equipment on the 4 week trip to Valdez, Alaska Territory. From Valdez (at this early date only a comparatively small collection of cabins and tents) the “Benedict Expedition” (including C.J. Messer) travels up and over the Valdez Glacier to the Klutena Valley. They reach a small encampment on the Klutena River called “Saw Mill”. From here Messer (and we assume Benedict) travel to “Copper Center” and follow “Millard’s Trail” to Drum Lake and the Sanford River. It appears that Messer and Benedict are not Gold Miners but rather “observers” of the “goings on” in the Region - C. J. Messer as a Newspaper Reporter and Neal Benedict as a budding "entrepreneur" reconnoitering the area in hopes of generating the interest of investors in developing the Copper River Area as a "tourist / resort destination" similar to the "Spas" and "Resorts" so popular with the upper class Victorian traveler of the late 19th century. This journey ended with their return to Seattle on August 27th, 1898.

Neal D. Benedict, a resident of Florida, was a member of the Connecticut and Alaska Mining and Trading Company, which prospected the Copper Basin in 1898. He drafted an account of the 1898 “Expedition”, which was illustrated with 158 original photographs.

The manuscript (entitled The Valdes and Copper River Trail, Alaska) was never published but on April 7th, 1899 Benedict submitted 2 copies of the typescript manuscript to the United States Copyright Office. Both copies of the typescript were accompanied by 158 numbered and identified photographs taken during the journey. It appears that Benedict produced at least 1 other copy of his manuscript which also included the same 158 images.

In 2007 one copy of the Typescript resides in the Library of Congress, one in the Alaska Historical Library (this is one of the 2 original copies deposited with the Copyright Office that was returned to Alaska at the request of Alaska’s US Senator) and the third which is owned by the preeminent Collector of Alaska Historical Material Candy Waugaman.

The (previously unknown) Album offered here appears to have been assembled by C. J. Messer using not only the 158 images included with the Benedict Manuscripts but with 18 additional images from the same group as the Benedict photos, 22 images of Alaska Gold Rush “Folk Art” paintings and approx. 15 other photographic views (some of larger size) taken along their route. Of special interest is the fact that under each photo in this album there is a neatly hand written description of the image. In most cases this description includes the title given to the photograph by Neal Benedict (as seen in the previously known typescript copies) but Messer goes on to elaborate on what is pictured in the image.

Sometimes he adds important information not found in the Benedict titles. In some cases Benedict’s titles are actually a less than honest representation of what appears in the image and the descriptions written by Messer in the album offered here take great pains to tell “the whole truth”.

Photograph added.

An example of this is a photo of Neal Benedict with his foot on a large log holding an ax. In the Benedict typescript this photo is titled “The Artist and Author of this work, Cutting Wood in Solemn and Solitary Grandeur near Camp Valdes”, while in the Messer Album the title reads “N. D. Benedict. Never cut down a tree in his life though from the general appearance you’d think differently”.

Another example involves Benedict’s photo Number 24 which is titled in his monograph “A Tent at the Fourth Bench.”. in the Messer Album that image is described as “The Camp of the woman miner who was later Mrs. Jinkings. This is the roof that the soldier sewed in “Existence’s Price”.

No. 24. A Tent at the
Fourth Bench.
Photograph added.

Remember
There's Always Something Good On eBay!

Sources:

Photographs:

Unknown. Wickedist Man. Digital Image. Privately held by the footnoteMaven, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Preston, Washington. 2007.
Unknown. Jackson. Digital Image. 1898. Held by Alaska State Library - Historical Collections, PO Box 110571, Juneau AK 99811-0571, displayed by Alaska Digital Archives.
Unknown. Cutting Wood. Digital Image. 1898. Held by Alaska State Library - Historical Collections, PO Box 110571, Juneau AK 99811-0571, displayed by Alaska Digital Archives.
Unknown. A Tent At The Fourth Bench. Digital Image. 1898. Held by Alaska State Library - Historical Collections, PO Box 110571, Juneau AK 99811-0571, displayed by Alaska Digital Archives.

Get A Rope - Shades Out West 2011

2011-01-01T12:40:00.000-08:00

Shades "Out West Edition"

Welcome To The Out West Edition of
Shades - The Magazine

(Select Cover or Title Above)

A Christmas Eve Mystery!

2010-12-24T17:02:00.000-08:00

Youth, Middle Age, Old Age

A recently acquired photograph is Shades Christmas Eve Mystery! This photograph is perfect for Christmas Eve. On the verso (back), of the card mounted photograph is written December 24, 1904, Honolulu, Hawaii. The three stages of life on the recto (front) remind me of Dickens' A Christmas Carol. The sitter's name appears on the reverse, but I am unable to read what it says. Hence a Christmas Eve Mystery!

Can you make out the name? Can you solve the mystery! I have my own opinion, I'd like to hear yours.

Select The Photograph Sans Enhancement. For you to tinker with.

Select The Photograph With Enhancement.

There is no photographer listed.

I'm looking forward to your opinions!

Merry Christmas Eve!

What Makes Cowboys Sing The Blues?

2010-12-22T12:21:00.000-08:00

A cowboy takes his lonely computer in hand
And tries to find the Shades Out West on broadband
But it's not there & slightly overdue
And that's what makes cowboys sing the blues

The Christmas Card Contained In The
Shades Out West Issue

Yet again, an issue of Shades is overdue. There is no one to blame but its editor, what's her name, and for that I sincerely apologize. 2010 is not a year I shall look back on with undiluted pleasure. In the words of Queen Elizabeth II, it has turned out to be an 'annus horribilis.'

There have been some personal events that have interrupted the flow of the magazine. For now, and being truthful, I am exhausted. I am going to take this time to spend Christmas with my family and maybe even sleep for an entire day.

The Out West issue will be published January 1, 2011; the Good Lord willing and the creeks don't rise. In the new year Shades will be published February 1, April 1, June 1, August 1, October 1, and December 1. Six issues per year. This will be a more manageable schedule for the editor and all our contributors.

We will be adding new columns, new columnist and contributors. We have some amazing people and articles scheduled.

The Shades Editorial Staff, our Columnists, and Contributors would like to wish our readers A Very Merry Christmas and an on-time New Year!

Twice Told Tuesday - Merry Xmas

2010-12-21T00:16:00.000-08:00

The beautiful young Edwardian woman you see in this photograph is one of the orphans in my photographic collection. She caught my eye not only for her beauty, but for the gold embossed Merry Xmas displayed at the bottom of her cabinet card.

She was one of the featured photographs in the December/Holiday issue of Shades Of The Departed The Magazine in the Everything Old Is New Again article.

"Beauty" probably sat for this Christmas portrait in the early 1900s. Was Merry Xmas in use in the early 1900s? I thought Xmas was something new, could it be something old? To solve my mystery, I consulted my collection of dictionaries and found the following answer. (Yes, I also collect dictionaries.)

The Winston Dictionary
College Edition
- 1946 -

Xmas abbr. Christmas: - Xn., Christian (also Xtian.): -Xnty., Christianity (also Xty.)

Merriam-Webster's
Collegiate Dictionary
Eleventh Edition
- 2004 -

Xmas n [X symbol for Christ, fr. the GK letter chi (X), initial of Christos Christ) + -mas (in Christmas)] (1551): CHRISTMAS

"X" (as in chi) was used as an abbreviation for Christ from early times, some saying that it was initially a camouflage for the religion. It is the first letter of the word Christos (meaning "the anointed one," e.g., the Messiah) and fortuitously was cross-shaped. Xmas has been used as a scholarly and not-so-scholarly abbreviation since.

So, Xmas is not the "something new" I thought it was, but the "something old" of the Christian religion!

Merry Xmas "Beauty" and thank you for the history lesson!

The Eyes Have It

2010-12-15T11:47:00.000-08:00

No, it's not a photograph, but it is a very famous image. An image whose model has always been a mystery. And you know how we love a mystery. And the mystery is being solved with high-resolution images. Even better.

Well, it seems Da Vinci has done it again. A recently discovered code. A code that may reveal the identity of the enigmatic model know as the Mona Lisa. A code left for us to find by Da Vinci.

An Italian researcher claims that Leonardo da Vinci painted tiny letters into the eyes of the Mona Lisa. Letters which could reveal, once and for all, the identity of the woman who modeled for this famous portrait.

Using high resolution images, researcher, Silvano Vinceti, chairman of the Italian national committee for cultural heritage, stood eye to eye with the Mona Lisa.

"Invisible to the naked eye and painted in black on green-brown are the letters LV in her right pupil, obviously Leonardo's initials, but it is what is in her left pupil that is far more interesting," said Vinceti.

He has announced that the letters B or S, or possibly the initials CE, were discernible. A vital clue? The model has often been identified as Lisa Gherardini, the wife of a Florentine merchant. Vinceti disagreed, claiming Leonardo painted the Mona Lisa in Milan, not Florence.

In true cliff-hanger style, Vinceti will announce his conclusions next month.

"On the back of the painting are the numbers '149', with a fourth number erased, suggesting he painted it when he was in Milan in the 1490s, using as a model a woman from the court of Ludovico Sforza, the Duke of Milan," said Vinceti.

"Leonardo was keen on symbols and codes to get messages across, and he wanted us to know the identity of the model using the eyes, which he believed were the door to the soul and a means for communication," said Vinceti.

He said that while researching the model's identity he had been inspired by a 1960s book by a French art historian, which mentions the letters in her eyes.

"Under the right-hand arch of the bridge seen in the background, Leonardo also painted 72, or L2, another possible clue," he added. "Two expert painters consulted by The Guardian, UK, say all these marks, painted using a tiny brush and a magnifying glass, cannot be an error."

Sources:

Newspapers:

The Guardian UK Online, December, 2010.

Photograph:

Courtesy of WikiCommons.

How Much Is That Baby In The Window

2010-12-14T21:37:00.000-08:00

Twice Told Tuesday features a photography related article reprinted
from old photography books, magazines, and newspapers.

Photographs were used to bring together the homeless child and the childless home. One of this country's most famous magazines, The Delineator published a Child Rescue Campaign combining sweet photographs of young children with a poignant story told in the style of the time. I am conflicted with regard to this article. I think you may be as well.

The Delineator
June 1909, pg. 793
"The Delineator Child Rescue Campaign"

Now and then Nature sends into the world two children united by the bond of twinship, and this close tie of blood commands for them more than the ordinary share of human interest. Such children reveal mysterious sympathies and startling similarities, even though in outward appearance, in character and in disposition they may differ greatly. The separation of twins is a cruel injustice, and therefore The Delineator asks that they be placed in one home.

Willie and Winnie were born five years ago, in Anaconda, Montana. They were most unwelcome in the little family which had but a precarious existence in the Rocky Mountain mining camp.

There were two other children. The father spent most of his earnings in the saloons; the mother resented poverty. The coming of the twins was regarded as a cruel indignity, a final stroke of ill-luck.

For three years the mother gave the twins unwilling care, then one day she deserted her family. For more than a year the father tried to support his four children, but he relapsed into his old ways, and recently the twins were placed in the care of the Montana Home Society.

The mother has not been heard from since she obtained a divorce and married again, and the father has signed a release, so that Willie and Winnie are free for adoption.

A glance at the faces of these children gives assurance that they are bright and healthy, although from babyhood they have been poorly fed and sadly neglected. They have a close dependence upon each other and appear to understand their present position of uncertainty.

Both are affectionate, obedient, and unselfish. They are docile, good-tempered and easily controlled. Both gave evidence of first rate mentality. They are the types of the American girl and boy of more than average intelligence, and, in just the right environment, they will improve rapidly.

It is desired that these children shall be adopted by residents of Montana.

Sources:

Magazine and Photograph

"The Delineator Child Rescue Campaign."The Delineator, June 1909, 793.

Shades Out West Issue

2010-12-07T11:53:00.000-08:00

Due to a family emergency, Shades Of The Departed's "Out West Edition" will be posted December 15.

HAVE YOU READ?

MOURNING ISSUE

WEDDING ISSUE

MAY 2010 ISSUE

MARCH 2010 ISSUE

FEBRUARY 2010 ISSUE

JANUARY 2010 ISSUE

DECEMBER 2010 ISSUE
NOVEMBER 2010 ISSUE

This Week's Shades Old Photo On Twitter

2010-12-07T10:09:00.000-08:00

This week's Shades Old Photo On Twitter is Walter Lian - a very happy baby. He isn't 19th Century, but I believe he's just a few years off. His smile is almost a look of surprise and you have to wonder if he has made a noise with the bell in his hand that wasn't expected.

What The Photograph Tells Us:

(1) The card mount measures 6 in. X 8 in and is 1.55mm thick. The photograph measures approximately 4 in. by 5 1/2 in. The edges of the card are beveled, the corners are rounded. The card stock is textured, the original color appears to be a darker brown (matte finish) front, lighter tan back, and a creme colored bevel.

(2) The photographer’s imprint on the front (recto) of the photograph lists the photographer as Holand, Grand Forks, N.D.

(3) Handwritten in ink on the verso is William Lian (under year old). Barely legible at the bottom of the card is Viola Hansen.

(4) Walter is wearing a white eyelet long gown. His hair is bowl cut with no part. The chair he is sitting on is a wicker and bentwood chair in a sled or chaise form. He holds a bell. The background is well done and of a high quality. Care and attention have been taken to the cropping of the photograph and its mounting on the card stock.

Card Analysis:

The card is consistent with mounts of the early to mid-1900s in both size, thickness, texture, bevel, and color.

Photographer and Imprint Analysis:

The card lists the place of business as Grand Forks, N.D., not territory, but the state of North Dakota. North Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The oldest the card could be would be the year 1889.

An Albert Holand/Holland is found in Grand Forks, North Dakota, owning his own photographic business in both 1900 and 1910. Holland immigrated from Norway in 1884 and is listed in the 1910 census as 44 years old. I find no Albert Holand and no photographer listed for that section of Grand Forks in 1920.

Conclusion: Holand could have been in business as early as November 1889 (North Dakota statehood - he would have been 18 years old) and as late as December 1919 (1920 census enumerated in January). This is a thirty year span of time and not particularly helpful to dating the photograph.

At this point Grand Forks' directories and newspapers should be researched for further information on Albert Holand.

William Lian Analysis:

Lian is a fairly uncommon surname. There are only 131 Lians listed in total for the 1880 - 1920 census. No Walter Lian is found in the 1900 or 1910 census for Grand Forks or for anywhere in the United States. A Walter K. Lian is found in the 1920 census for Sheridan, Montana. He is the step-son of twenty-eight year old Edward Corey, a coal miner, and Corey's thirty-seven year old wife Laura. According to the census Walter was born in North Dakota and is thirteen years old as of January 17, 1920.

We have absolutely no proof this is the Walter Lian in the photograph. Assuming it is, Walter would have been under a year old in 1907. Birth certificates as well as the Ancestry census for 1900 and 1910 should be explored for further information on Walter.

Clothing and Furniture Analysis:

The long white eyelet gown worn by Walter is consistent with what was called a day gown and was worn by both boys and girls in the early 1900s. His bowl cut hairdo is not significant, as babies' hair was what it was, conforming only to what the child was born with.

Most photographs during this period of history were taken to commemorate one of life's passages or a special occasion. We have nothing here to indicate a passage or a special occasion.

Before the turn of the century, Victorian-style wicker became extremely popular. The Victorian style was highly fanciful with an abundance of curves, curlicues and intricate patterns. However, early in the 20th century, public taste veered toward straighter lines and more simple designs in wicker.

This wicker piece, which looks like a small sled or chaise, is much less ornate than the Victorian style of the turn of the century and is consistent with other furniture pieces I have found dated between 1900 and 1910.

Conclusion: The clothing and furniture are consistent with the period 1900 - 1910.

The photograph in relation to the mount, photographer, clothing, and furniture is consistent with the period of 1900 - 1910. If the Walter Lian of the 1920 census is our pictured baby, then the photograph could be dated 1907.

This is far too much supposition and too little proof, but does show the process of analysis.

Note: An exception to the rule. In the analysis of small children and babies to determine if the child is a boy or girl, we often use the hair as a clue. Parted on either side is generally a boy child, parted in the middle is generally a girl child. With this photograph the child is identified as Walter, which we assume is a boy child. (I have never heard of a girl child being named Walter, but stranger things have happened.) Please note, Walter's hair is bowl cut with no part. An exception to the generality.

Sources:

Books:

Darrah, William C. Cartes de Visite in 19th Century Photography. Gettysburg: Darrah, 1981.
MacPhail, Anna. The Well Dressed Child. Atglen, Pennsylvania: Schiffer, 1999.
McCulloch, Lou W. Card Photographs, A Guide To Their History and Value. Exton, Pennsylvania: Schiffer 1981.
Mace, O. Henry. Collector's Guide To Early Photographs.Iola, Wisconsin: Krause, 1999.
Mautz, Carl. Biographies of Western Photographers. Nevada City, California: Carl Mautz Publishing, 1997.
Palmquist, Peter. Pioneer Photographers Of The Far West A Biographical Dictionary, 1840-1865. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 2000.
Severa, Joan. Dressed For The Photographer. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 1995.

Census:

1900 U.S. census, Grand Forks County, North Dakota, population schedule, Grand Forks, p. 169, dwelling 35, family 98, Albert Holland (Head); digital images. Heritage Quest (http://persi.heritagequestonline.com/ : retrieved 1 April 2008); citing NARA microfilm publication T623, roll 169.

1910 U.S. census, Grand Forks County, North Dakota, population schedule, Grand Forks, p. 183, dwelling 99, family 154, Albert Holland (Head); digital images. Heritage Quest (http://persi.heritagequestonline.com/ : retrieved 3 April 2008); citing NARA microfilm publication T624, roll 1142.

1920 U.S. census, Sheridan County, Montana, population schedule, Sheridan, p. 140, dwelling 29 , family 29, Edward Corey (Head); digital images. Heritage Quest (http://persi.heritagequestonline.com/ : retrieved 1 April 2008); citing NARA microfilm publication T625, roll 975.

Photograph:

Lian, Walter. Photograph. ca. 1900 - 1910. Digital image. Privately held by the footnoteMaven, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Preston, Washington. 2007

A Date With An Old Photo

2010-12-06T00:03:00.000-08:00

I received an Ancestry Email with an article authored by my favorite Photo Detective, Maureen Taylor. Maureen announced the addition of the Historic Catalogs of Sears, Roebuck and Co., 1896-1993, online database in the Ancestry Collections.

I use old catalogs and magazines to help date many of my old photographs. The addition of the Sears Catalog will be a real boon to my research. With these catalogs you have the ability to search for accessories such as watches, jewelry and glasses prominently displayed in some of your family photographs and collections. Shoes, hats and clothing are all there as well.
This database is filled with facts and fodder to enrich those stories you write in your family history. Go browse this wonderful archive, but be careful, you could get lost for hours.

Ancestry - Historic Catalogs of Sears, Roebuck and Co, 1896-1999 - ($)

Sears - Sears Archives

Ancestry - SEARCH THE SEARS CATALOGS - ($)

& MERRY CHRISTMAS

I'd also like to share this year's Christmas present with you as it ties in with the Sears Catalog database. I gave myself thirty-five beautiful old magazines. (You'll remember I've often said, "I never met a magazine I didn't like, regardless of the century.") A little more than I would normally spend, but it is a treat that probably won't come around again. So, Merry Christmas to me!

They range in years from 1868 - 1931, and include names such as Harper's, Cosmopolitan, Munsey, Delineator, Boy's Life, Radio Digest and many more. I'm very excited to add these to my collection of photography and fashion magazines. Beautiful to look at, delightful to read.

And if you'd like to see the other uses I have for old magazines, read I Always Listen To Denise Olson on footnoteMaven.

The Story of Today's Shades Old Photo On Twitter

2010-11-30T15:28:00.000-08:00

THE OVERSTUFFED BABY
Dorothy Margaret Gray

Scanning and Restoring Photos

2010-11-19T08:18:00.000-08:00

I am a fan of Janine Smith, owner of Landailyn Research & Restoration, a Texas-based company whose services include family history research and photo restoration. Janine is a professional digital restorationist and is poised to increase her fan base by thousands having become one of the excellent instructors at Lynda.com.

Never been to Lynda.com? You're really missing something. Go there! It's the spot for learning to master and apply digital tools and techniques.

Here is a sample of the Photoshop Elements 9: Scanning and Restoring Photos course that Janine presents.

Using Levels

Photoshop Elements 9: Scanning and Restoring Photos | by Janine Smith

View this entire Photoshop Elements course and more in the lynda.com Online Training Library®.

Here is the course description:

In Photoshop Elements 9: Scanning and Restoring Photos, professional photo restorer Janine Smith shows how to bring new life to old photos. The course begins with a look at the types of photos that may require restoration, including slides, negatives, prints, and newspaper photos, and options for scanning them. She discusses the types of scanners that are available, from flatbed to film, and the best settings to use for originals. The course then delves into Photoshop Elements tools and techniques to help restore clarity to faded photos and fix problems such as dust, scratches, and tears. Exercise files are included with the course.
Topics include:
Determining equipment needs
Scanning negatives, slides, and film
Importing photos in Photoshop Elements
Adding captions, keywords, and Smart Tags
Adjusting contrast
Fixing fading with Threshold
Making automatic fixes with guided edit
Removing dust, spots, and texture with the healing tools
Repairing rips and tears
Sharing restored images

The cost of the course varies depending on the subscription option you select. It starts at $25 per month with no long term commitment. Give it a try and tell them Shades sent you.

Good luck Janine! We loved you when!

Are There Modern Tintypes?

2010-10-20T13:26:00.000-07:00

Web Wandering Wednesday

ROBB KENDRICK TINTYPE PHOTOGRAPHY

National Geographic photographer Robb Kendrick started shooting pictures when he was 15 years old and developed that interest into a lifelong career. He has traveled to 65 countries and all seven continents. Although Kendrick uses the latest high-tech camera gear, he’s got an old-fashioned side. Kendrick cherishes shooting tintypes, a wet-plate process photographers used in the 19th and early 20th centuries. It gives his images a vintage feel and helps keep this technique alive.

Kendrick has authored, Revealing Character, a book of modern portraits of some of the men (and one woman) who work as cowboys on Texas ranches today, captured with the cumbersome historic tintype process.

While wandering the web stop at Kendrick's website and spend some time. Available on the site is a film produced by National Geographic that takes you through Kendrick's process of making a tintype. It gives you a glimpse into the past and how difficult it must have been to make those first photographic images.

Kendrick's site is well worth the time for any lover of old photographs who yearns for those days of yesteryear. I think it will bring a renewed appreciation of the past and a sigh of relief for the present.

Shades The Magazine Promotional Video

2010-10-15T09:41:00.000-07:00

Where's the fire? At Shades Of The Departed!

This video can be found on Shades TV, and on the Shades Channel on Vimeo.

HAVE YOU READ?

The Baffled Photographer

2010-10-12T13:19:00.000-07:00

It seems pet photography was popular even in 1883 and it had its own problems; owing to the length of time needed for the exposure. Below is the story of a pampered cat and three farm dogs who arrived to have their portrait taken and what should have been the anticipated results.

The Baffled Photographer

A Des Moines photographer’s saloon was the scene of a lively chase, not long since, wherein a cat, three pups and several nervous persons participated. A cat’s picture was to have been taken, but it was not, because pussy’s nerves were not equal to an emergency :

Pussy was placed on a box, her hair smoothed down, a red ribbon adjusted, her whiskers fixed “just so,” and her tail wrapped softly around her front feet. She was then patted on the head, told to keep very quiet, and the Camera was turned on her.

The operator stood, watch in hand, counting off the seconds while the owner of the cat stood with her heart in her mouth, wondering if pussy would move. When the time was about half gone – woe to the “best laid plans of mice and men” – and the picture was about assured, in came an old farmer and his wife, with three fine specimens of bulldogs to be “taken.”

The dogs developed, suddenly, their love for cats – love to see the cats run – and they made a straight shoot for pussy, who was quietly waiting the finishing touches on her picture.

She did not stay any longer, but her back made a half moon, her smoothed hair was spoiled, and her tail alone was too big for the Camera. With a spit and a yell, she jumped from the chair and attempted to go home.

The windows and doors were all closed. She ran under every chair in the room, over every table and into every nook and corner.

The pups followed. Every woman in the house climbed a chair and screamed, the baby yelled at the top of his voice, the farmer followed the pups, trying to induce them to give up the chase, and the operator stood and looked as though he was wishing cats and dogs had been forgotten in the general make-up of things.

After the cat had tried every other place, she made a dart for the dark room, and as the pans and other traps went tumbling to the floor, the operator groaned a groan that was full of anguish.

It got too warm in there for pussy, and she sought for a more quiet abode.

Some one had been thoughtful enough in the mean time to open a window, and the cat, whose eyes were opened wider than when sitting for her picture, saw the chance for escape and improved it.

The whole outfit, pups and all, had to go home for repairs and to cool off, and that gallery lost three or four jobs for that day.

The Photograph

The photograph that accompanies this article is from the footnoteMaven's collection. It is dated approximately 1874 and shows that photographs of the family pets continued to be a favorite. Here we have a portrait of a cat and dog together, probably owing to the fact that much less time was needed for the exposure than in 1883. It does look as if the cat has waited all it intends to, and is about to jump on the unsuspecting sleeping dog.

The Photographer

On the back of a Victorian photograph - at the bottom - may be some tiny printed writing, that indicates the company that printed the card and sold the cardstock to the photographer.

Printed at the bottom on the reverse of this photograph is Copyright, Marion Imp, Paris Depose. In the 1870s the only information printed on the cardstock by Marion was "Marion Imp, Paris." The card then can be dated from 1870 forward.

The imprint on the back of the photograph depicts bamboo and roses in the design shown. In about 1874 Marion began using this as their new standard design. It was printed in pink, green and other colors, (Bamboo and Roses) with a bamboo design of an oval with squares in the corner and roses. As Marion didn't want this design to be copied by everyone, they marked them with Copyright, Marion, Imp Paris Depose. An example of this exact design can be found on Roger Vaughn's page of descriptions of Marion Imprints. The card can be dated from 1874 forward.

Next we determine if there was a photographer named Campbell working at Cromwell Place, Fort Ayr in 1874. The Ayrshire History website lists a compilation of the photographers who were working in Ayrshire and the dates they were working. David Campbell is listed in the 1873/74 Directory at 9 Cromwell Place. Subsequent to 1874 the address is used by James Rae and Ambrose Bara photographers.

Unless Rae and Bara purchased and were using Campbell's cardstock, (they were Scots after all) we can date this photograph to approximately 1874.

CAMPBELL, David, Ayr. At 9 Cromwell Place, AYR, in 1861/62 and 1864/65 Directories. Mrs David Campbell, photographer, listed in 1867/68 Directory. "Campbell’s" listed in 1870/71 and 1873/74 Directories. Address subsequently used by James Rae and Ambrose Bara. Appears to be a different individual from following entry.

Notes on David Campbell 9 Cromwell Place, Ayr:

[D Campbell respectfully announces, that from the success he has experienced as an Amateur Photographer during the last 5 years, he has been induced, at the solicitation of a number of friends, to commence the practice of PHOTOGRAPHY Professionally; and that he has just opened those commodious premises, specially erected for a photographic studio, at No,20 New Bridge Street, where he intends following out the Art in all its branches. The Art taught in a few lessons. 20 New Bridge Street, Ayr, April 1859.] [20 New Bridge Street address of James Brewster after September 1860]

[D Campbell, photographic artist, Cromwell Place, Fort, Ayr. "The Art taught in a few lessons"]

[Praise for views shown by Campbell at London Photographic Exhibition - called by BJP one of the few ‘new artistes who are likely to be men of mark". See ref in AA file. AA 7.2.1861 carries big advert, with long list of views available. Address: "9 Cromwell Place ‘the corner house opposite the Fort Castle’".]

["David Campbell. Begs to announce his return from Haddingtonshire. His portrait rooms will be open on and after Thursday first. He has brought with him a large number of new photographs, specimens of which will shortly be added to his collection. 9 Cromwell Place, Fort, Ayr. 14th May 1861".]

[Campbell’s Photographic Portrait Rooms and Photographic Printing Establishment, 9 Cromwell Place, Fort, Ayr].

[David Campbell, photographer, 9 Cromwell Place, Fort "has opened his portrait establishment for the season. I have .... this year engaged a Competent Assistant, who will conduct the Portrait Department in my absence".]

Sources:

Unknown, "The Baffled Photographer." American Journal of Photography and Photographers’ Price Current, June 1883, 2.

Subject Unknown, Photograph - Carte-de-visites. ca. 1874. Digital image. Original privately held by the footnoteMaven, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Preston, Washington. 2007.

Ayrshire History, 19th Century Photographers in Ayrshire, copyright Rob Close, compilation (http://www.ayrshirehistory.org.uk/Photographers/photographers1.htm#C : 25 March 2008), David Campbell entry.

Victorian and Edwardian Photographs - Roger Vaughan Personal Collection, Marion - Victorian Photograph Card Printers, copyright Roger Vaughn, (http://www.cartes.freeuk.com/dated/marion.htm : 24 March 2008).

Self-Defense?

2010-10-10T13:11:00.000-07:00

Unknown Woman
Wearing Glasses
Cabinet Card
Photographer: McCabe
429 Northhampton Street
Easton, PA
Photograph In The Collection
Of The Author

This woman wearing glasses looks dangerous. The pin below her neck looks as if it could be used for self-defense. And if she bends over she just might hurt herself.

Essential Skills - Learning To Read Old Handwriting

2010-10-08T08:40:00.000-07:00

In the Mourning Issue of Shades The Magazine, Rebecca Fenning - Saving Face, wrote about professional development and essential skills for the archivist, explaining that these were skills and development appropriate to the family historian as well.

Reading old handwriting is one of those essential skills. To assist you in your development, here is a resource booklet produced by The National Archives of Great Britain's Ancestors Magazine. (Ancestors has ceased publication.)

HAVE YOU READ?

Wed Wandering Wednesday With The Photo Detective

2010-10-06T10:09:00.001-07:00

Denise Olson, Family Matters, and I have have been discussing our recent fascination with the moving photograph. Mine more recent than hers. You can take a look at our first contribution on ShadesTV. So, while wandering the web I bumped into Maureen Taylor's (The Photo Detective) new movie about school days. It's a hoot!

A historical look at back to school in photographs from
the Library of Congress and from The Photo Detective's collection.

Shades The Magazine - Memento Mori Issue - 2010

2010-10-04T20:23:00.000-07:00

Welcome To The Memento-Mori Issue of
Shades - The Magazine

(Select Cover or Title Above)

Table Of Contents:

Columns

The Year Was
The Year Was 1871

Appealing Subjects
Death Upon The Record

The Future of Memories
At The Cabin

Captured Moments
Record and Share

Saving Face
Professional Development

Penelope Dreadful
A Dreadful Coincidence

In2Genealogy
The Evidence Of Life

Features

A Revolutionary Pursuit
Maureen Taylor

Celebrating Dead Fred
Joe Bott

In The Gloom & The Gleam
Photographs In The Cemetery

Photography & Mourning
footnoteMaven

Behind The Camera
Post-Mortem Photography

Moíses Rojo of Sinovas, Spain
Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Have you read?

Shades Featured In Upcoming Genealogy Gems Live

2010-10-02T10:31:00.000-07:00

Family History Expo Pleasanton, CA - October 8, 2010

Select The Page
For A Larger View

OBE

2010-09-24T17:34:00.000-07:00

Do The Locomotion With Me

2010-08-22T16:06:00.001-07:00

Now that you can do it let's make a chain now
Come on, baby, do the locomotion
Chug-a chug-a motion like a railroad train now
Come on, baby, do the locomotion
Do it nice and easy now and don't lose control
A little bit of rhythm and a lot of soul
Come on, come on, do the locomotion with me

Lyrics by Carole King

Little Eva Performing The Locomotion
Shindig (Early 1960s)

Say Locomotion to me, and the first thing I think of is Little Eva. So when the Festival of Postcards theme was announced as "Locomotion;" it wasn't transportation I went looking for, but dancing.

And I found it! Straight from the Paris Flea Market, eight dancing darlings. Why they even look like they're doing "The Locomotion."

They were a set of three postcards of the same eight children in dancing poses that was purchased in the Paris Flea Market several years ago by a gentleman in Oregon. He cleaned out his collections and offered them for sale. I loved them, I bought them, and now I get to share them with you!

There was a stamp on one card for the photographer, see inset below.

Inset:
H. Katzer
Wien XVII
Kulm Gasse #13

Translation
H. Katzer (Photographic Studio)
Vienna 17 (Perhaps Vienna 1917)
Kulm Alley #13

The card material is very thin. The back of the postcard, seen below, is divided with a space for the address, but no stamp box. As this was made in Austria, I have very little information to share, just a great RPPC.

~ Wander The World & The Web ~

Other Postcard Articles:

Shedding Light On - Whist

Water, Water, Everywhere - From Chile

A Sign Of The Times - The Candlestick Telephone In A Postcard

Big Wheels - President Theodore Roosevelt and Family.

Sometimes Main Street Is The Whole Town - Glendive, Montana

Papa Can You Hear Me - A young girl in Montana looks for her father.

From A Simple Postcard - Grace Mathewson and her collection.

Sources:

Books:

Vaule, Rosamond. As We Were: American Photographic Postcards, 1905-1930. Boston: David R. Godine, 2004.

Postcard:

Eight Dancing Darlings. H. Katzer. Real Photo Postcard. 1917?. Privately held by the footnoteMaven, Preston, WA. 2008.

Websites:

The Festival of Postcards. 2010.

Web Wandering Wednesday - Wandering The World and The Web

2010-08-18T10:49:00.001-07:00

When wandering the web you meet some of the most wonderful real world people. Take Kathi Mayor for example. She found me, struck up a conversation via email, and we became fast friends.

Then Kathi orchestrated a lovely surprise for the photographically addicted footnoteMaven. She had found some very interesting photographs in an antiques store in Denham Springs, Louisianna. Wanting to make a gift of the photographs, she conspired with one of Maven's real world friends, Sheri Fenley, The Educated Genealogist, to secure Maven's real world address. Thank you, Sheri. Sheri is a former agent for the CIA.

What a lovely surprise appeared in the old mailbox on the post out by the road. Photographs, lovely photographs. Both Kathi and I are drawn to "the vamp" below. A true glamor shot.

Unknown Woman
Mathews Photo Studio
613 N. 6th St.
Kansas City, Kansas

Those smoky eyes.

Those "gotta be" red lips.

This photograph reminded me so much of Theda Bara in a similar pose.

Theda Bara was a silent film actress. She was one of the most popular screen actresses of her era, and one of cinema's earliest sex symbols. Her femme fatale roles earned her the nickname "The Vamp" (short for vampire). "Vamp" soon became a popular slang term for a sexually predatory woman.

Yes, I think Kathi's glamor gift was vamping for the camera and may have seen one of Theda's publicity shots. (Check out the hands.) Isn't she fantastic?

Thank you, Kathi, I loved every photograph you were kind enough to send. Another of the photographs Kathi sent will be featured in "The Memento Mori Edition" of Shades The Magazine.

The web and the world continue to delight and amaze me.

Sources:

The Vamp. Mathews. Unknown. Privately held by the footnoteMaven, Preston, WA.

Theda Bara in the Broadway Show the Blue Flame. Unknown. 1920. AllPosters.com

Twice Told Tuesday - Marvels in Matchboxes

2010-08-17T10:49:00.000-07:00

Twice Told Tuesday features a photography related article reprinted
from old photography books, magazines, and newspapers.

In the August 11, 2010, "Wordless Wednesday" article at Genea-Musings, Randy Seaver posted a very intriguing photograph. Two beautiful models of buildings made from match boxes by his relative, Edgar Carringer in ca. 1896. It was love at first sight for me and I wanted to know more about the subject matter of this photograph. Was this another form of art of the common man, similar to tramp art? Was it every artist for himself, or was the art form so popular that patterns had been produced? Randy very graciously allowed me to use his family photograph, seen below and in the three insets.

Matchbox Masterpiece

Another curiosity? Did Edgar Carringer do wood work on a lathe and want to display this talent in the photograph as well? Look at the wood cup displayed on top of one of the houses.

A MATCH

Friction matches were invented in 1829 and made their appearance in the United States sometime after 1830, but were not generally used until several years later.

The estimated consumption per individual in the United States in 1883, was seven matches per day. Matches were made for special uses, — the parlor match, which used no sulphur and was free from the chocking sulphur fumes; the smoker's match, which had a strong flame and could be used to light a cigar in the wind or rain; and the wax match, which burned a long time, and was an elegant affair for dainty uses. Matches were called Lucifers, Locofocos, and Congreves and sold for a half-penny each.

The matches were placed in small paper or strawboard boxes varying in size, capable of containing from 65 to 500 matches. It would seem Edgar Carringer had a lot of material to work with based on the amount of matches that were being used in the United States when he built his models.
In 1889, there were eighty establishments in the match making business. The manufacture was enormous, reaching about 15,000,000,000 matches a year. The most famous match manufacturer being Diamond Matches.

Research indicated that match box classes were taught in woodworking classes in the schools. What isn't indicated is whether the classes taught you to make a match box, or to make something with a match box.

I found no match box model patterns, so it would seem the construction was in the mind and hand of the artist. The houses constructed by Carringer were probably of places he knew well such that he could make an accurate representation.

The article below was reproduced in many magazines in the United States and was probably inspiration for those who engaged in match box model making. While the match company below created and staged competitions, I have yet to find such competitions in the United States.

It would appear Carringer was proud enough of his art work to memorialize it in a photograph.

Marvels in Matchboxes
By S. L. Neville-Dixon
The Strand Magazine
London - 1898

THESE pages are an eloquent testimony to the extraordinary skill and ingenuity of artisans and others in the Midland districts. Two or three years ago a particularly enterprising firm of match-manufacturers, Messrs. S. I. Moreland and Sons, of Gloucester and Birmingham, hit upon the excellent idea of getting up public competitions on entirely original lines. Of course, the firm's primary motive was the sale and general advertisement of their wares; but they also considered how they should best tap the wonderful fund of originality which they knew the average British workman does possess, no matter what his traducers say.

It was at length resolved that the competition should take the form of model-making— "the greatest novelty of any sort that can be made with not less than 1,000 of our matchboxes." The conditions were widely advertised in Birmingham and its environs.

Competent judges—architects, chiefly—were appointed. The first prize was ,£50, the second, £25, third £10, and then came three other prizes of £5 each. In subsequent competitions, however, the amounts were slightly varied, but in all cases the prize money aggregated £100. Models were to be sent carriage paid to Messrs. Moreland and Sons' Birmingham depot, 155, Great Charles Street, and those winning a prize became the absolute property of the firm. Messrs. Moreland hired a shop in Birmingham for the express purpose of exhibiting to the public the prize-winning models.

In this article, then, will be found a representative collection of photographs of these "marvels in match-boxes." In some cases the model occupied the spare time of its creator for six months or more; and the effect of the whole was heightened by clockwork arrangements and similar contrivances.

It is to Messrs. Morelands' Birmingham manager, Mr. George Blakely, that we are indebted for most of the photographs.

The wonderful piano seen in the first photograph is actually full size, being 5ft. in height, and constructed entirely of matchboxes, which, according to the rules of the competition, must have contained Messrs. Morelands' wares. The instrument was awarded first prize in the third competition, so that it may be said to have fetched the price of a real cottage piano. The judges were Messrs. Gately and Parsons, well-known architects in Birmingham.

The maker of the piano was Mr. G. W. Roberts, of 2 Wenman Street, Birmingham. Mr. Roberts served as tuner for many years with the well-known house of Broadwood, so that a piano suggested itself naturally to him. He tells me that he used upwards of 3,200 ordinary match-boxes, and 576 boxes that had contained small wax-vestas. The only other thing he used was 51b. of glue.

Originality seems to run in the Roberts family, for we next show a marvellous model of the great Laxey Wheel, in the Isle of Man, made by Miss L. W. Roberts, sister to the designer of the piano. "The Laxey Wheel," writes Mr. Roberts, "was 6ft. in length and 4ft. high. It took a little less than six months to make, and used up about 3,000 match-boxes."

In some cases more than one competitor took the same original for his model. For instance, the Laxey Wheel was also adopted by Mr. James Shaw, of 56, Dickinson Street, Nottingham. Mr. Shaw's model, which won the first prize, was no less than 6ft. 74in. in height, 2ft. in depth, and 8ft. in length. It contained 4,500 boxes, and took five months to complete. The wheel itself was 5ft. 6in. in diameter, and went by clockwork.

Another competitor, Mr. Lewis Sheldon, of 49,Foundry Road, Winson Green, Birmingham, constructed a double masted turret ship-of-war, 8ft. 3m. long. The completeness of this model was astonishing; the ship carried fifteen guns (all made out of match-boxes), and there were six lifeboats.

The next two models shown are the work of Mr. F. Marshall, of 13, Manor Avenue, Sneinton, Nottingham. The first of Mr. Marshall's models depicted gained the third prize in the second competition. It is a very faithful reproduction of the Forth Bridge, and is, of course, made entirely out of match-boxes. The height of the model is 1 ft. 10 in., the width 12 in., and the length no less than 10ft. 6in. The model contained about 3,000 boxes.

I may here repeat the statement, that according to the rules governing the competitions models were to contain at least 1,000 boxes. "Other than match-boxes," writes Mr. Marshall, "no material whatever is used in the construction of the bridge—not even in the stays. When completed it stood the test of 421b. weight in the centre of either arch. I never saw the original bridge, but got an idea of it from a lithograph in a railway guide. The model contains 241 stays and twelve principal pillars. Seven rows of match-boxes form the roadway over the bridge, and on this roadway are laid the sleepers and rails."

Mr. Marshall's second model is what is known as an Eiffel bicycle. When complete, this model was in full working order. It contains 1,100 match-boxes, and stands a little more than 6ft. in height. The diamond stays are two boxes thick. The driving chain is 9ft. long, and was made from the sides of the matchbox-drawers glued on to tape. The wheels are 24m. in diameter. Another model of Mr. Marshall's was a reproduction of the lighthouse near New Brighton. This model was fitted with a revolving lantern, and the whole contained 2,900 matchboxes.

The next model reproduced is a highly elaborate affair, made by Mr. Grubb, of Grendon Terrace, Atherstone. This is supposed to represent Nelson's famous ship Victory passing a large lighthouse. As will be seen, the ship, the lighthouse, and the entire background, with its wings, are all composed of match-boxes.

Working three hours a night, Mr. Grubb finished his model in five months. The ship is 3ft. 6in. long; and the lighthouse, 5ft. 2in. high, and nearly 2ft. square. To build a circular lighthouse, with the awkward material at his disposal, was a little beyond Mr. Grubb. The designer, it should be said, is very well acquainted with nautical matters, having served as steward for some years on board a little vessel of 400 tons.

Thus it will be seen that each competitor prudently followed his own bent. The next match-box model shown is an even more elaborate and ambitious original design, worked out by Mr. Joseph Bray, of Coleshill Street, Atherstone. Mr. Bray writes as follows: " I am sending you a photograph of my model of a tower with elevated circular railway, made with 1,120 empty match-boxes. This was entered in Messrs. Morelands' competition held last January, and gained the fourth prize of £10. The model was 36m. long, 39m. high, and 24m. wide. The boxes were put together with glue, and the model was very firm and substantial.

I worked upon it at night after I had finished my day's work. You will see that even the foundation of the platform is made of match-boxes. The bottom of the tower is supposed to contain shops; and it has four entrances and sixteen windows. The railway track around the tower was laid with rails and sleepers, and a clockwork train was run upon it at intervals. The platform for the station is on the right hand side of the model, where I also built a booking-office and signal-box with levers.

On the left-hand side are a promenade, a bandstand, and a refreshment-room. Railway station, promenade, etc., were all worked round with brass wire, so as to represent railings, and the whole model had small lamps for electric lights."

The next match - box model to be shown is one representing the stately old red-brick gateway of St. James's Palace, as viewed from St. James's Street. You will see from the label that it gained the fourth prize of £10. It is the work of Mr. J. H. Round, of Holly  Hall, Dudley.

Mr. Round writes to say that his model contains 2,380 common match-boxes and 620 wax - vesta boxes. He took particular note of the time occupied in its construction — 106 hours. From the ground to the top of the flag on the tower measured no less than 6ft. 4m. The clock was a very real one, working twenty-four hours with one winding. The dial was 8 in. in diameter. The very dial figures and hands were made of parts inevitable match-box. There was a surrounded by flowers, "Long live the Queen." It only remains to be said that both the letters and flowers were made from bits of match-box or the paper covering thereon.

Yet another of these wonderful little models. This design is an ideal one, and is supposed to represent a desirable "Home for Old Soldiers and Sailors." Upwards of 3,000 match-boxes were used in the construction of this model, and it was made in its designer's spare time after he had worked ten hours a day at his own occupation. This model is the work of Mr. Evan H. Jordan, of Oakamoor Mills, near Cheadle, Staffs. Mr. Jordan says, "It took me about a thousand hours; the only things I used were an old razor and a pot of glue."

Another fancy design was sent in by Mr. J. Leavesley, of Nottingham, and it gained the second prize, this was supposed to represent, on a small but perfectly accurate scale, Messrs. Morelands' new premises. The model contained 6,000 empty matchboxes, the sand-papered edges of the boxes themselves forming the stone dressings of the building. Other striking instances of ingenuity were that the front of the boxes went to make the red brick facade: whilst the tiling on the roof was composed of the blue and amber of the insides of the boxes This model was nearly 6ft. square.

A particularly good and accurate representation of the Great Wheel at Earl's Court is next reproduced. This model gained a first prize of £50. Mr. S. Jennings, of 32, Richmond Street, Walsall, was the designer. The wheel contains 2,110 match-boxes, every one of which had to be cut, carved, and dovetailed into shape. The wheel has twenty - four cars, and each car has eight windows made out of mica. By a clockwork arrangement the wheel will work for fifteen minutes after being wound up. The model is 4ft. high; and Mr. Jennings tells me that no fewer than 500 of his neighbors came to see it at his house.

Sources: Books:

Bolles, Albert Sydney. Industrial History of The United States. The Henry Bill Publishing Company : 1889.

Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers. Locomotive Engineers Journal. Cleveland, Ohio : Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers : 1886.

The Strand. Marvels In Matchboxes. G. Nenues. New York. 1898.

Photographs:

Carringer Match Box Models. Cabinet Card. ca. 1896. Digital image. Privately held by Randy Seaver, San Diego, California. 2010.

Got A Light? Tintype. Unknown. Privately held by the footnoteMaven, Preston, Washington. 2010.

All photographs contained in the Twice Told were a part of the original article.

Digital Magazine Awards Entrant

2010-08-16T08:55:00.000-07:00

The Wedding Issue of
Shades - The Magazine

Shades The Magazine's entry into the Digital Magazine Awards has been accepted. Below is a description of the awards, our category, and the judging panel.

As you know, if you spend much time on the net, all the big boys have a digital version of their magazine. The competition is stiff. So we have crossed everything including our eyes. Please wish us luck! We do it for the love of it!

Celebrating The Best Magazines and Individuals From
The Digital Magazine Publishing Industry

The Digital Magazine Awards are the awards rewarding outstanding achievement in the Digital Magazine Industry.

The burgeoning Digital Magazine Industry is a fast growing, quickly evolving industry.

A leading publishing site since launching, in 2007, has achieved “more than 50 million monthly users and more than 50,000 documents uploaded daily” another hosts “over 50,000 magazines and books”.

The Digital Magazine Industry has exploded onto the scene.

The entry into the market of the Ebook (with one App, from a leading publisher, containing 2400 magazine titles) combined with other influential publishing sites holding significant market share and the broadening of the market into mobile and cell phones confirm the Digital Magazine Industry, in a very short period, has become a massively influential and significant market.

The Digital Magazine Awards will for the first time recognise outstanding achievement in the Digital Magazine Industry with 20 awards across sectors ranging from best magazines in fashion, news and sport to individual awards for editor, designer and photographer of the year.

The DMAs will showcase top class performance and innovation, reward achievement and continue to raise the bar on industry standards.

The DMAs are THE award to win in the Digital Magazine Industry.

Members of the judging panel can be found here.

Shades is entered in the following category - Specialist & Hobby Magazine of the Year:

This Award is for the outstanding magazine in the Specialist & Hobby sector.

The magazine will fore mostly contain brilliant editorial content and design, combined with an innate understanding of its target readership. The outstanding magazine will have significant market share as well as a solid readership base for its sector.

Overall the magazine that wins will have impacted on its sector and have an influence others are taking their lead from.

The judging panel will be influenced by how the magazine is embracing innovation, is delivering content that is impacting on its own and other sectors.

Has It Happened Again, PennyD?

2010-08-11T09:41:00.000-07:00

Twice Told Tuesday features a photography related article reprinted
from old photography books, magazines, newspapers, and today a letter

This is a "Twice Told Tuesday" told twice, but this year on Wednesday. A story told to you last year by a very special guest and reprinted because it and the subject are my favorites. A birthday celebration and another year PennyD!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PENELOPE DREADFUL/FAMILY CURATOR

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

Dear Daughter,

Miss Penelope and your Shades and Curator fans want to share this special day with you. A Curator, as you have learned, is a person responsible for managing, organizing and preserving historical and treasured items. You have always been good at keeping things. You certainly have the experience for this since you've hung on to friends, animals, letters, pictures, clothes, and even an old pork chop bone which we found under your bed. I wonder what the history of that bone would have been? I hate to imagine.

As far as Miss Penelope is concerned, I am sure she was first born during the many childhood books you read and the stories which you heard from your Grandma Arline. In fact, sometimes I believe you are talking about your Grandma and all the adventures she had and the men who had been in her life.

I will never be sorry now that I dumped 5 large boxes of Mama's pictures and letters on you when I moved to Arizona.

I think Mama knew that her life in the early 1900's would be of interest to others in this day and age. Mama would be thrilled that you have shared her life with others in such a unique way.

Have a Great Birthday and never stop your writing as you continue to enrich and entertain others.

Love Mom

Mom is the beautiful Suzanne. Denise Levenick (Penelope Dreadful and The Family Curator) is her daughter.

Your happy birthday now is here.

I hope you're well and hearty! If I lived near you, my dear,

I'd surprise you with a party.

Happy Birthday BFF from all your fans!

We lift our glasses!

Sources:

Photograph:

Denise & Mom. 2009. Digital Image. Anonymous. Acquired from Denise Levenick's Facebook page. 2009.

Walk Down The Aisle With Shades' Wedding Issue

2010-07-31T14:31:00.000-07:00

Welcome To The Wedding Issue of
Shades - The Magazine

(Select Cover or Title Above)

CONTENTS

Columns

Appealing Subjects
Copyright For Family Historians

The Year Was . . .
Is On Hiatus This Issue

The Future of Memories
Wedding Memories

Captured Moments
Everybody Loves A Wedding

In2Genealogy
The Ancestor Network Method

Penelope Dreadful
100 Years Too Dreadfully Early

The Healing Brush
Is On Hiatus This Issue

Saving Face
Wedding Dress Preservation

Features

Wedding Inspiration
In The Magazines

I Collect Wedding Photographs
Maureen Taylor

Behind The Camera
Photographing The Wedding

Now Comes The Bride
Wedding Costume

The Long & The Short Of It
Wedding Trivia

Wedding In Miniature
Tom Thumb Weddings

From My Keyboard

Letter from the Editor

The Exchange
Your comments

The Last Picture Show Back Cover
The graphic image on the back of a carte-de-visite
or cabinet card

INSTRUCTIONS FOR VIEWING

Selecting the page rather than the arrows to turn the pages enables the zoom function. Full screen using the arrows is optimum viewing

MAGAZINE BUTTON BAR

BACK & FORWARD BUTTON

INDEX BUTTON
(SELECT FOR MAGAZINE OVERVIEW)

FULL-SCREEN MODE

(RECOMMENDED FOR VIEWING)

VIEWING MODES
MAGAZINE VIEW - FLIP BOOK
PRESENTATION VIEW - SINGLE PAGE
PAPER VIEW - SCROLL TOP TO BOTTOM

SEARCH THE MAGAZINE

PRINT THE PAGE

PAGE X OF Y

PAGE NAVIGATION

Many Things Thursday - A Digital Time Machine

2010-07-15T11:45:00.000-07:00

"The time has come," the Walrus said, "to talk of many things."

Thursday, on Shades Of The Departed, will be dedicated to
many things, and nothing in particular.

Many Things Thursday

Let me introduce you to Historypin. Historypin is sort of a digital time machine that allows you to view and share your personal history in a very unique way. Historypin asks you to dig out, upload and pin your old photos, as well as the stories behind them, onto the Historypin map. It lets you layer old images onto modern Street View scenes, giving a series of peeks into the past.

Historypin uses Google Maps and Street View technology to accomplish this. They hope to become the largest user-generated archive of the world's historical images and stories.

Oh, how I hope they can do it. But they can't do it without us, so if you pin a photo and tell a story please leave a comment or send a note to the footnoteMaven@comcast.net, so I can compile a list of our efforts.

Here is a short video describing the project.

If you want to find out more about Historypin or We Are What We Do, visit www.wearewhatwedo.org or contact historypin@wearewhatwedo.org

Behind The Scenes At Shades Magazine

2010-07-12T08:26:00.000-07:00

There are some changes going on behind the scenes at Shades Of The Departed, The Digital Magazine.

The June and July issues are being combined into one themed issue, The Wedding Issue, which will be published this week.

An issue of Shades will be published monthly through December 2010; they will also be themed rather than a particular month.

Beginning in January/February 2011, Shades will be published six times per year, also with a theme for each issue. We will be looking at the photographs of the old west, back to school, momento mori, toys, politics, your immigrant ancestors and more.

It takes a great deal of work to produce the magazine and it is accomplished with love rather than money. (OK, so my husband doesn't really buy this one. He says money goes out but never comes in.) In an effort to lighten the burden on all the contributors we are making this change in the production schedule.

Shades will also be adding some specialized publications to the mix that we hope will be of benefit to our readers as photographic resources. There are some doozies here.

You may or may not know that this year has been a challenge for me with some nagging health issues. I would like to thank you for your patience during the rough spots. Personally, I love Shades and will do everything in my power to "keep on keepin' on."

See you this week at the wedding!

Web Wandering Wednesday - Wandering The World and The Web

2010-07-07T07:48:00.000-07:00

I am a Business Card Nerd, but you knew that didn't you? I'm certain that had I been born in Victorian times I would have had a beautiful calling card and collected those little treasures in albums created especially for them.

Today, I create my own Business Cards and admire those of others.

When you're a collector you are always pleased to meet, in this case, another Business Card Nerd. I bought a photograph from this Fine Photograph seller and was thrilled with his unique business card included in my purchase.

Fine Photographs
Paul Frecker
4c Plympton Street
Lisson Grove
London nw8 8ab

So, as you travel the world and the web, look for inspiration in designing your business cards. And make sure to read the November issue of Shades Of The Departed, The Magazine, for a feature article on calling cards. This is going to be a keeper.

My Favorite Spots for Inspiration:

Moo.com - You know I love them, check them out for inspiration.

CardNerd - Yes, we have our own website.

Smashing Magazine - Here are the inspiration and tutorials of Smashing Magazine.

eBay - Search eBay for Victorian calling cards and business cards. You don't have to buy to be inspired.

Victoria Magazine - In the real world Victoria Magazine devotes a page to beautiful modern day Calling Cards. There's a tremendous amount of inspiration here, and I have every issue.

Twice Told Tuesday

2010-07-06T09:01:00.000-07:00

Twice Told Tuesday features a photography related article reprinted
from old photography books, magazines, and newspapers.

In doing research into an old tintype containing some interesting men's clothing, I came across the following article and could not resist. THE DIRT ON CLEAN.

Hints About Men's Dress
1888

"The First Steps That Count"

Baths—Shaving one's self—Dressing the hair

—Care of the teeth and nails—

The use of perfumes unwise.

There is more reason in the Englishman's morning " tub" than most people give him credit for. It is not mere affectation. A nice Anglo-Saxon in England or America understands that cleanliness is the prime requisite of health and of a gentleman, and that for obvious reasons a man who does not indulge in frequent baths will not be an acceptable person in good society.

It is no little trouble to keep clean, but it pays, and is the basis of all decency. There are various ways of doing it, some more convenient than others. A tub-bath in one's own room is an awkward arrangement, and a sponge-bath scatters too much water; while to fill the stationary tub takes time and watching. Most convenient of all is the shower-bath. If this is arranged for hot and cold water, it requires only a moment's patience to get a shower of the proper temperature, and not much longer to take a good bath and a thorough wash with castile soap.

Not every one can stand the shower well, and delicate men should be careful not to take it too cold or too often; but the average man may enjoy a bath of this kind every morning without harm to his health. One should wipe himself thoroughly until perfectly dry. It is not necessary to have a towel as rough as a corn-cob, nor to keep up the rubbing till the skin is blood-red, as many books about health insist. While the tepid bath is agreeable and harmless, the bather should constantly try to lower the temperature, provided it does not get so cold as to leave him in a chill.

After a bath the operation of shaving is in order. Every man ought to shave himself. So doing not only saves money and time, but it is cleaner. It is not agreeable to a person of refinement to have a barber pawing his face; neither does a gentleman enjoy the society of the barber-shop while " waiting his turn." The haughty man who would not allow the barber to turn aside his long Roman nose (although it was gently done), nor to pull down the corners of his mouth, did not deserve the credit he claimed for not tolerating familiarities from any one. He should have shaved himself at home, and manipulated his own features.

The care of razors may be a little difficult at first, but the knack of sharpening them is easily learned, and, aside from the advantage of cleanliness, if one has a tender skin, he can shave himself more easily than any one else can do it for him. Of course, for trimming the beard—the chin-whisker is not tolerated now—the mustache, and the hair, it is necessary to endure a barber; but under no circumstances should he be allowed to put anything on the hair except cold water. Nothing is so objectionable as the smell of cheap perfumery. A word here as to perfumery in general. Don't use it. It was formerly employed, according to some authorities, by people who did not take baths, to disguise that omission; and, from this point of view, the use of it to-day is a suspicious circumstance.

In combing one's hair, which comes along about this time in the order of dressing, the principal point to be considered is where to part it. There is little doubt that it ought to be parted in the middle. So doing adds to the symmetry of the face, and it is almost the invariable practice in all countries, the United States excepted. In the noted public art-galleries of Europe one rarely or never sees an antique statue with its chiseled hair parted on the side. The line of division is in the middle where there is any line at all. Candor compels the admission that in many cases there is no parting; the front locks fall over the forehead in an easy, graceful, and natural way, as much like the modern " bang" as possible, except that the hair is not trimmed off evenly. This is especially noticeable in the statues of Roman emperors which may be seen in the Louvre ; and the head of the young Augustus, so well known, has a decided bang. Yet there is nothing effeminate about these old statues.

It is not intended here to say anything in defense of the bang, which, as it exists on a man in modern times, is a monstrous spectacle. It is merely desired to point out that, if precedent is needed for letting the hair divide naturally on the top of the head, it can easily be furnished. For many years in America to part one's hair down close by the ear was considered the proper thing; but the fashion of parting it in the middle is sensibly beginning to prevail, and after a short trial one will soon become convinced that a part in the middle is vastly more becoming than a part on either side.

Of course, if the hair is thin on top, this fact may be disguised a little by a parting on the side. If you object to a dividing-line on top because it is not seen there on most of the men you know, make the parting at least as high as you can stand it. It is the fashion now, and probably will be for a long time, to have the hair cut rather close at the back and on the sides. It is not parted behind, as was once done.

The growth on the neck should never be shaved, but merely clipped close with the scissors. If the hair is left a little long on top, it parts more easily. A closely cropped head is too suggestive of the prize-ring to be advised. It is permissible sometimes to put a little cosmetique on each side of the parting, so that the hair will remain in place.

Avoid frequent shampooing, as it tends to make the hair come out. The hair should be washed in cold water, without soap, during the morning bath. It is held by some that washing the head in a basin containing a few drops of ammonia in the water helps to keep the head free from dandruff. This may be so. At any rate, the hair must be kept so clean that there is never any dandruff on the coatcollar. It is well enough to comb the head once a week with a fine-tooth comb before washing it.

It is not necessary to dwell upon the importance of cleaning the teeth. They should be brushed twice a week with toothpowder, and every day with soap and water. They should be carefully watched by a dentist in whom you have confidence. No money is ever better spent by a young man than that paid out for having his teeth properly attended to, and filled when needed. It is laying up a store of enjoyment for a later period in life, when eating is about the only pleasure left.

The hands always need careful attention. They can only be kept clean around the nails by the frequent use of a nail-brush, soap, and hot water. Castile soap is the best to use; it leaves no odor, and does not chap the hands. If the soap furnished at the basin in the office is too cheap, keep a piece of a better quality for private use in your desk. The finger-nails in some countries are allowed to grow very long, and are cut to a point. Indeed, long, pointed nails were at one time supposed to indicate a gentleman, or at least a person who did not work, for if a man performs manual or clerical labor his nails are sure to be broken. In this country nearly every one works, and the claw-like fashion in trimming the fingernails does not prevail. But an American gentleman keeps his finger-nails cut pretty short (about even with the end of the flesh), with just a suspicion of a point. The callous bits of skin around the sides ought to be removed with sharp, curved nail-scissors, which can be bought at almost any cutlery-store. It isn't necessary in America to show by the hands that one does no work. It is simply required of a gentleman that his hands shall show proper care.

Sources:

A New York Clubman. Hints About Men's Dress. D. Appleton & Company. New York. 1888.

Photographs:

Barber Pole. Inset. Abbott, Berenice. Print. 1935. Changing New York/Berenice Abbott. Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs. NYPL Digital Library, New York.

Shades Magazine On The TwitterTron At Jamboree

2010-06-09T08:27:00.000-07:00

Shades is off to attend its favorite yearly event

And this year, we are very honored to be featured on the TwitterTron. For those who have not been to Jamboree or were there but did not see the TwitterTron, it is a jumbo screen that keeps track of all the Tweets associated with Jamboree.

This year, the extraordinary Paula Hinkle (is there anything this woman can't do?) has added a few things not on last year's TwitterTron menu, and one of them will be issues of Shades The Magazine.

Yes, Shades The Magazine is honored to be flipping for you on the jumbo screen. If you're at Jamboree stop for a moment and watch an issue of Shades. I can't wait!

MAY

APRIL

MARCH

FEBRUARY

JANUARY

DECEMBER

NOVEMBER

From The Graveyard Rabbit Journal
The Last Ride

See You At Jamboree!

Use Those Family Photographs

2010-06-07T10:09:00.000-07:00

In the May Issue of Shades we discussed using our family photographs. One of the most basic ways to use a family photograph is to frame it as a gift. I have been looking for a new and creative way to frame a family photograph as a gift.

I attended a professional framers show and something caught my eye. I'm sure you've seen them, a piece of art in a white mat with lines of different widths surrounding the opening. The image displayed also had decorative square corners. I stopped and spoke with the framer who had done the mat to ask him how he had accomplished the look.

The decorative squares used in the corners was a stamp he had purchased at a local stamp store. The lines were drawn with a professional framer's tool called a ruling pen. This process is called French Matting. French matting is pale washes of color surrounded by ink lines and known as the hallmark of European mat decoration.

Ruling Pen

I loved this idea! I could see it being used so many different ways. So, I purchased a "How-To" video, Windsor Newton Acrylic paints in several colors, a corkbacked ruler, the stamp from Stampington.com and a ruling pen at a local drafting supply store (ruling pens can be purchased online for as little as $8-$9.)

I then purchased several plain white smooth mats for practicing. It takes practice and a steady hand, but the finished product is beautiful. There are so many inspiration sites online, run a Google search for French Mats or check the list at the end of this article. I started with a very basic one line one stamp style.

Additionally, the bevel can be painted and watercolor wash can be added between the ruling lines. The sky's the limit. I am having a great time learning this new method of making our family photographs look wonderful as gifts.

The next step will be to add decorative papers. I'm not there yet, but I will let you know how I progress.

Watercolor Mat

When I give a gift of a framed photograph I print information that is attached to the dust cover on the back of the frame. Below is the information I included with a gift of a framed photograph of my husband's grandmother for one of our children.

Information On Back of Framed Photograph

The picture of the little girl with her dolls is the photograph that has been framed. The information relates to the little girl. Trust me, this takes almost no time at all, and will be appreciated for generations to come.

Ruling Pens:

Green & Stone

French Matting Kits:

French Matting Kit

The kit includes: Instruction Video, Acrylic Ink, Ruling Pen, Corked-bak Inking Ruler, Corner Marking tool, Tube of Watercolor Paint, Sabeline Lettering Brush, Mechanical Pencil, Two Rag Matboards, One Rag Mat Instruction Booklet. $29.40

How-Tos:

Picture Framing Magazine

Inspiration:

The Framer's Workshop
GJ Cloninger & Co.
French Matting On Flickr
Artisan Framing
Google Images

Art Stamps:

Stampington.com

Photograph in the collection of the author.

The Holy Grail

2010-06-04T09:39:00.000-07:00

To those of you who have religiously followed my collecting of women wearing glasses, you know that the Holy Grail of my search has been a photograph of nuns wearing glasses. (All puns intended.)

Well, the moment has arrived and I wanted to share it with you. I have found nuns wearing glasses. Aren't they beautiful?

There is a tremendous amount of research to do. The habits, what order, the crosses, what's on the table, etc., but I could not wait to share my find with you!

Houston We Have Lift Off - Shades The Magazine - May Issue

2010-06-01T16:50:00.000-07:00

Welcome To The May Issue of

Shades Of The Departed - The Magazine

(Select Cover or Title Above)

CONTENTS

Penelope Dreadful
A Dreadful Scheme

In2Genealogy
Discovering A Wildcatter

Appealing Subjects
The Many Migrant Mothers

The Year Was . . .
The Year Was 1919

Saving Face
A Rare Book Is Not A Manuscript

The Future of Memories
Grandpa’s Letters

Features

Let’s Use Our Family Photographs
Project Ideas

Smile For The Camera
The Ties That Bind

From My Keyboard
Letter from the Editor

The Exchange
Your comments

The Last Picture Show Back Cover
The graphic image on the back of a carte-de-visite
or cabinet card

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Houston - We Have a Problem

2010-06-01T10:47:00.000-07:00

The uploader at Issuu is having a problem. Shades The Magazine has been uploading for several days. Issuu is working to correct the problem.

It seems Shades will appear, when it appears. Sigh!