Kate Creighton, the Mother

I have five images of the Creighton family, this one of the mother and three more of the daughter which will be posted within the next couple of days, and a wild card mystery image. This carte de visite was taken by a photographer in Philadelphia. The child, taken at three different ages was taken by three different photographers in three different communities in western Pennsylvania.

Manipulated

Back when I worked at the photo lab, the digital dept. guys kept wanting to make the silly argument that digital was superior because it could be manipulated. Well, this image is from the 19th century, and it has been manipulated. I'm not sure how it was done, other than the general observation that coloring was added to give it a painterly look. I suspect that the original was bleached back to an almost ghost like density, and then the inks were added. By the by, bleaching back an image is done before a print is made a sepia tone.

Carte de Visite, CDV With Hat

This CDV was rather crudely made. I used the scanner to square up the image, but the actual picture, an albumen print, was trimmed out with a very ragged edge, and then pasted, off center, on the card. Unlike the Daguerreotype and ambrotype, carte de visites were cheap to produce, and made it possible for lower income people to have their picture taken and for a young man on the make to get into a non labor profession for a small up front investment. The high collar makes the subject look very statue like, at least to me.

The Rocking Horse Chair

I know that I've written that I'm not all that interested in pictures of children, and that hasn't changed. Like the Betty Jane Easterly post (9-10-10) I'm fascinated by the kid's toy as well as the contrast with the Easterly picture. Betty Jane had an expensive looking, factory built toy car. This child has what looks like a hand made rocking chair made to look like a horse. Click on the image to blow it up and the rough cut texture of the foot board can be more clearly seen. And the painted horse imagery, very folk art.

The Monkey Doll

Click on the photo to get a bigger image, and a monkey doll can be seen nestled in the ladies arm. Normally I wouldn't show a printers mark unless it was particularly decorative, but even with my magnifying glass things looked smeared, so I've scanned it in and posted it. From the twenties.

Father and Son

A father and son bonding over a cigarette. I wonder if dad, through ignorance, pushed his son to a lifetime of nicotine addiction, emphysema, heart disease and cancer. Tobacco use in the United states has always been high, but before the first world war, cigarette smoking was a far second to chewing tobacco. During the war, many cigarette companies sent the troops free smokes. Click on the image to blow it up, and what I think is a Pillsbury Flour advertisement can be made out on the barn. Most likely from the twenties.

The Rose Parade, January 1, 1926 Part 5

The fifth and final part, and the only one with a picture of the big game. Known as the "game that changed the south" that ushered in the "age of Dixie." Underdog Alabama, 9-0, was the second choice to face the mighty Washington Huskies. Led by star running back, George Wilson, the Huskies ran up 300 yards of total offence when he was on the field. After he left the game with an injury, Washington was limited to 17 yards of offence. Trailing 12-0, Alabama half back, Johnny Mack Brown led Alabama to 20 points in the third quarter. Final score, Alabama 20, Huskies 19. The Crimson Tide was awarded it's first national championship. It was also the first Rose Bowl to be broadcast on radio. While he was in southern California, Johnny Mack Brown signed a contract with MGM. He would appear in "Our Dancing Daughters" the movie that made Joan Crawford a star, and "A Woman of Affairs" with Greta Garbo. Sound was not good to Brown, and he ended up as the star of a series of B westerns.