Foltz & Fowler Cabinet Card

Go back through the collection and there will be a lot of photographs that have a brown tone to them. Most are brown because the printer did not give the print an archival wash. Fix, or hypo, is the chemical used to harden the print emulsion. If the printer doesn't wash the print long enough, the hypo that remains behind leaches out of the print and turns a yellowish brown. An albumen print, a nineteenth century medium that used egg whites as a solution, mixed with the light sensitive salts and applied to the paper that was then used for printing had a natural rich brown tone. Sepia tone.

Tintype Dated (Sort of)

Unless you're an expert on nineteenth century clothing, dating a tintype is almost impossible. In this case though, we have a hint. Placed in a decorative paper frame, the photographer used a scrap of newspaper as backing. While there is no dateline, the bit of article refers to Maryland Governor Bowie. In nineteenth century Maryland there was only one Governor Bowie, Oden Bowie who served from 1869 to 1872. A sangerfest is a German song festival.

Old California 2

Part two of the old California estate collection, and while a baby picture, labeled "9 mos." managed to sneak in, this one is mostly about travels in California. And oh how things have changed. I've been to Tustin, and I would love to know exactly which "Highway near Tustin" is depicted in the third picture of this group. There is a huge open space with old hangers for pre- World War 2 dirigibles near the railroad station, but other than that, Tustin is tract houses, office buildings, and shopping centers. Tree lined lanes, not anymore. Laguna Beach is now an enclave of the wealthy with large, private homes on the highlands above the ocean. In this collection, those same bluffs are brush covered fields. Joaquin Miller was the poet of the High Sierra, even though he lived in Oakland, California, and his home is now a city park. The Miller house photo was printed on postcard stock and actually mailed to someone, post marked "OAKLAND, CAL JUN 9 12-M 1911," addressed to Mrs. N. Sherman, 241 East 31st Los Angeles, California." And the note, "Dear Aunt, Remember me to Aunt Hat and Nell. Just to say I am well as usual and trust you all are the same. What's the matter with spending your vacation in Oakland this year, There is lots of nice places to go here. Love and all, Sam." The building on the Mt. Tamalpais photo is a resteraunt and tavern, and was built in 1896. It burned down in 1923 and a smaller building was put up in it's place. It was removed in 1950.

A Girl and Her Sax

Found inside a generic cardboard photo folder without a photographers name, studio mark, or date. Written on the outside of the folder in pencil, "Georgina Harriet Walker 4 yrs. old." Adolphe Sax, a Belgian instrument maker invented the Saxophone in 1841, one of the few instruments named after a person. The Sax in this photo seems to be sized for a child.

Big Sister, Little Brother

Printed on postcard stock, a studio portrait of two children, most likely brother and sister. The fur collar, hat and muff point to a certain amount of prosperity. Nothing written on the back of the card. No location, but with the winter clothes, it must be from a cold climate.

Bernard Pefferman, Worker

Printed on postcard stock and labeled, "Bernard Pefferman, 532 Grandview Ave. E.P." The E.P. stands for East Pittsburgh, a borough about ten miles or so from downtown Pittsburgh. On the Monongahela River, East Pittsburgh is where George Westinghouse built the factories that built the huge generators that provided power for, among other things, the New York Subway System. With his soft cap, and rough clothes, Mr. Pefferman was very probably a blue collar worker at the Westinghouse factory or in one of the steel mills or iron foundries in nearby Braddock. Late nineteenth or early twentieth century.

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This is a message for Lauren. For some reason that baffles me, Blogger won't allow me to post a comment from my home computer. To answer your question, I've had this photo in my collection for at least thirty years. More than likely I purchased at a flea market or garage sale. If you've read this, leave another comment and anything you know about Bernard.

Old California 1

I picked up this small collection of California snapshots from an on-line estate sale. There are 33 images in the group, which I will be posting as three setts of 11. The photographer's life seems to have been centered around the bay area, both San Francisco and Oakland, and the Los Angeles area, for the first ten years or so of the twentieth century. The photo of the tower is easily recognizable as the ferry building in downtown San Francisco. It's still there and still in use. The Lyric Theater sign isn't much use in identifying a location. Lyric Theater was just too common a name for early music halls and Vaudeville theaters. The mansion on the hill photo is labeled, "Home on hill above Ocean at Santa Monica." For those who don't know California, Santa Monica is right next to Los Angeles. The house looks familiar to me, and the next time I'm in Santa Monica, I'll see if I can find it. Pacific palisades, I would think. The football statue from the Berkley Campus is printed on postcard stock, and while it could be a commercially produced card, the lack of patent and copyright info on the back makes me think it might have been printed in a home darkroom. The baby carriage photo is labeled, "Betty at 241 E-31 ST, Los Angeles." The ostrich pictures could have been shot at any of the farms in California that raised exotics for meat, and hides, but it looks like the sight of the commercial ostrich farm in South Pasadena. There is an apartment building on the sight now. The two children photo has a difficult to make out embossing, but under a magnifying glass it looks like, "Mushet Los Angeles." The two Asian gentlemen image has Chinese letters down the left margin, and in English, "Heap Good." And my favorite from this group; the Shriner's photo. California has always been a state that puts a value on boosterism. It's our real estate based economy, I think.