A Carte de Visite Album 3

Rather than taking a break and posting something from another source, just for a bit of variety, I think I'm going to go straight through and put this album up in four contiguous posts. As usual, if more than one photo is on a page, I'll put up the whole page to show position and then the individual image. I've also put up one of the damaged pages. Note that the back of one of the cards is visible, which gives an idea of how much of the background is lost when the carte de visite is inserted into the page. The first image of the bearded man, on the back of the card, "Schurch's PHOTOGRAPHIC STUDIO, Cor. Penn Avenue and Spruce Street, SCRANTON, PENNA." The man with the mustache, bow tie and the noticeable stains on the print, "E. P. Kellogg, Photographer, 279 MAIN STREET, HARTFORD, CONN."

A Carte de Visite Album 2

Continuing with the carte de visite album. Most of these either are in the album, back to back or have no studio identification. The two children with the hand colored sashes, "Coatsworth, Photographer, Opposite Wyoming House, Scranton." That's Scranton, Pennsylvania in the Wyoming river valley. And the final child, "R. D. PALMER, PHOTOGRAPHER And Portrait Painter, Huron Street, East of Cook's Hotel, Ann Arbor, Mich." In the first post from this album, I speculated that this family might have moved from Scranton to Sioux City, Iowa, but another explanation is an extended family with branches here and there around the country. Or at least the states that had been admitted by the end of the civil war. Click on the woman with the braids. Didi she make a necklace from her hair.

A Carte de Visite Album 1

This is one of the first big pieces in the old photo collection, given as a present by a relative, even though she agreed with the rest of my family that it was very weird that I was obsessed with collecting stuff. I'm not yet sure how I'm going to space this one out. There aren't that many photos left in the album. Many of the pictures have been torn out, the pages and album spine are very delicate, and I'm somewhat concerned that I might damage it when I put it on the scanner. It's hard to see, but there is a price of $15 on the first full page of the album. A bargain by today's standards.

As I've written in some of my earlier carte de visite posts, the CDV and the larger cabinet card were early attempts to come up with standard format for photographs. Printed and then mounted on same size card stock, they could be carried in card cases, or mounted in blank albums. In this particular album there is a slot in each page that allows for two CDVs, per page, to be slid in, back to back. While the photos could have been taken out and scanned separately, I decided not to risk any more damage to the album pages and left them in for scanning. The results, as can be seen, are a bit crooked.

Because some of the CDVs have been removed, the backs of some of the cards have been exposed. The photographers mark on the back of the woman holding the baby reads, "GEO. B. CHASE PHOTOGRAPHER, Scranton, Pa." The first shot of the child in a dress, "FRANK JEWELL PHOTOGRAPHER, Chase's Gallery. SCRANTON, PA." It seems that George Chase either took a partner or was successful enough to hire employees. It looks like this family moved, since the photos of the final two children each have "J. HAMILTON, PHOTOGRAPHER, FOURTH STREET, SIOUX CITY-IOWA" stamped on the back.

There was a strange custom in the nineteenth century of raising young boys as girls for the first four or five years of their lives. Note that the two pictures of the child wearing a dress look to be the same child, and that child is male.

The Hollywood Palladium

.

.

.

.

.

I admit that this isn't the strongest photograph in the world, but the cover is nice and the Hollywood Palladium is still up and running and doing quite well. Too, it's about five miles from my apartment, and I drive by it three or four times a month. The Palladium was built by Los Angeles Times publisher Norman Chandler and opened on October 31, 1940. The opening night act was The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra featuring vocalist, Frank Sinatra. With it's large stage and dance floor, the Palladium soon became one of the most popular big band venues in the country. From the mid fifties to the mid sixties it was the place to be for Latin jazz and bands. Tito Puente was a popular, and recurring act. The Palladium was also the home of The Lawrence Welk Show. With the rise of rock & roll, coupled with the decline in big band music, by the sixties the hall became a rock showcase. Among others, Jimi Hendrix played multiple shows at the Palladium. It also hosted the Grammys, and political events. During the 1960 Democratic Convention, nominee John Kennedy gave a major speech about the rise of right wing extremism in the Republican party at the Hollywood Palladium. In 2007, new owners took over the hall, and shut it down for major renovations. It reopened on October 25, 2008 with Jay-Z headlining. No information on the four people pictured, but printed on the back, "For additional prints write to The Hollywood Palladium 6215 Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood, California. When Ordering Please mention This Number 34607." As usual, click on nightclubs, souvenir photo or souvenir photo folder in the labels section to bring up the growing collection of old nightclub souvenir folders.

Cape to Cairo

The Cape to Cairo Railway was the vision of Cecil Rhodes. The last 700 miles from the southern to Sudan into Uganda have never been completed. Rhodesia was renamed Zimbabwe after the fall of it's white rule government. Printed on the back of the card

"575 (17023) Lat. 17 S., Long. 26 E. CAPE TO CAIRO RAILWAY, RHODESIA, AFRICA Africa is indeed the Dark Continent if enlightenment comes with railways. It has very few railroads and, outside the Cape to Cairo branches, these are short. Until 1867 the whole continent had only 40 miles of track.

But European countries wished to tap the natural riches of central Africa. To do this railroads were needed to carry the raw materials to the coast. In the hope of striking through the heart of the continent the Cape to Cairo Railway was planned. The Cape means Cape Town at the Cape of Good Hope. Locate. Cairo is a large city in Egypt, on the Nile, and not far from the Mediterranean Sea. Locate Cairo.

The railroad as planned would follow the general course of the Nile into the Lake Victoria country. It would then go near Lake Tanganyika into Northeast Rhodesia and so on southwest to Cape Town. From Cape Town to Northeast Rhodesia 2,000 miles of the road is built. From Cairo to 100 miles south of Khartum some 1,500 more miles are built. This leaves a gap of 1600 miles yet to do. On a map of Africa dot the route of the Cape to Cairo Railway.

The view here shows the railway near the Zambesi River, just below the Victoria Falls. The bridge is 650 feet long, and is said to be the highest in the world-420 feet above the water. The building is the home of a guard who takes fares from foot passengers who cross the bridge-a shilling per person. How much is a shilling? Study the picture of the bridge. Observe the depth of the gorge through which the Zambesi flows. Notice the plants.

Copyright by The Keystone View Company.

The bridge shown is still in use and a color, aerial shot of the bridge showing Victoria Falls can be seen at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Victoria5.jpg Click on stereoview in the labels section to bring up other stereoview cards as well as more info on The Keystone View Company, the largest stereoview card company in the world.

Patriotic Girl Scouts

Anyone who follows this blog, and there are at least nine of you, knows that I don't like it when dealers break up collections and rip photos out of old albums. Well, these photos were glued in too well to be ripped off the page, so someone cut them out with a pair of scissors. They did a good job, because the photos pasted on the back side weren't damaged. And no, I'm not 100% sure these patriotic young ladies are girl scouts, but they are wearing uniforms, and I've found photos of girl scouts from the 1920s wearing similar looking uniforms.

Saturday, July 24, 1909 7:45 P.M. Newark, New Jersey

I'd love to know the history of this card. Was it a standard, mass produced card sold to the motoring crowd, or did the motorist send off a photo of himself and family in their new car for a customized job? Was it a promotional piece given to new car buyers? Perhaps it was made for early road rallies that automobile manufacturers sponsored to build up interest for the industry. After all, in 1909, cars still weren't thought of as a sure fire replacement for the horse. Newark, N.J. is written in with pen. Did this motorist save this card to mailed at his final destination, or did he have a stack of them, mailed from every small town and city along the way? Written along the top margin of the card, "I hope you had a fine time in Gunnison." On the bottom margin, "Regards from the folks," and a name, "Will" and a last name I can't make out. Addressed to "Mrs. Coner Kinford, 921 Acoma St., Denver, Colorado." In 1909, most of the roads between Denver and New Jersey would have been dirt, and every rain drop, rut, and unsigned road junction would have slowed down Will and his automobile. It might have taken him a week to get to Newark, it might have taken him a month, or maybe even longer. Today, a driver on the interstate, willing to put in long days and pushing the speed limit can make it in two days.