The Albert Memorial

In his book about George Orwell, Christopher Hitchens argues that Orwell was unique among intellectuals in being right about the three important political/moral issues of the mid twentieth century. He was opposed to communism, fascism, and colonialism. Commissioned by Queen Victoria after her husband, Prince Albert's death, the Albert Memorial is a monument to England's colonial power as well as Prince Albert.

This is an interesting stereoview because is appears as if it might be a bootlegged copy of an original. The two images are one print, it's mounted off center, and the usual curved top of the image has been sliced of to fit on the card.

Vermont in Color 1

I've been wanting to add some more color snapshots to the blog, and these, I think, make a nice start. All have a Kodacolor logo on the back of the print. starting in 1942, Kodacolor was the first practical, true color film offered to the general public. Before loosing an anti-trust suit in 1954 Kodacolor could only be processed and printed by Kodak. The people who took these photos were very detail oriented. Each print is dated, in neat, easy to read script. The first seven prints are dated, "Sat. Aug. 19, 1961." The last three, all of the man on the chaise, are dated, "Mon. Aug. 21, 1961." In addition, the last print of the series has, "G's 40th B'Day." I assume that G is the lady in the blue dress. Two more parts coming.

Royal Palm Hotel

Built on the north bank of the Miami River, the Royal Palm Hotel opened in 1897. It was built by Henry Flagler, partner of John D. Rockefeller, railroad owner, and real estate developer. Flagler is credited with starting the resort building boom along Florida's east coast. When he showed up in Miami, it was just a small town, but after only a few years, it had become a major resort destination for the wealthy of New York, Boston, and Philadelphia. The Royal Palm was the first building in Miami to have electricity, elevators, and a swimming pool. It was built on a Tequesta Indian burial mound, and over sixty skulls were removed during construction, which were given away as souvenirs. Damaged by a hurricane in 1926, infested by termites, it was condemned and torn down in 1930. Each card has the usual stamp block with postage listed as "ONE CENT For United States and Island Possessions Cuba, Canada, and Mexico. TWO CENTS For Foreign. The color image of the hotel is from the 'FLORIDA ARTISTIC SERIES" and has a publishers mark, "PUB. BY THE H. & W.B. DREW CO. Jacksonville, Fla." Also, "IN GOD WE TRUST." The black & white image was printed by "The Rotograph Co., N. Y. City. (Germany)" The color shot of the dock, "Made in Germany. A. C. Bosselman & Co., New York." The only thing I could find about any of the card publishers was about the son of A. C. Bosselman. The son was killed on New Year's eve, 1921. It seems he got a bit rowdy, got into an argument with a policeman who hit him in the head and fractured his skull. In the articles I found from the January 3, 1921 edition of the New York Times, Bosselman senior was listed as a souvenir manufacturer, and his son was listed as the manager of his father's Washington office.

Robert Pierce

These photos were taken by Robert Pierce, a professional photographer from Michigan at a local camera show sometime in the middle or late 1960s. (Love the imitation Peter Max backdrops.) While I don't know what kind of show it was, it's pretty probable that it was an equipment show geared towards pros and advance amateurs. Most pro photographers, if they had a studio portrait business, would have used a large format camera that would take single exposures on either 4 x 5, or 8 x 10 sheet film. For location work, perhaps a Speed Graphic, Busch Pressman, or a medium format, twin lens like an old Mamiyaflex. I suspect Robert Pierce was trying out a 35mm, shooting some local models supplied by the show sponsors. 5 x 7 is a format that works well with 35mm, with minimum cropping. Printed on fiber base paper. The models in these photos are probably in their late fifties to mid sixties now, and very likely still alive. If you're out there, or if she's your mother, leave a comment.

Cabinet Card-Two Children

Two little girls? Very likely, but not a sure thing. There was a custom among the upper classes of the nineteenth century of keeping little boys in dresses and long hair until they were three or four years old. Then it was knee pants, and not until a certain age, long trousers.

Clearfield Cabinet Card

When I first started collecting old photos, my main emphasis was on old. The older the better. While I still look for interesting cabinet cards, carte de visites, and tintypes, as well as more modern studio shots, press photos, and postcards, my focus has shifted to snapshots from the twentieth century. This is one of my first purchases. Clearfield, the county seat of Clearfield County is in central Pennsylvania, about a two hour drive from my home town. Nothing on the back of the card.

Opening Day

As I've noted before, I've had a life long tendency to collect things. My first really systematic collections were baseball cards and comic books. Sadly, my mother listened to the child psychologists of the day who believed that a refusal to give up childhood interests was a sign of an arrested development. So every Topps baseball card from 1959 through 1970, organized by team and league went into the fire. Also, my Spiderman, Fantastic Four, X-Men and Avengers numbers 1. Just think, I could have paid all my debts and taken the next couple of years off if I still had them. And no, I'm not going back to baseball card collecting. Not enough space, time or money. This is the only one I own.