A Bit of History

No, it's not a great photograph, but it is a bit of tech history. This image is a very early Polaroid. Introduced in 1948 as the Model 95, the first instant system (40 series) used a roll film mounted on two spools, one with the negative that processed in the camera and the other spool, the positive strip and reagent chemical pack. I'm not competent to describe in detail how it worked, so I'll just write that as the two strips were pulled out of the camera, they went through a roller and after a minute of processing time, the instant image was produced. The 40 series format produced a print that was 3.25 x 4.25 inches, a handy way to tell the early roll system from latter ones. Too, look at the clothing worn, and we get another clue that this image is closer to 1948 than to 1964 when the last 40 series camera was made. Interesting aside, when I was working at the photo lab, one of our customers brought in a huge box of the Polaroid backing, the stuff from the roll system that most people threw away after they got the instant print. I took it into a darkroom and let it soak for a few hours in a photo-flo bath. The paper slid off leaving a conventional negative behind that we put in enlargers and printed. I do wish that Polaroid would keep it's promise to license production of film for their cameras. I still have a couple of them that worked last time I used them.

A Nineteenth Century Wedding

EBay can be an expensive way to collect old photos. Believe me, I've found that out the hard way. But, if you're willing to spend time scrolling through page after page of old photos, from time to time something interesting and affordable will come up. I hadn't really been looking for cabinet cards, but there they were. Nine, starting price of 99 cents, two bucks for shipping and not a single bid. Anyway, this was one of the ones I liked for a rather perverse reason. I'm a big believer that as photographic technique improved over the years, so did the subject's relationship to the camera. Stiff and formal was the standard, lively with a sense of movement a rarity. It took decades for the people being photographed to learn to relax and show some humanity. I'm fascinated that these people looked so stark on the big day. There is a studio mark embossed on the card, "D. A. Frommeyer -HANOVER, PA-" All I could dig up on Mr. Frommeyer is that he had a studio in Hanover from 1886 to 1911.

Moo

The J1 visa program was started in the 1960s as a cultural exchange program that allowed foreign students to enter the United States. It also allowed those students to accept jobs. Since their stays were supposed to be of a limited duration those jobs were exempt from social security and medicare payroll taxes and not subject to prevailing wage requirements of other guest worker programs. It seems that Hershey, America's favorite chocolate manufacturer, has been sponsoring J1 visas, paying low wages, and no payroll taxes as a cost cutting measure. So much cheaper than hiring American workers. I promised myself that I'd keep my socialistic politics out of the photo blog, but I did own this old postcard and I needed some text to go with it. Oh well. At least the cows seem to be well paid.

Danger

So what's dangerous about this woman? Well, nothing actually. When I logged onto Blogger this morning I made the mistake of clicking on the tab to try the new interface. Got a notice that my current browser didn't support the new interface. I followed their advice and downloaded Google Chrome, and still got the same notice. Had to go to the library, wait for a computer to open up, go to blogger to hit the tab to go back to the old interface. Oh how I hate computers!

A Girl and Her Trike

Did you know....The tricycle was originally designed and built for women. It was thought to be both immoral and undignified for women to ride bicycles, but the trike would allow a woman to join the cycling craze while keeping her legs covered. Women preferred bicycles.

Carte de Visite/Ohio

Well, I haven't put up a carte de visite for awhile so I thought I'd put these two up. Other than that they are both from Ohio, they aren't related in anyway. The profile has a studio mark on the back, "Geo R. Elliott, S.W. Corner High and Town Streets. Columbus, Ohio" And written, "Julianne Elizabeth Anthony (Mother)" Elliott was born in 1837 and had a studio in Columbus from 1870-86. A photographer for hire, his specialty was stereoscopic views. In 1886 he became the employee of James Madison Elliott, presumably a relative, who in addition to being a photographer was also a painter and crayon artist. Neither man was a great talent, but they made a living at it. On the mother/daughter portrait (I'm guessing), written on the back, "Jennie E. & Bell M. Norris, Stryker, Ohio" Stryker is in the northwest corner of the state, near the Michigan border. Click on either cdv or carte de visite in the labels section to see a lot more. The carte de visite was an early attempt at a standardized photographic format. They were small albumen prints mounted on a card, approximately 2.5x4.25 inches. While some people did in fact use them as visiting cards, they were usually given as keepsakes to friends and family. In the 1860s and 70s, the term cartomania was used to describe the craze for collecting as many cartes de visite as possible. Kind of like friending as many people as possible on Facebook.

Where were these taken?

With the Hindi writing on the dental office sign and the cow, wandering freely in a city, it's tempting to say India. But then again, people from the Indian sub-continent had settlements all over the far east before the arrival of the European colonial powers. Too, the British used Indians as administrators in colonies as far away as south Africa. I don't know why, but the two ladies in the last photo look Malaysian to me. I'm always willing to be corrected. From the twenties I would think.