Photo Number 1111

I found a tintype in the antique shop in Brainerd Minnesota.

It looks like this gentleman in a long heavy coat and hat is all ready for cold weather.

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Photo Number 508

We will look at some babies in carriages!

This is a Gem Tintype, I purchased it in Grand Rapids, Minnesota.  Gems are very small.  The actual photo is 1 inch by 1 1/2 inch, then it is put into the paper frame.  The whole thing measures 1 3/4 inch by 2 3/4 inch.  This one seems to have a decorative stamp around the opening. I have not seen one like it before.

Gems are sometimes said to be the size of a postage stamp.

Sometimes when a tintype was made a multiplying camera was used, more lenses were added to the camera box and many images could be created at once.  They were cut apart and put into folders, locket or frames.  You would have a number of images to share with friends and family..or to mail to family far away.

We will make no assumptions about the pink color either..pink used to be “the boy” color years ago. Pink was in the family of red colors and considered bold.  Blue was considered more dainty and for girls.  Thoughts on colors changed after WWII according to some sources and not until the 1950’s according to others.

So we don’t know the gender of the baby in the carriage, but we can assume that he or she has an older sister..at least I think so because of the hat.  The year?  It could be anytime 1860 to 1900.

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Photo Number 456

This is another tintype that was found in the Nettie Parks Album.

A man in a straw hat with a baby.  This is a very dark tintype, sometimes a very dark chocolate colored varnish was used to preserve the tintype. The entire card is 2 3/4 by 3 1/2 inches.  The tintype measures 1 1/2 by 2 1/4 inch.

I also have two odd things to show you today.

 

A postcard

Don’t know where this was taken but it was close by.

This I was an interesting coupon that someone thought was worth saving.

Tomorrow we will have the last photo from the Nettie Parks Album.

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Photo Number 454

This was tucked into the back of the Nettie Parks album.

This is a “Gem” tintype.  It is called a gem because of it’s size.  The tintype is 1 inch by 1 1/4 inch.  The card measures 1 3/4 inch by 2 3/4 inches.   Gems are sometimes said to be the size of a postage stamp.

Sometimes when a tintype was made a multiplying camera was used, more lenses were added to the camera box and many images could be created at once.  They were cut apart and put into folders, locket or frames.  You would have a number of images to share with friends and family..or to mail to family far away.

I have looked and looked at this image..tintypes were popular from 1860 to 1900.  I think it is a boy, either with long hair or sitting in a strange chair. What do you think?

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Photo Number 396

All you Forgotten Old Photo readers are simply the best!  I always appreciate your comments and your input on the old photos!  I feel very fortunate that some of you have emailed me your old photos to share with the readers..photos that would otherwise just be “forgottens” shoved in a box or even worse.. destroyed. 

Patty shared this poem with me:

Strangers in the Box by Pam Harazim

Come, look with me inside this drawer,

In this box I've often seen,

At the pictures, black and white,

Faces proud, still, serene.

I wish I knew the people,

These strangers in the box,

Their names and all their memories

Are lost among my socks.

I wonder what their lives were like,

How did they spend their days?

What about their special times?

I'll never know their ways.

If only someone had taken time

To tell who, what, where, or when,

These faces of my heritage

Would come to life again.

Could this become the fate

Of the pictures we take today?

The faces and the memories

Someday to be passed away?

Make time to save your stories,

Seize the opportunity when it knocks,

Or someday you and yours could be

The strangers in the box.

Patty also shared an interesting photo.

A tintype.    A tintype is an image formed directly on a sheet of metal.  The image is reversed left to right.

Tintypes were USUALLY considered “one of a kind” photos.  There was a process for making copies but it was rarely used.

Although in the small print it says that duplicate copies can be had from all negatives.

Mrs. SA Rich was in Zanesville Ohio from 1870 to 1876, then from 1883 to 1889 she was at 101 Main, then 1885 to 1886 she was someplace else in Zanesville.   From that information I would say that this photo was taken in 1870 to 1876 or 1885 or 1886.  There is some writing on the back of the CdV   (above the FROM ..same as small.. is kind of circled) and (under the S.A Rich is Conesville.)

This is the info that Patty sent along with the photos that she emailed to me.

I've attached one of the photos I was referring to.  As you can see, I have not only a print but also the tin "negative".  The writing on the back of the print is so faded that there isn't much that can be made out.  This photo and negative was in a box of old photos that I inherited from my grandmother in the early 1990s, before she passed away.  We identified all the photos that we could at that time, but she did not know who this person was.

Here is what I do know... I did have ancestors in my direct lineage with the surnames of Savage and Parks in the Zanesville/Coshocton/Conesville, OH area from 1850 until the early 1900s. 

I know that isn't much to go on.  Perhaps you can help me fill in some details based on what you know about old photographs.  Any help you can give me would be much appreciated.

I think he is a young lad, fifteen or sixteen years old..born in either 1855 to 1861 or 1870 or 1871.  I wonder what the census says for the surnames Savage and Parks in Muskingum County Ohio in 1860 ..1870..or 1880?

Thanks Patty for sharing your mystery relative!

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Photo Number 389

This is a tintype, it measures 2 inches by 3 1/4 inch. I will guess that this is from the early 1870’s.  The dresses have slightly dropped shoulders and have lots of trim in the form of bows and tassels or fringe.  Their hair styles are also less severe and their ears are showing.

I wonder..Mother and daughter or sisters?

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Update from Norkio: 
I agree that these are 1870s dresses. The early bustle period (1869-1876) featured softly bustled dresses created with flounces, padding and pillows, not the exaggerated and structured cage bustles of the later bustle period. I also agree that these are sisters and relatively young - maybe late teens. The girl on the right has her hair down which is definitely a hairstyle of youth and an advertisement to young men of her charms and beauty. The girl seated has a faux curl dangling on her shoulder. That would have been an "add on" made from natural hair, possibly her own, that she could clip into her hair. It was designed to convey a soft and gentle femininity, and was they height of fashion to have between one and three on one side of the head.

The dresses are luxurious with lots of trims. First, the seated girl has a simple and clean look but she is not lacking in trim. Her dress has some sort of apron that comes to midthigh or even midcalf. You can just see that it goes around to the back of her dress - there's a fold of fabric in the chair. I think the apron probably goes to her knees in front, is gathered up on the sides, then back down across her bottom in back. Very clean lines. The other girl has a very feminine and flounced dress. Her skirt in back may be bustled sort of like we bustle wedding dresses today - the skirts are folded up underneath themselves, not he best description - and that creates the poufs that were desirable. I can just see the edge of something from behind her, but I can't tell what it is, some part of her dress.

Photo Number 385

This is another tintype from Joan.  Tintypes were popular from 1856 to 1900. They reached their height of popularity around 1890. Tintypes are not actually tin but a sheet of thin iron.  Tintypes were the very first almost instant photograph, they were a fast and affordable way to mark a special occasion. They could be mailed and they could be carried in your pocket without fear of glass breakage like with daguerreotypes or ambrotypes. 

Mens fashions didn’t change like womens fashions..this bowler or derby hat was popular from 1849 and continued well into the 1900’s. I looked online at other tintypes..and found several with the same hat and a similar suit that were dated 1890.

 

Are his hands bandaged?  Is the bandage going between his fingers of his left hand and up his arm..is his right hand bandaged also or is it just blurry from moving it?   He doesn’t look big enough to be a fighter..as in using his fists.  Did he sustain an injury or was he ill? 

Thanks Joan for sharing your very interesting photos with me!

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Photo Number Ninety-one

Another tin type of a little boy.  Isn't he seated in a fancy chair?  The trim on his dress is wonderful...he even seems to have some sort of sash. He is a beautiful child.
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Photo Number Ninety

This is another tin type that Norkio kindly shared with me. She also shared with me that  this is a boy..because his hair is parted on the side.  Girls hair was parted down the middle.  I love learning small bits and pieces of information that make these photos make sense.   This is another boy in a dress..and it does make sense..that it was easier to change their diapers if they had on a dress..this was all clearly before the whole boy/girl thing that we are so accustomed to.
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Photo Number Eighty-Nine

This is a tin type..the folder it is enclosed in just says "Nellie"  so we know that it is indeed a little girl.   The way she is positioned I think perhaps Mom is covered by a piece of  fabric and  is behind holding her in place.  I know with one of my grands I hid behind the photographers table during a photo session..and if you look closely you can see one of my fingers.

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We have had some action on Photo Number Seventy-eight..it is headed to its home tomorrow!!

Photo Number Eighty-Eight

This is a "gem" tin type, very small about the size of a postage stamp.  I do not even begin to understand the camera that was used..I do find the process interesting!  Gems were made by using a multi lens camera with a repeating back.  They could copy the image onto the entire plate..so that many of these little gems could be made at one time..and used in carte de vistes (calling cards) ..or jewelry.

Norkio wrote: The image of the man is the smallest.  The image size is less than 1" with a bit more inside the card.  His was damaged by water but the actual plate is not in bad shape, except for a chip on it.  The tin types were all found in a trunk belonging to a deceased relative of my friend's friend.  It is unknown who the people are or even where some of the images were made.


I want to thank Norkio for emailing me these tin types..it has been very interesting to venture into this area of photography!
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Photo Number Eighty-Seven

Another beautiful tin type.  I looked at these photos really closely, for certain one of the girls from yesterday is in this photo.  I think they are both probably the same girls only a little older than in yesterdays photo.I bet they are sisters too.     Norkio noted that this photographer info was on the back.

I found out that J D Wallis was a Canadian Photographer and he occupied three different studios in Ottawa, he was at 56 Sparks Street from 1873-1874 and at 61 Sparks Street from 1875 to 1895.

Tin types were a fast form of photography, actually the first instant photo.  The photo could be taken, developed, cheeks tinted ( a very in vogue thing to do) they also tinted some clothing, they then varnished it and put it in a sleeve or a case..and off went the customer with their photo in hand.  Tin Types come in different sizes. Plate sizes were full, half, fourth, sixth, ninth, sixteenth and gem.  Tintypists were usually itinerant..they did bring the art of photography to many different people who could not afford photographs before.  Having your photo taken was a big deal..an event!  Tin types could be mailed..they were durable and unbreakable.  From what I read..the first tin types were not thought of very highly by Professional Photographers..they considered tintypists results not up to their standards and thought of them as a fly by night type of business. One photographer called tin types cheap and artless..apparently he had a bug in his drawers.

Tin is not used in the process, an iron plate is used but the images are cut apart with tin snips.  So it should really be called an Iron type...

I was also curious about "gems"  I found out that they are small tin types about the size of a postage stamp. These tiny photos could be used in jewelry..lockets, broaches..etc..( Norkio emailed me a gem..I will post it tomorrow.)

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Photo Number Eighty-Six

Today we are going to take a break from The South Dakota Photos.  We are going to go way back in time..to a tin type.  Norkio very kindly emailed me scans of old tin types, they are small 2.5 inches by 3.5 inches. I have not touched these up in anyway..they are all au natural!

Norkio wrote" The girls in particular are from the second bustle period (also called late bustle period), I believe, which is from 1883-1889.  I can tell this by the way they are sitting and also by the draping of their skirts and the trimming on their dresses.  If in fact one girl is in both pictures ( check back tomorrow! ) , she comes from some wealth because we all know that photography was quite expensive."

Well.. I absolutely love this image..first of all the heavy gowns..I wonder how heavy they were..how confining were they..especially with a bustle..were they hard to sit down in?  This is the first photograph that I have went ..oh my..the gal on the left is the spitting image of one of my nieces..no doubt it is the shape of her face and the hair..isn't their hair lovely.

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