Sunday, April 29, 2012

Sentimental Sunday - Women with Hats - 1890's Williamsport Woman

This cabinet card of a well-dressed, but unidentified woman from Williamsport, PA is somewhat faded, but is too interesting not to post. She is quite fashionable for a 1890's woman;  I would put the photo somewhere around 1895 due to the high puffy sleeves and neckline.  Oh and let's not forget that hat!  With the very large bow and white flowers it is quite the fashion statement. The white flowers on the dark fabric of her dress really "pops."  She is standing next to a chair with a coverlet of some type.

The photographer was R. Y. Nice, Cor. 3rd Market St. Williamsport, PA.  I didn't find much when I Googled him, but I did locate him on Ancestry.com in both the 1900 and 1910 censuses. The 1900 census lists his name as Robert Y. age 51, born Jan 1949 in Pennsylvania, father from England, mother from Pennsylvania.  He was married in 1873 to wife Margaret H. and they had three grown, unmarried children living with them at the time, Perry H. age 22, Robert Tomb (interesting name) age 21 and Eleanor age 23.  In the 1910 census, all three children are still living with them.

Update:  I have to admit to being set in my ways.  In the first paragraph, I mention how faded the photo is.  One of my readers pointed out that if I used Picasa's "I'm Feeling Lucky" feature it would help the photo.  Would you believe I have had Picasa for several years but never use it because I am comfortable using Windows Photo Gallery?  I know Picasa has better features, I just hate change!  Looking at the difference between the two pictures, I think it's time I started using it.


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6 comments:

  1. AnonymousMay 01, 2012 7:59 AM

    You can easily enhance the photo, for instance with the I'm feeling lucky option in Picasa (example).

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    1. Teresa Wilson RogersMay 05, 2012 12:45 PM

      Rob, thanks for the suggestion, I hope you will take a look at the difference between the two photos. Would you believe I have had Picasa for several years but was just two lazy and set in my ways to use it?

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    2. AnonymousMay 07, 2012 7:13 PM

      You're welcome. I'm glad you give it a try, for me part of the blogging fun is to try to improve a picture before I post it. If I may give you one more tip: try to avoid including the white mouse pointer when you make a screenshot. It has also happened to me sometimes that's why it caught my attention.

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    3. Teresa Wilson RogersMay 07, 2012 7:27 PM

      OMG, I didn't even notice that! Thanks for "pointing" it out! :-)

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  2. Mike BrubakerMay 08, 2012 9:55 PM

    So much better. I use Photoshop Elements 7.0 which is very easy to learn. When it transforms the faded or cracked photos, the people practically jump out of the picture. What color do you see the dress? I think green with yellow accents!

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  3. Teresa Wilson RogersMay 09, 2012 9:39 AM

    Yes, I was thinking dark hunter green with cream accents! I have thought several times about buying Photoshop Elements but so afraid it would be too difficult to learn, you have given me more incentive to consider it. Thanks!

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