I posted this cabinet card of an unidentified man from Medina, NY with a group of photos the other day for Sepia Saturday, but thought he deserved another mention. He is quite the picture of style for the times which I believe to be the late 1880's. The handsome subject with the full mustache is wearing a three piece dark brown suit with long jacket and is holding his bowler hat in his hand. He is also leaning on a studio prop, paper-mache column. If you look closely you will see his unusual bow-tie made out of checkered fabric. He also is sporting a watch chain at his waist.
The photographer was Charles A. Stacey of Medina. I found him on Ancestry.com in the 1880 Lockport, Niagara, NY census, born in New York aged 23, married to Helen aged 20. He listed his parents' birthplace as England and his occupation as "photographer." I also found this small mention:
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| 1886 Niagara Falls City Directory (source) |
With his slick hair and waxed moustache, he seems to have come straight from the barber. But it's his shoes that intrigue me. They seem to be made of 2 kinds of material, something rather shiny and something rather suede-y.
ReplyDeleteI am not an expert on bowler hats but it looks so huge in comparison with the size of his head. The fabric of his bow-tie certainly is unusual. The same goes for his jacket. It is as if everything is put together (by the photographer?) for the occasion. A remarkable picture, thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeletePeter, I had the same thought about the size of the hat.
DeleteTypical man, always thinking something is bigger than it really is! :-)
ReplyDeleteLOL -- Go Teresa!
DeleteLOL and I meant the man in the photo not Peter!
DeleteThat's definitely a 10 gallon hat. I've read that many men from this era used their hat to stow papers, contracts, etc. maybe even a sandwich. His shoes are buttoned and not laced, I think. Great photo.
ReplyDeleteWow, imagine that, all those papers, lunch and who knows what else up there in that hat getting all hot and sweaty and smooshed around in your hair! Go Figure. What happened when they leaned over - did the hall fall off and everything fall out?
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