Sepia Saturday #177 - Children on Fences, Columns, Rocks & Other Photographer's Props

I have a lot of wonderful old children's photographs and for some reason rarely post child photos so when I saw the theme prompt for this week's Sepia Saturday I decided to share some of my favorites.  Here are just a few:

This first photo (CDV) is a very young, unidentified Trenton, NJ girl taken between 1864 and 1866 as evidenced by the revenue stamp on the back.  Such a little sweetheart and look at her darling dress.  The photographer was Aller & Brown of Trenton.  This little miss is posing on the photographer's fake balustrade railing.

This next photo (cabinet card) features five young Michigan siblings and their dog posed next to a faux fence and pile of hay.  The photographer was Dave Bradbeer of Charlevoix, Michigan.  This photograph was most likely taken in the late 1880's.

 

Next up is a cabinet card featuring an 1890's boy wearing Little Lord Fauntleroy attire holding the obligatory whip.  This was a very popular costume for boys to wear for their photographs in the 1890's.  This particular young boy was posed by photographer Strunk of Reading, PA seated on a large "rock."

 

This young girl from Trenton, NJ is quite a picture in plaid posed next to a "stone column" and behind an "iron gate."  I've posted  this cabinet card before, but I think she deserves another mention - just love her entire outfit.  The photographer was J. E. North of 31 Centre St.  This photo is also from the 1880's.

 

This young lad leaning on the "stone column" is quite dapper in matching jacket and knickers with  hat and cane and take a look at those plaid leggings!  What a good looking young man.  No photographer is listed, but the boy is identified on the back as Howard Prue Price, I believe.  My guess is this cabinet card is from the late 1870's.

 

And finally we have this sweet young girl leaning on the photographer's "stone fence".  Such a sweetie in her simple dress and lace collar and notice the necklace with long chain around her neck.  The photographer was H. S. Stephens of Rushville, Indiana.  This photo was probably taken in the late 1880's.

If you have enjoyed these photos I hope you will hop, skip or jump over to Sepia Saturday to see even more wonderful photos.

Sepia Saturday #173 - Odd Animal Photos - Fish & Fangs

The theme for this week's Sepia Saturday is based on a photograph of a boy holding two birds/ducks/geese, not sure what they are, but a quite odd photograph it is.  I have a couple of photos in my collection I have been holding on to that I thought would fit this theme perfectly.  Therefore I humbly submit to you my odd animal photos.

The first photograph is a small snapshot taken of a portly man holding a rather large fish.  On the back he is identified as "Uncle Bert", 37 (1937) Ft Drum, at Corpus Christi.

This next photo is actually a real photo postcard and I have to be honest with you about this one.  I bought this in an antique store and why I did, I do not know because I have a terrible phobia about snakes; I cannot look at them, cannot even bear to think about them, I will probably have a nightmare tonight from just posting this photo, but it is too perfect for this theme not to post.  The man is identified on the back as D. J. Winters, but I have not been able to find out any information about a snake wranger with this name.  I believe this was a rattle snake but, since I have no knowledge of snakes and want none, I am not sure.  According to the AZO mark on the back it was produced between 1904 and 1918.

For more odds and ends, please visit Sepia Saturday.

Mystery Monday - Unknown Trio Poses with Chihuahua in Pittsburg, KS

Who are these three people posing for this Cabinet Card with the little black Chihuahua sitting on a stool in Pittsburg, Kansas? This picture is not of the greatest quality, it is blurred, it has been roughly handled over the years with many scratches, scuff marks and dirt.  The back is the same color as the front with something very lightly written in pencil but some one has scratched it out also with pencil.  There are water stains on the backside as well.  The pose of this trio is quite stiff and it is interesting to me that the men in the picture are so blurred while the little dog is quite clear.

The photographer is E. W. Smith who I found in three Kansas State Censuses, 1895, 1905 and 1915.  In the 1895 census he was age 42, born in Indiana, married to Elizabeth age 32, two daughters Roxie age 11 and Viola age 6.  None of these censuses listed an occupation.  I also found an 1890 Pittsburgh, Kansas City Directory where he is listed near the bottom of the page under "Masonic."  I found another cabinet card photograph taken by him on the Pittsburg State University site of the wedding of Anna Matilda Lahmann and Henry Cordes in 1887.

Due to the woman's clothing and the embossed text and artwork this photograph was probably taken around the very late 1890's or early 1900's.

Sepia Saturday #113 - Vaudeville & The County Fair

Edmund Burroughs 1901 - 1903

You ever have a photo and you're sure you know right where it is but then can't find it?  Well, I looked all over for this one, spent over an hour looking on my computer because I was sure I'd scanned it.  Then I looked for another hour in my hard copies before I finally found it.  This is my only claim to an actor for this week's theme at Sepia Saturday. Whew!  I was getting a little desperate, I don't think my Mr. Edmund Burroughs seen here was a film actor but he will have to do.  He sure looks mighty impressive though!

The back of this large cabinet card which measures 10 3/4 by 5 3/4 says "Edmund Burroughs as "Tim the Tamer" with Neil Burgess, County Fair Co - 1901-02-03."  The photographer was J. B. Wilson, 389 State St. Chicago.

When I first read this I assumed he performed at a real county fair.  My research on Edmund Burroughs has unearthed that this was actually the New York stage production of Neil Burgess.   The story is about a elderly woman Auntie Abigail Prue who is in danger of losing her farm because she cannot make her mortgage payments.  She enters her horse, Cold Molasses at the county fair and wins $3000.

I found very little information on Edmund,  however more information was forthcoming on Neil Burgess.   Once I began researching I found a wonderful story.  Born J. W. Knell,  he was an well-known actor, playwright, Vaudevillian comedian and female impersonator who specialized in elderly "widders" as in Abigail Prue. According to Frankie Jaxon in "The History of Drag and the Art of Female Impersonation" "his success brought him popular adulation, critical respect, and unprecedented wealth as the highest paid actor, comic or tragic, of the time--all for cross-dressing and female impersonation."

He was also quite an inventor. He used his plays to showcase his inventions of patented advances in treadmill and panorama stage machinery according to Kimberly Poppiti in her article "Galloping Horses: Treadmills and Other Theatre Appliances in Hippodramas.  "The County Fair" which was written by Charles Barnard for Burgess included a staged horserace scene that used Burgess's invention which allowed the horses to run at full speed on stage.  This same device was used with great profit for Burgess and his partner Barnard when it was used in the chariot race scenes in Ben Hur.   "The County Fair" first opened in the fall of 1888 probably in Philadelphia.  It began a long run in New York City in 1889 being reviewed by the New York Times twice during the opening week.  For more information on Neil Burgess, his plays and his patented inventions, see Poppiti's page at http://ww4.usitt.org/tdt.index/extras/41-4horses.html.

3 Aug 1901 The NY Dramatic Mirror

Burgess was born from different acounts either 1846, 1849 or 1851 in Boston, Massachusetts. Around 1900 he was living in  Monmouth County, New Jersey with his wife Mary Stoddard, an actress from a family of distinguished and wealthy actors, who he married in 1882, and his son Neil Jr. aged 7.  Neil and Mary owned a large estate on Navesink Avenue in Highlands, NJ. According to reports Mary died in 1905 and Burgess was brokenhearted.  As stated by Jaxon,  "tragedy sucked the comedy out of Neil Burgess." Bad investments and poor health further demoralized Burgess.   He returned to his profession for awhile, but died in 1910.  He and Mary are buried at All Saints Memorial Church Cemetery in Navesink, Monmouth County, NJ. Click here to view his headstone which atop sits a wonderful bust of him (Find-A-Grave).

14 Sep 1901 The NY Dramatic Mirror

Neil Burgess

**UPDATE:  After a comment from Linda at The Paper Collector about Neil's wife Mary, I went back and looked at the Find-A-Grave stone and realized her name is spelled "Stoddart" not Stoddard as is mentioned on the other sites I credited.  That is not unusual in itself as people often changed the spelling of their names.  I did another Google search and found this mention that Mary E. Stoddart (who was married to Neil Burgess) was the niece of J.H. Stoddart, (James Henry 1827 - 1907) who was from Yorkshire, England and made his American debut in 1854.  This information is from the webpage "E J Phillips 1830 - 1904 People Family and Theatrical Colleagues."  This author has created an extraordinary collection of data on people and places in the early theatre years.

Sources:  Wikipedia, eNotes, Find-A-Grave, The NY Dramatic Mirror, Kimberly Poppiti, "Galloping Horses: Treadmills and Other Theatre Appliances in Hippodramas, Frankie Jaxon, "The History of Drag and the Art of Female Impersonation, Ancestry.com, Google Books

Sepia Saturday #111 - It's A Dog's Life!

This is a very busy week for me, my parents are coming for a visit and between my job and getting my house ready I don't have a lot of free time, but when I heard what this week's theme was at Sepia Saturday how could I resist?  I have had a lifelong love affair with dogs.  I was the child that was always dragging home stray dogs and asking, "Can I keep him, please MOM?" I'm still doing that today with shelter dogs only now I just bring them home and wait for the fallout from hubby later.  He eventually caves and falls in love as well.

This is a picture I picked up on eBay of a sweet little girl with her precious pug.  She seems to be around ten years old and she looks fiercely protective of her baby.  The little dog looks extremely alert and the pose was perfect.  I just love this picture and was so happy to get it.  It kind of reminds me that children have always loved their pets no matter what the era.  It was cut down on the sides and there is no photographer's mark. There is no identification of the subject, just another sad mystery of the past.  Due to the type of the frame I am estimating this was taken between 1895 - 1905.

I posted the next picture in a previous post but thought it deserved a re-post.  The picture shows William Stump in his hunting clothes and rifle with his adoring hunting dog.  The dog was obviously very well trained.  On the back it said, "Harry and his dog."  This photograph also had no photographer's mark so I could not identify the location.  Due to the beveled edges with gold gilting I dated it between 1892 - 1900.  There were too many William and/or Harry Stumps in Ancestry.com for me to be able to narrow it down.

Greyfriars Bobby, Edinburgh, Scotland

There is no animal more loyal than a dog and nowhere is this more evident than the story of Greyfriar's Bobby of Edinburgh, the Skye terrier who slept by his master's grave every night for fourteen years until his own death in 1872.  This story has always brought tears to my eyes and I was fortunate enough to finally go to Scotland two years ago and see his resting place for myself.


Greyfriars Bobby:
Died 14th Jan 1872
Aged 16 years
Let his loyalty & devotion
Be a lesson to us all.

Teresa & Bebe ca 1959

Dogs of my Past:   Bebe, Ripley, Kimmie and Roxie:    As I mentioned before I have had a lifelong love of dogs and have had many four-legged friends over the years.  Here are pictures of just a few.

Ripley ca 1998

Roxy ca  1979

Kimmie ca 1965

Bailey was the most recent of my dogs to leave me and he went much too soon dying of cancer at the age of six.   Rest in peace little buddy - I still miss you so much!

Bailey 2004

Here is my crew today:  Riley and Salsa (both shelter dogs)

Riley & Salsa - Good Buds!  2007

and Chloe our Queen Bee who rules the roost!

Chloe 2011 age 9

I guess you don't really own a dog, you rent them, and you have to be thankful that you had a long lease.  

Joe Garagiola

Travel Tuesday - Family Outing by Horse & Buggy

They say times were much simpler one hundred years ago.    I guess in many ways they were - I'm sure there were not many traffic jams commuting.  Of course, there were muddy roads with jagged holes, broken wagon wheels, bad weather, and numerous other road hazards with no cell phones to call "Road Rangers." However, in today's picture, this family looks quite ready for whatever outing they are about to embark on, perhaps  a picnic or a visit to another family member's home.  I notice one woman with a fan to keep cool and the young boy in the rear with an umbrella to keep the sun off his head.  This picture postcard appears to have been taken around 1910 and in France according to the back.

Sports Center Saturday - Man & Dog on the Hunt

Here's a great cabinet card photo of a man with his hunting rifle and his faithful dog looking adoringly up at him.  According to the handwriting at the bottom his name was William Stump. On the back it says "Harry and his dog,"  The card is on very plain sepia cardstock (front) and off-white color on the back.  There is no photographer's mark.  The only thing about this card which gives me any clues about the date are the edges.  If you look closely you may notice that they are slightly beveled with gold gilting. According to PhotoTree.com beveled edges were found during the years of 1892- 1900.  I tried to search for him on Ancestry.com but there were too many William Stumps in too many states.