Fashionable Friday - Early 1860's (Victorian) Young Athol Depot, Massachusetts Woman

I tend to favor certain photographs and at the top of this list my favorites are Civil War Era photos.  I'm not sure why, maybe because of the beautiful clothing of the times or because so many photos exist of this early time of photographic history.  The young woman in this photo is very typical of the early 1860's; seated in a chair, wearing a military style dress, wearing a snood in her hair and leaning on a table staring off somewhere with a wistful expression.

The detail on her dress is lovely.  I love the white buttons down the front of the bodice as well as the bow tie at the neck and the trim on the shoulder and the sleeves.   She is also wearing small ear-bobs and a ring on her left-hand pointer finger.

As I often lament she is not identified.  So sad.

The photographer is D. Smith of 43 Main Street, Athol Depot, Mass.  I think I have a couple more photos made by this photographer so will perhaps try to look further into his history and post those at a later date.

I had never heard of Athol Depot so a quick Google search gave me this interesting information:  Originally called Pequoaig, the area was first settled by five families in September 1735.  When the township was settled in 1762, the name was changed to Athol.  John Murray, one of the proprietors of the land, chose the name because the hills reminded him of his ancestral home of Blair Atholl, Scotland.  Athol means "pleasant place."

Sepia Saturday # 171 - Castles of Scotland, Let Me Bore You With My Vacation Photos

In September of 2009 my husband and I took a two week vacation spending three days in London and eleven in Scotland.  It was only our second trip out of the United States and the first to Europe.  Everyone told us we had to take a guided tour while in Scotland, that there was no way we could do it on our own.  I, however, had my heart set on us just being alone, exploring the sights together, and this is exactly what we did.  After London, we rented a car in Edinburgh and set off for the Highlands.  We had some fun, crazy adventures, getting lost a number of times. Learning to navigate the single track roads in particular caused quite a few moments of skipped heart beats.

While there I took over 3,000 photographs, I mean I just couldn't help myself because around every turn was something so breathtaking I would scream at my husband to pull over.  These photographs included a number of castles, there were just so many castles! This week's Sepia Saturday theme centers around castles so, yeah, I finally get to share some of my amateurish photographs.

Castle Stalker, Loch Laich, mid-way between Oban & Glen Coe

Castle Dunvegan, Isle of Skye

Castle Dunvegan, rear view, Isle of Skye

The Famous Castle Eilean Donan. Loch Duich, Western Highlands of Scotland

Edinburgh Castle, back/side view

Edinburgh Castle, view from cemetery in back

Cannon overlooking Edinburgh from Castle

Bam!!  Now fire yourself over to Sepia Saturday for more great photos and stories!

Sepia Saturday #158 - Paying the Piper (Highland, That Is)

Unidentified 1880's Edinburgh Man 

I've been away from my blog for a couple of weeks on a self-imposed sabbatical hoping the rest would recharge and refresh my batteries as I have not been feeling very motivated or creative of  late.  When I saw the theme for this week's Sepia Saturday I knew exactly which photograph I wanted to use, I just had to find it in my huge stash of photographs yet to be categorized, sorted and scanned.  The theme fit into my love of all things Scottish so it was worth the hunt!

This Cartes de Visite features a handsome, young Scottish piper decked out in what appears to be traditional Highland piper's uniform.  He is standing proudly wearing a kilt, jacket, sporran, stockings and ghillies.  I can't tell if he is sporting a sgian dubh in his stockings or not to finish the look, but he is certainly impressive.

The photographer was William K. Munro who operated a studio at several locations in Edinburgh between 1868 - 1907.  According to Peter Stubbs of edinphoto.org.uk Munro was located at 58 Pitt Street between 1885 and 1907.  I am estimating that this photo was taken in the late 1880's.  Also, per Stubbs, Munro numbered his photographs and if you look closely at the second photo below you will see at the bottom it says No. 63526, the actual number having been written in pencil.  Stubbs' research determined that numbers after 57,000 were most likely taken at the 58 Pitt Street address.

Thanks for stopping by and if you enjoyed this photo please click here for more great photos (and stories) at Sepia Saturday!

Sepia Saturday #127 - The Kine Recline Deep in Grasses Lush

Coming up with ideas for each week's Sepia Saturday theme is always a challenge and this week's theme of markets, cow, tea, coffee stalls was no exception.  As a child my grandparents had a farm in Bonnie, IL where they raised cows and pigs, but sadly other than their house I do not have any pictures.  I do have memories of playing in the barn with my cousins when we met periodically for family reunions.  We had to go through the barnyard gate past all the cows who, although quite docile and tame, scared me half to death.  My cousins would run laughing right past them for the barn,  but I would see all those big brown eyes looking at me so solemnly and I would be frozen with fear.  Those are my memories of cows!

However I made new cow memories in September of 2009 when my husband and I took two weeks vacation, my dream trip, and went to the Highlands of Scotland where we drove from place to place.  I took many pictures on our trip and one of my prerequisites for some reason was I had to get a picture of a long-haired Highland cow.  We saw plenty of sheep, believe me we saw sheep....everywhere.  The cows however seemed to avoid us.  When we did see them it was not possible to stop or they were too far away.  Finally one day on the Isle of Skye we came across this small band of cows who actually wandered over close to the fence to pose for us.  You know, it's the little things in life - even though I took around 3,000 pictures in Scotland these pictures made me a very happy woman!

Highland Cows, Isle of Skye Sep 2009

These two cows actually walked over to the fence as if they were posing for us.  I wonder if they were trained to do that for all the silly tourists stopping to take pictures?  :-)

This guy looks like he was trying to tell us something - get lost maybe?

My favorite shot - he looks quite bored with the whole thing!

And finally, I bought this wonderful old book of the entire 1884 Peterson's Magazine which was a renowned women's literary and fashion magazine published in Philadelphia, a successful rival of Godey's Ladys Book.  This book is so wonderful - it  is full of hundreds of wood engravings, full-page steel engravings, hand-colored steel fashioned plates, articles, fiction, poetry, crafts, household domestics hints, etc.  I am so giddy about owning this book so expect to see a lot more from this in the future.  Today I am sharing a poem written by Alexander A. Irvine from the May 1884 issue along with a wood engraving (artist unknown).

The poem reads:

Oh, my soul, be glad to-day;
All the air is full of May!
Winter, with its storms, is over;
Bees are humming in the clover;
Lilacs waft us their perfume;
Apple-orchards burst in bloom;
Deep in grasses lush the kine;
Chewing slow the cud, recline;
Through the trees the sunshine gleams;
Birds are singing as in dreams;
Waters laugh; and breezes free
Blow as if from Araby!

Check out more "moo"ving stories at Sepia Saturday.