Mystery Monday - Unknown Civil War Era Couple in Trenton, NJ (Victorian Era)

This couple sat for photographer Moses in Trenton, NJ between 1864 - 66 as evidenced by the revenue stamp on the back of the photograph.  As is so often seen they are unidentified and it is left to the viewer to imagine who they might be and what life they may have lived.  They are sharply dressed; the wife in a military style dress, the husband in a common suit for the times.

The photographer is Morris Moses, born in England 16 Jul 1826.  Married in Trenton in 1855 to Ellen Wisey.  Listed in Trenton censuses between 1850 - 1880 listed as a photographer.  He died on 11 Dec 1891 and is buried in Riverview Cemetery (FindAGrave).

Sepia Saturday #256 - Fun Festivals and Fabulous Feathers

Possible themes for this week's Sepia Saturday include festivals, floats, feathers and fair maidens. Hmmm.  Well, after much consideration I think I can do the festivals and feathers.  I have lots of fair maidens but will save those for another day.

This first photo is a photo postcard of the downtown square of my hometown Mount Vernon, Illinois dated between 1904 and 1910.  I have no idea what the celebration was about and had quite a discussion on a Facebook group I belong to with fellow Mt. Vernon history buffs and no one came up with a definitive answer.  The women in white appear to belong to some organization, possibly like the Salvation Army and note the child in the middle carrying the American flag.  

One thing I love about this photo is that Mt. Vernon's main streets all used to be paved in brick, but with modernization those have sadly been paved over.  (Click on photos to enlarge).

Mt. Vernon, IL Square 1904 - 1910

This second photo postcard is Trenton, New Jersey from the same time period and depicts the 1909 Inter-State Fair.  Trenton is the birthplace of my husband's father and of many of his ancestors which is what drew me to it.

Trenton, NJ Inter-State Fair 1909

Well, that covers the festivals.....now for the feathers.  Two of my favorite birds are flamingos and peacocks and I just happen to have old Florida postcards of both.  The first one is of the famous flamingos of the Hialeah Park and Racing Casino.  This is a linen postcard ca. 1930's.  The flamingos were introduced into the park in 1934 from Cuba to inhabit the infield lake and have since become an iconic Florida image.  This particular postcard shows a breeding flock of flamingos with nests and five eggs.  

I myself have taken hundreds of photographs of them at Flamingo Gardens in Davie, FL including this one and never tire of looking at them.  Such beautiful birds!

And finally the majestic Peacock!  Another linen postcard from the 1930's or 40's from the Parrot Jungle in Miami, Florida.

I also photographed this beautiful peacock at Flamingo Gardens.  I chased the poor things all over the park in fact, trying to get one to open his tail feather to no avail.  I learned later that only the males open their plumes and only twice a year during mating rituals.  Just my luck!

Well, that's my entry for this week.  I urge every one to fly over to Sepia Saturday and check out all the wonderful photo's and stories.  You won't be disappointed!

Fashionable Friday - Girls' Dress Fashions of the 1860's

Yesterday I posted a photograph (CDV) of a very young girl dated between 1864 and 1866.  A reader made a comment about the "off the shoulder" style seeming a little mature for a young girl.  That had me thinking so I did a little digging into my existing stash of photographs and came up with a couple more from the same era of young girls in similar type dresses.  The first photo I believe to have been taken between 1862 and 1863.  The photographer was J. Good, 36 Greene St., Opposite the Post Office, Trenton, N.J.  This little angel with ringlets in her hair, perhaps five or six years old,  is wearing the same style dress and notice her fringed sleeves.  This is one of my favorite photos, I absolutely adore her.

Unidentified Girl from Trenton, NJ

 


The second girl who appears to be a bit older, perhaps ten or eleven,  is also wearing the off-the-shoulder style in a belted, gingham dress.  She also is wearing a necklace, bracelet and ring.  This photograph was taken between 1864 and 1866 as evidenced by the revenue stamp and initialed by the artist "RB."  The photographer's imprint reads "Barcalow, 76 Bowery, NY."  He was Richard Garrison Barcalow (ca 1826 - 1891), a daguerreotypist and photographer in New York as early as 1859.  I believe he had a studio in New York as late as 1889.

Unidentified Girl from NYC

 


I also found these drawings in Peterson's Magazine from 1862 showing that the off-the-shoulder style for young girls was quite popular around that time.

Petersons July 1862

Petersons Sep 1862

Fashionable Friday - 1860's Trenton, NJ Woman

Another CDV photo from my Trenton, NJ photo album - this one shows a lovely 1860's woman posing with her hand on a chair.  She is wearing a lovely dress that appears to possibly be made of satin or a similar material.  Once again there is no identification or exact date on this subject.   It's hard to tell from this view, but her cheeks are tinted red in this photograph.

Her dress is quite lovely, simple yet the small details make it exquisite.  Note the dark trim that defines her small waist.  This trim is continued on her upper sleeves.  The lower sleeves are quite interesting and are pulled back with some type of decoration and showcase elaborate lace underneath.  Her hair is dressed in the very typical 1860's style, parted in the middle and pulled back in what I would guess is a snood.  she is not wearing any jewelry that I can see.  As I stated before, simple but lovely as is the lady.

The photographer is C. Duval, Photographic Chemist, 29 1/2 East State Street.  According to Gary Saretzky at http://gary.saretzky.com/photohistory/njphotographers.html Duval had his studio in Trenton around 1863.  Due to the border around the photo I suspect this to have been taken around 1863- 1864.

The hand-colored steel fashion plate below is from the 1862 April issue of Peterson's Magazine and although not an exact match to our subject's dress, gives you a sense of the style of her dress.

Mystery Monday - Civil War Era Trenton, NJ Man 1864-66

Some time ago I purchased an old album of photographs I bought of an  Trenton, NJ family - most were taken in the 1850 - 1900 time frame.  There are about eighty photographs in this album and unfortunately not one single person is identified.  I hope to eventually post most of the photos from this album as many are from this era.  This particular CDV photo of a very distinguished and attractive man was taken by Trenton photographers Good & Stokes between 1864 and 1866.  Good is most likely Jonathan Good who very little is known about, and Stokes most likely Stockton Stokes who had studios in Trenton throughout the 1860's before moving to Philadelphia.  We do know that Good & Stokes had a studio at 27 East State Street at least between 1864 and 1866 as evidenced by the revenue stamp on the back of the photograph.  The stamp is also initialed by Stokes.

Sepia Saturday #120 Library - NJ State Normal School Trenton

I've been on a hiatus from all my blogs the last couple of weeks, well from the computer actually due to severe back pain.  After working on the computer all day at my office the last thing I want to do when I come home is sit down in another desk chair and type!  I've missed the last couple of Sepia Saturdays and when I checked today and saw that this week's topic was "Library" I knew I had just the thing!  I have this great postcard I bought to post on my other blog, RogersFamilyHistory which I write about my husband's family.  His grandfather Alvin S. Rogers and great-grandfather Elmer H. Rogers were both well known doctors in Trenton, NJ in the early 1900's.  Somewhere in all my piles and piles of "stuff" I know I have documentation that Alvin attended the NJ State Normal School in Trenton, at least for a time. However, I cannot find this document and so have not posted this postcard on that blog. Therefore it will be perfect for today's post on  Sepia Saturday!

The postcard was posted in 1908 from someone named Minnie, evidently a student and it was sent to Miss Florence Melville in Newark, NJ.  Minnie had this to say:

"Every thing is very much different up here, but I am having a good time, although we have to study.  I suppose you are having a dandy time now.  Love from Minnie - Normal Hall Trenton, NJ"

Celebrate National Library Week by checking out these other bookish posts at Sepia Saturday!

Sepia Saturday #116 - A Hair Raising Subject

This week's theme at Sepia Saturday is hair and as I was pouring through my many old photographs I remembered an old album I bought some time ago of people of a Trenton, NJ family.  I bought this album mainly because my husband's ancestors, the Rogers and Hildingers are mostly from this location, although none of the 68 people in this album are his family, at least I don't think so as no one is identified and it would sure be a big coincidence if they were.  I never got around to scanning the photos from this album which date from pre-Civil War to about 1900 so I got it out and started looking through it again and found several great photos I thought would fit this theme.

I realized as I was looking at these pictures how hair, whether on the head or face, has always been such an expression of individuality throughout time no matter what the current fad.  Take a look at these gentlemen:

This good looking guy from Trenton, NJ, late 1880's,  has a beautiful head of hair and he looks quite proud of it.

The distinguished gentlemen from Trenton, from the late 1860's has quite the beard, kind of looks like a giant Brillo pad!

 





Also from the album, these well-groomed gents, both I believe from the late 1860's, one with a crazy, bushy mustache and one with scary side-burns:

 

 

On another note, my grandmother was a hairdresser, or what used to be called a beautician, for many years.  She first had a shop in Mt. Vernon, IL for a number of years (1930's - 50's) then moved to Fort Lauderdale, FL in the 1960's where she worked at her sister's shop the Curl & Swirl.  I spent many hours in both places as a young girl visiting my her so I have many fond memories.  When she died I found this homemade sign from her salon in Illinois which I previously posted on my blog, http://teresastangledroots.blogspot.com.  I will always treasure this sign as if it were the most valuable heirloom:

To see more great hairy stories check out this week's Sepia Saturday.

Sepia Saturday #110 - Trent Theatre, Trenton, New Jersey

Trent Theatre postmarked 1906

This week's theme at Sepia Saturday is theatre and this postcard from Trenton, New Jersey depicts the Trent Theatre located at 17 North Warren in Trenton.  The theatre which had 1,139 seats opened on December 7, 1903 and was successful beyond all expectations for its Board of Directors including William S. Hancock and Harry C. Taylor, of the Taylor Opera House who undertook its construction.  The architect was Herman Probst, and the general contractor was James Rourke.  The manager  was Edward Rentor who came with considerable experience from the Ringling Brothers' Circus.  

5 Dec 1903 Trenton Times

By 1921, Walter Reade was made a partner and the theatre was known as "Reade's Trent." For most of New Jersey there were "blue laws" that forbid any merriment on Sundays such as music, singing or dancing which meant that theatres must be closed on that day . On Sunday, August 28, 1921, Reade and other Trenton theatre owners opened their theatres in defiance of the law. The theatre owners had petitioned the City Commission to open on Sunday but were met with much opposition. The theatre owners moved forward with opening that Sunday and 18,000 people attended the performances that day. The next Sunday, General C. Edward Murray gave deputy's badges to the sixty-five members of the Inter-Church Federation League. After the theatres opened they sent the audiences home and arrested the managers, cashiers and owners including Reade. Fines were paid and all agreed to stay closed on Sundays. By 1933, Trenton opted out of the state's blue laws. 

Trenton Times 1921

Ownership changed hands a couple more times and the theatre closed in 1972.  It was demolished in 1976 and replaced with a parking lot.

Mystery Monday - Trenton Tartan Girl - Who is She?

Love this picture of this young girl in a plaid dress with a sash and matching hat with bow.  She appears to be about ten years old and I estimate the picture to have been taken around the late 1880's. This picture is a double mystery; the girl is unidentified and I had no luck finding any information about the photographer, J. E. North of 31 Centre Street, Trenton, NJ.