Fashionable Friday - 1860's (Victorian Era) Woman with Lace Shaw

I love the simplicity and elegance of this photo.  This Wilmington, Del. woman is wearing a cream belted hoop-skirt dress.  It is covered by a lovely black lace shawl and she is holding a straw hat.  It is hard to see, but she has a simple ribbon adorning her hair and has a snood covering the bun at her nape.

This young woman sat for the photographer, Wm. H. Curry between 1863- 1865.  Curry was located at No. 309 Market Street, Wilmington, Del.

Wedding Wednesday - Turn of the Century (Edwardian) Double Wedding in Westfield, WI

Looking at this photo of these two young Westfield, WI women you may think you are seeing double.  They appear to be sisters, possibly twins and are wearing identical dresses, veils and even hairstyles for their double wedding.  They are also wearing white gloves with their gowns and I believe I can see their rings through the gloves.  I find it interesting that only the bride on the right is wearing a locket around her neck.  I wonder if she is possibly the older of the two and this was an heirloom that was passed down to her?  Their grooms even look like and could possibly be related and are wearing identical suits as well.  Due to the style of dress and the type of cabinet card I believe this to have been taken between 1900 - 1910.  There is no identification on the back of the card.  I wish I knew who they were and what their story was.

The photographer was Fenner & Son of Westfield, Wis.  This was John Fenner and his son Jacob who were active in the area between 1895 - 1925.  John Fenner was born in Germany in 1834 to Jacob Fenner and Anna Martha Grebruse and he died on 3 Jul 1923. 

Sentimental Sunday - Women with Hats - Stylish 1909 (Edwardian) Woman - Bernice Clark

This young woman, identified as Bernice Clark on the back, sat for this photo on May 1, 1909.   She is wearing a stylish suit and hat and has a serene expression on her face.  The white flowers give the hat and the scene just a touch of needed whimsy.  She appears to be in her early twenties.  She signed the back of the card and addressed it to her Uncle Fay.  This is an unusual sized cabinet card (4" x 9") that unfortunately does not have a photographer's name or mark so makes it difficult to narrow down her identity further.

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."

Wedding Wednesday - Beautiful 1900's (Edwardian) Minneapolis Bride and Groom

Another Edwardian Era photograph of a very lovely and serene bride who was married in Minneapolis, MN in the 1900's to her equally handsome groom. The maid of honor and best man aren't too shabby either!  Due to the location and the photographer I suspect the people involved were probably of Swedish descent.  The bride and maid of honor's style of dress seems to date this in the latter of the 1900's probably between 1905 - 1910.  You can see a small brooch or cameo at the throat of the bride on the high neckline of her dress.  If you look closely, you can also see her wedding ring on her left hand.  The people in the photograph are sadly not identified - such a shame.

The photographers were Petri & Svenson located at 129 Washington Avenue South.  They were the team of Samuel H. Petri and Ernest T. Svenson who were active Minneapolis photographers from 1894 - 1915.