This cabinet card dates back to the days of the Ottoman Empire. The photograph features three very adorable children posing for celebrated photographer, Theodore Servanis of Constantinople. As the musical group “They Might Be Giants” describe musically, the city of Constantinople became known as Istanbul (1930). The children in this image are wearing cute bonnets and two are holding toys while the third has a basket of flowers.
This cabinet card is an image of two street kids posing with their hoop toy. The boys have a mischievous expression and appearance reminiscent of the boys who were featured in the vintage television series, “The Little Rascals”. They are wearing wonderful caps. Caps like these must be the predecessors of the baseball cap seen on similar aged boy of today. The studio that produced this photograph was the Metropolitan Photo View Company of St. Louis, Missouri. No further information has been located about this studio or concerning the identity of the two “Our Gang” members. To see other photographs of turn of the century toys, click on the Cabinet Card Gallery category of “Toys”.
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