This vintage photograph features a pretty Japanese woman in traditional clothing standing in a garden. She is wearing a kimono and holding an umbrella. The traditional Japanese umbrella may be a “wagasa” (made of bamboo and paper). The young woman and the photographer are unidentified. This photograph is nearly postcard size (3 1/4″ x 5 1/4″).
SOLD
This vintage real photo postcard features three very well dressed gentlemen sitting on a bench. The wooded backdrop gives the appearance that the men are sitting in a park. The men in this photograph have been identified as the Brooks brothers. Not really. They are not the Brooks brothers, but they sure belong in Gentlemen’s Quarterly magazine. Interestingly enough, Brooks Brothers is the oldest men’s clothier in the United States (established 1818) and predates the time that this photograph was taken. The stamp box on this postcard indicates that it was published sometime between 1904 and 1918. The men in this photo are unidentified as is the photographer. (SOLD)
This vintage photograph makes me smile. The three subjects in the photo seem to be mugging for the camera. The threesome are well dressed and well groomed. The identity of the subjects and the photographer are unknown. The photograph measures about 6 1/2″ x 4 1/4″.
This vintage photographic portrait features Helen Miller Gould (1868-1938). She was the daughter of Jay Gould and was a prominent heiress. She was a heiress because Jay Gould was quite rich. Maybe one of the richest men of his era. He was a leading railroad developer and speculator. Wikipedia reports that he was “one of the ruthless robber barons of the Gilded Age”. Helen was accomplished in her own right. She attended New York University School of Law. She married Finley Johnson Shepard (1867-1942) in 1913. He was an executive at the Missouri Pacific Railroad. She and her husband adopted three children. One of these kids was adopted after being found abandoned on the steps of St Patrick’s Cathedral. She also had one foster child. In 1918, she and Emma Baker Kennedy became the first female vice presidents of the American Bible Society. Helen was a major philanthropist. She donated one hundred thousand dollars the the US government at the start of the Spanish American War. She contributed another fifty thousand dollars toward military hospital supplies. She was active in the Women’s National War Relief Association and worked in a hospital caring for wounded soldiers. Helen donated a library building at New York University and also contributed to its engineering school. She was on the national board of the YWCA and the Russell Sage Foundation. The Russell Sage Foundation funds research relating to income inequality. Areas under study include immigration, ethnicity, labor markets and social inequality in the United States. Helen Gould was certainly an admirable woman. Through her philanthropy she had a positive impact on many people’s lives. The photograph below is a portrait of Helen Gould Shepard at a slightly younger age than the one above. The photograph above measures about 8″ x 10″. (SOLD)
This vintage real photo postcard documents a funeral procession in a Latvian village (the postcard was found in a Latvian family album). The coffin holding the deceased is decorated with flowers and sits on a horse drawn wagon. The gentleman in the forefront is holding his hat and an umbrella while the older woman, dressed in traditional mourning garb, is clutching a bouquet of flowers. This photo postcard is from around the 1930’s. The image highlights how much in modern times we have changed the way we deal with death and funerals. SOLD
This vintage photograph features an adorable young boy dressed in a sailor styled outfit. He seems to be holding back a smile. The photograph was taken by the Wark studio in Marion, Ohio. James Wark was born in Ireland in 1847. At age 19 he immigrated to the United States and apprenticed for photographer George W Manly (Akron, Ohio). He then worked as a photographer in Kent, Ohio (1871-1891).He is known to have moved to Marion about 1895 and was an active photographer until about 1901. Wark was a busy man in Kent. In the mid 1880’s he he served three terms as Franklin Township’s clerk. He served as mayor of the town between 1886 and 1887. As mayor, Wark had complicated and controversial issues to manage. These controversies included the construction of a municipal waterworks and a resolution to ban saloon traffic in Kent. He relocated to Marion in the Mid 1890’s. He was a popular resident there and picked up the nickname of “Daddy” Wark. He photographed four generations of clients over his more than sixty year career. He closed his studio in 1933 at 86 years of age. He died in 1934. This photograph measures about 5 1/4″ x 7 3/4″.
This cabinet card portrait features a woman dressed in black and wearing a black mantilla. Perhaps this is a mourning photograph. The photograph was taken at the studio of George Anthony Henry Eggers in Dunkirk, New York. Eggers and his wife Josephine had a son who was a noted artist. George W. Eggers (1883-1958) accomplishments in art included his talent as an art administrator. He directed three art museums (Art Institute of Chicago, Denver Art Museum, Worcester Art Museum). Photographer, George Eggers parents emigrated from Germany in the early 1850’s. By 1870, George was working as a photographer. He worked with a local doctor, who was an avid photographer, to publish a two volume set of photograph books which can be seen at the Dunkirk Historical Museum. George worked as a photographer until about 1890. At age 80, he designed and built a model schooner for his grandson (see image below).The boat was five feet long, built to scale, and was very detailed.
This carte de visite portrait features a pretty woman holding a rose. The woman is holding a book in her other hand. She is wearing an abundance of jewelry and a very aloof expression. The photographer who produced this cdv is Joseph Alfred Lehmann and his studio was located in Berlin, Germany. (SOLD)
This vintage real photo postcard features what appears to be a young mail carrier or delivery boy. He is carrying a tied packet of envelopes and he is wearing a uniform. A patch on his sleeve reads LMB 117. This image is a bit of a mystery. Is this teenage boy a mail carrier or a student? What does LMB signify? What is the meaning of what the boy is wearing on his head (flower wreath)? There are more questions than answers provided by this photograph. The photo was taken at the Lonyai studio in Bucharest, Romania. The stamp box on the reverse of this postcard indicates that the paper was produced by K Ltd, likely between 1918 and 1936. It is probable that it was produced sometime in the 1930’s. This interesting image has excellent clarity. ADDENDUM: A viewer of this photograph has painted a more accurate picture of what is occurring in the photo. “This boy is being an award winner of his class at the school. That package under his arm didn’t contain envelopes, but books. The page on the top is a diploma. One more thing: that wreath symbolize the laurels with which the Roman emperors adorned their foreheads when they turned victorious from the wars…The best pupil at learning was of course victorious…”.
This cabinet card portrait features a pretty teenage girl posing at the Hennigar studio in Middletown, Connecticut. She is well dressed and is adorned with flowers. She is wearing a ring and holding a feathered fan. This photograph presents a sharp image of the young lady and the dark background contributes to that sharpness. The photographer directory “Langdon Road” lists a number of photographers with the name “Hennigar” that worked in the Middletown area. There was a Hennigar studio in Lambertsville, New Jersey in the 1870’s. A studio called “Hennigar Brothers” operated in Middletown from at least 1892 through 1901. Who were the principals of Hennigar Brothers studio? The answer is unclear but this is what is known. George Wainwright Hennigar (1832-1910) was a photographer in Middletown in the 1860’s and 1870’s and is listed as a photographer there in the 1900 census. The New York Public Library has a stereo card photograph by George in it’s collection The photo captures a damaged steam ship after a collision with a bridge. John W. Hennigar was located in Lambertsville before moving his business to New Rochelle, New York. He was listed in the New York City directories of 1867 and 1868. Morton W. Hennigar (1855-1927) had a studio in Middletown between 1877 and 1909. Charles L. Hennigar (1842-1897) was a photographer in Middletown from at least 1868 through 1872. In 1876 he is listed in the Brooklyn, New York directory as a photographer. The 1880 US census reports that he was a photographer in New York City. It is likely that George W. Hennigar is the photographer that took this photograph. He was present in Middletown around the time that this photograph was taken (1880’s or 1890’s). SOLD
 | bmarshphd on PRETTY TEENAGER : GERMANY : RO… |
 | bradwardine42 on PRETTY TEENAGER : GERMANY : RO… |
 | Mrs Marvel on ADORABLE FASHIONABLE CHILD : F… |
 | C Smith on SMILING COUPLE POSE IN A FAUX… |
| bmarshphd on PORTRAIT OF AN AFFLUENT WOMAN… |
THE CABINET CARD GALLERY 