“THE BUTTERFLY KIDS” (HAND TINTED 1906 FRENCH REAL PHOTO POSTCARD)

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This vintage real photo postcard features two beautiful children with colorful butterfly wings. One can suppose that they are also being symbolically represented as fairies or angels. This postcard was used in France and was postmarked in St. Vincent in 1906. The postcard was mailed to Sisteron, France. The postcard was published by the GL Company and is number 1174/5 in a series. The G. L. Company (1903-1920’s) was located in the Netherlands and was known for their real photo postcards featuring children and women that were used as holiday and general greeting cards. The also produced postcards that featured actresses and nudes as subjects. Most of the postcards they produced were hand tinted.

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Published in: on March 5, 2016 at 12:00 pm  Leave a Comment  
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YOUNG GIRL IN A BEAUTIFUL DRESS AT A HER COMMUNION IN LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA (VINTAGE PHOTOGRAPH)

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A pretty young girl is dressed in a beautiful white dress and veil for her portrait at the Borgia studio in Los Angeles, California. She looks like a young bride but she is but she is almost certainly dressed in her finest on the occasion of her communion. She looks quite proud as she poses for the camera. Note the necklace with a cross that she is holding in her left hand. Preliminary research revealed little about photographer F. Borgia although there are a number of collections that include his photographs. One citation was found. The book “Los Angeles’s Little Italy”, by Mariann Gatto, states that Nick Borgia (located on San Fernando Street) was one of three of Little Italy’s favorite photographers (the other two were Mr. Ricci and Mr. Del Beato). There is a disparity between first names (F. vs. Nick) but it is very likely that Nick could have been the photographers middle name or nickname. Did I really just say that Nick may be his “nickname”? This portrait measures 5″ x 7″ and has excellent clarity.

 

 

PORTRAIT OF AN ADORABLE LITTLE GIRL AND HER UMBRELLA IN VIENNA, AUSTRIA (1916)

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An adorable little girl poses for her portrait at the studio of Marie Gleissner in Vienna, Austria. The girl has long curly hair and a sweet smile. She is holding an umbrella. I could not find biographical information about the photographer but it is my assumption that the photographer is a woman (Marie). An inscription on the reverse of the photograph indicates that it was taken in 1916. The Cabinet Card Gallery has other images by the Gleissner studio. Click on the category “Photographer: Gleissner” to view the additional photographs.  (SOLD)

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Published in: on February 27, 2016 at 2:08 pm  Comments (5)  
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PORTRAIT OF THREE ADORABLE SIBLINGS (GERMAN REAL PHOTO POSTCARD)

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Two adorable little girls and their sweet little brother pose for their portrait at an unknown German photographic studio. They are beautifully dressed and each child is holding a basket of flowers. This image likely dates back to the 1920’s.

Published in: on February 25, 2016 at 3:14 pm  Leave a Comment  

CABINET CARD PORTRAIT OF A LITTLE GIRL BY “STIFF THE PHOTOGRAPHER” IN BROCKTON, MASSACHUSETTS

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This cabinet card portrait features a nicely dressed little girl (possibly the subject is a boy) by the studio of “Stiff The Photographer”.  The back stamp of this cabinet card indicates that the studio’s address was 414 Main Street, Brockton, Massachusetts. The back stamp also confirms that the photographer did indeed call himself  “Stiff The Photographer”. What do we know about Mr Stiff? We know that Thomas P. Stiff once operated a studio known as Munroe and Stiff which was located at 64 Warren Street in Boston. We also know that in the 1880’s he had studios in Taunton and Fall River, Massachusetts. His studio in Brockton was there at least between 1882 and 1892. He was born in 1836 and died in 1908. He is buried in Melrose Cemetery in Brockton. He also must have had a sense of humor. I imagine his friends and customers must have a good time over his advertising motto “Stiff The Photographer”. The immediate humorous thought is that customers were being encouraged to not pay for the photographs they receive. I’ll leave additional interpretations to the reader.

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Published in: on February 16, 2016 at 12:00 pm  Leave a Comment  
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ADORABLE LITTLE GIRL WEARING PIERROT COSTUME: SHE IS CUTE AS A BUTTON

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This vintage real photo postcard features an adorable little girl dressed in a Pierrot costume. Perhaps she is dressed for a party associated with the Carnival. Pierrot is a character introduced to Paris in the late seventeenth century. The character is still popular today in contemporary culture. Pierrot is often presented as a sad and naive clown. This postcard is from around the 1920’s.

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Published in: on February 13, 2016 at 12:00 pm  Comments (1)  
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PORTRAIT OF MARGUERITE: FOUR YEAR-OLD POSES IN ALEDO, ILLINOIS

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The reverse of this cabinet card informs us that the subject of this photographic portrait is a four year-old girl named Marguerite. She is certainly adorable. The photographer of this image is William H. Root. The Mercer County (Illinois) Historical Society Newsletter (2012) reports that the Aledo Democrat (1881) announced that Root opened a photography studio in Aledo. By 1895 there was an advertisement advising readers that the studio was under the new ownership of Leonard Hollenbaek. Research yielded little information about William H Root. There was a photographer in a close by town (Monmouth) named Emerson Root. One source states that Emerson Root was a brother of William and that there was also a third brother (Melville Root) who worked as a photographer. There was also a photographer in Chicago, Illinois who shared the Root name. His name was W. J. Root and two of his images can be seen in the Cabinet Card Gallery collection.

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Published in: on February 5, 2016 at 12:00 pm  Leave a Comment  
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AN ADORABLE LITTLE GIRL AND HER DOLL IN READING, PENNSYLVANIA

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This image is a post cabinet card era portrait of a sweet adorable little girl holding her doll. The child is well dressed and flashing a wonderful smile. This photograph was taken at the Hafer studio in Reading, Pennsylvania. The photo joins one of many images from Reading that can be found in the Cabinet Card Gallery. Edward Egleman Hafer (1843-1925) was a portrait painter in addition to being a photographer. He was born in Berks County, Pennsylvania and settled in Reading in his mid teens. He began his photographic career in Reading at the studio of Captain F. M. Yeager for whom he worked between 1872 and 1874. He then bought Yeager’s business and remained at the same address (433 1/2 Penn Street) until 1900. Hafer was married to Amanda Nagle Hafer (1853-1920). The 1920 US census indicates that he was still working as a photographer at a very advanced age. He eventually retired in 1920 and died in Mount Penn, Pa in the year 1925 at the age of 82. He is buried in Reading’s Charles Evans Cemetery. This photograph measures approximately 7″ x 5″.

 

Published in: on February 2, 2016 at 12:45 pm  Leave a Comment  
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PORTRAIT OF AN ADORABLE LITTLE GIRL AND HER HOOP TOY IN VIENNA, AUSTRIA

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This vintage photograph features an adorable little girl sitting on a wall and holding her hoop toy. She is wearing a cute dress and is wearing a bow in her long wavy hair. She is also wearing a wonderful smile. The photographer of this image is Marie Gleissner who operated a studio in Vienna, Austria. I was unable to find biographical information about the photographer. It is my assumption that the photographer is a woman (Marie). The photographer did an excellent job posing the little girl and produced a terrific image.

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Published in: on January 10, 2016 at 12:00 pm  Comments (4)  
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ADORABLE LITTLE GIRL IN GOODLAND, INDIANA

cute little girlThis vintage photograph features a most adorable little girl wearing a cute dress. Printing on the reverse of the photograph reveals that this portrait was taken by Hunt’s Art Studio which was located in Goodland, Indiana. I want to live in a town named Goodland. A place where everyone is “good” and everything that happens in one’s life is “good”. Research reveals that Goodland, which is probably a lovely town, does not fit the bill for being the location of  “all encompassing goodness”.  In fact, the town, which originated in 1861, is named Goodland because the soil is good. Writing on the verso indicates that the little girls last name may be “Allen”. Investigating the photographer was unproductive. Although there were a number of photographers with the last name of “Hunt” operating in Indiana during the post cabinet card era, I could not find one who worked in Goodland.

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Published in: on January 9, 2016 at 12:00 pm  Leave a Comment  
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