PORTRAIT OF HARRIET BOSSE: SCANDINAVIAN ACTRESS PHOTOGRAPHED BY FERDINAND FLODIN

BOSSEE

This vintage real photo postcard features Harriet Sofie Bosse (1878-1961) who was an actress of Swedish/Norwegian background. Her father was a German publisher who for business reasons moved his family a number of times back and forth between Oslo (Norway) and Stockholm (Sweden). Harriet was the thirteenth of fourteen children in her family. Two of her sisters were performers. She was well known for her acting but also for being the third wife of playwright August Strindberg. Bosse began her acting career in a company run by her older sister in Oslo. She developed a problem with this sister (Alma) when the sister discovered that Harriet was having an affair with her husband.  Harriet clearly had a boundary problem. After appearing at the Royal Dramatic Theater in Stockholm, she was noticed by Strindberg. He was enamored with her acting ability as well as her exotic “oriental” appearance. The pair were married in 1901; he was 52 years old and she was just 21. The marriage was short and volatile. Strindberg had a history of a jealousy problem that some considered to be actual paranoia. In 1908 Bosse married Swedish actor Anders Gunnar Wingard and later had a third marriage to movie idol Edvin Adolphson in 1927. Her second and third marriages both ended in divorce after just a few years. After retiring from acting, in the midst of World War II, she returned to Oslo. This postcard photograph was taken by Ferdinand Flodin (1863-1935). He was a Swedish photographer who operated a studio in Stockholm. He was well known for his portrait work, especially of theatrical performers. He was educated in the United States from 1883 to 1887. For the next two years he ran a photography gallery in Worcester, Massachusetts. He then returned to Sweden. In 1906 he became secretary of the Swedish Photogaphers Association, a post he held nine years. This postcard was published by Axel Eliasson’s Art Publishers. The publishing house was founded in 1890 and the Stockholm company was the leading producer of postcards in Sweden for many years. A number of Ferdinand Flodin’s cabinet card photographs that were produced at his Massachusetts studio can be seen in the Cabinet Card Gallery. To view these images click on the category “Photographer: Flodin”.  SOLD

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                                                                                                                                                                 Self-Portrait of Ferdinand Flodin

Published in: on January 4, 2016 at 7:24 pm  Comments (1)  
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STAGE ACTRESS LOUISE LEWIS IN SHAKESPEARE’S “AS YOU LIKE IT” (VINTAGE REAL PHOTO POSTCARD)

loise lewis

This vintage real photo postcard features actress Louise Lewis who played in Shakespeare’s “As You Like It”. Miss Lewis did not reach stardom in her career but her stage experience did merit an appearance on this theatrical picture postcard. Preliminary research found meager biographical material about this actress, but an article in the Los Angeles Herald (1898) reports that the Calhoun Opera Company at the Los Angeles Theater was presenting “La Grande Duchesse” and that Louise Lewis was a member of the ensemble. It is not certain that the Louise Lewis pictured on this postcard is the same one referenced in the Herald article. This postcard appears to have an American origin and is part of a series (no. 13). This particular postcard was distributed by the Souvenir Post Card Shop in Cleveland, Ohio.

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Published in: on December 30, 2015 at 12:00 pm  Comments (1)  
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MABELLE ADAMS: A PRETTY BROADWAY ACTRESS

mabelle

This vintage real photo postcard features actress Mabelle Adams (1880-1935). Mabelle Adams was her stage name but her real name was Mabelle Humberstone. She is known for her stage career but also for being the mother of director Bruce “Lucky” Humberstone whose work included Film noir “I Wake Up Screaming” (1941) as well as some “Charlie Chan” and “Tarzan” films. Interestingly, Mabelle was a niece of Edwin Booth. She was the understudy on Broadway for actress Maude Adams in “Peter Pan”. She was in a number of Broadway productions including occupying a starring role in “Two Orphans” (1933). Adams was an active member of the Stage Women’s War Relief which raised money for medical supplies for Allies wounded in World War I. A brief biography of Adams can be found in “The Stars of Hollywood Forever” (2014), This postcard was published pre 1907 by the Rotograph Company and part of a series (no. B1998). Rotograph was located in New York City.  (SOLD)

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Published in: on December 26, 2015 at 12:00 pm  Leave a Comment  

CUTE LITTLE GIRL SITTING BESIDE HER DOLL IN IN A TOY STROLLER (VINTAGE REAL PHOTO POSTCARD)

stool

This is an unusual vintage real photo postcard featuring a young girl and her doll. The relatively unique aspect of this portrait is that the doll is sitting in a toy stroller. The child in this photograph is well dressed and well coiffed but appears either fatigued or none to happy to have a camera aimed at her. She holds the handle of the cart-like stroller in one hand and steadies the stroller with her other hand. Note the design of the stool that she is sitting on. This postcard has an AZO stamp box which indicates that it was produced sometime between 1918 and 1930.

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Published in: on December 24, 2015 at 12:00 pm  Comments (1)  
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YOUNG BAREFOOT BOY IN INDIA WORKING AS STREET VENDOR (VINTAGE REAL PHOTO POSTCARD)

oakeys

This is a very interesting vintage real photo postcard that gives us a look at a young boy selling his wares on a street somewhere in India. Note that the lad is barefoot on a stone paved street. Ouch! The young entrepreneur is selling Wellington knife polish. He also has a hanger holding some type of material. I can not identify the item and hopefully a cabinet card gallery visitor can shed some light on the matter. I can tell you a little bit about the knife polish that is for sale on this Indian street. John Oakey (1813-1887) was an inventor and he established a company (John Oakey & Sons Ltd) which manufactured sandpaper and other polishing materials. Oakey began his interest in sandpaper while working as a piano maker. He then set up a manufacturing business in London in 1833. He later moved the business to Wellington Mill. Among his products was Wellington Knife Polish. See second scan below for a photograph of an antique can of Oakey’s knife polish. Advertising for this product was commonly seen on buses and trams in the early 1900’s. His sons took over the company after his death and took it public in 1893. This postcard was published by Thacker & Company of Bombay, India and manufactured in Great Britain. . It was part of a series (#122). Thacker, Spink, & Company (1853-1960) was a major Indian book publisher of literature guides, history and almanacs. They were also an early publisher of photo postcards. They had a distribution office in London, England.

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Published in: on December 8, 2015 at 12:00 pm  Comments (3)  
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SWEET PHOTOGRAPH OF A LITTLE BOY RIDING A ST. BERNARD (VINTAGE REAL PHOTO POSTCARD)

stuff dog

This vintage real photo postcard features a sweet little boy dressed in winter clothing riding a large St. Bernard dog. Of course the dog is a stuffed toy but it sure looks realistic. In fact, the dog may actually be a stuffed “real” dog. This winter scene photograph is a rare find. The image was produced by a private studio. There are two photographer stamps on the reverse of the postcard. One stamp is from “Le Bon Photographe” (The Good Photographer?) which was located in Ostende, Belgium. Ostende is a coastal city in West Flanders. The second stamp states “Studio Universele” which was located in Brussels.   SOLD

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Published in: on December 7, 2015 at 12:00 pm  Comments (1)  
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PORTRAIT OF A FOOTBALL TEAM (1916 REAL PHOTO POSTCARD)

rugby

This vintage real photo postcard features a portrait of a football team. The player in the center of the front row is holding a ball which announces that the team is CHS and the year of the photo is 1916. It is likely that the HS part of CHS stands for “high school”. The previous owner of this image reported that it was found with a group of many other photographs and that many of it’s companions were from either Michigan or North Dakota. The three coaches and their players look very much like the way a high school football team looks today. A fashion update may be necessary but the players intensity and pride is evident in photos from the past and the present. This image is notable for it’s excellent clarity. The postcard was printed on AZO paper issued sometime between 1904 and 1918.   SOLD

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Published in: on December 2, 2015 at 12:00 pm  Comments (1)  
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PRETTY WOMAN AND A BUCKET: IT MUST BE LAUNDRY DAY (VINTAGE REAL PHOTO POSTCARD)

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A pretty young woman squats down and leans over a bucket as she does her wash. Is she washing her laundry or is she performing some other household task? What do you think? She appears very focused on her work and is wearing an apron to protect her clothing from soiling. The woman and the location that this photograph was taken are unidentified. This vintage real photo postcard is an interesting and unusual image.

 

Published in: on November 30, 2015 at 12:00 pm  Comments (2)  
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BEAUTIFUL PORTRAIT OF A MENNONITE MOTHER AND DAUGHTER (VINTAGE REAL PHOTO POSTCARD)

 

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This vintage real photo postcard features an image that encourages conjecture. Therefore, I will conjecture. I believe that the photograph presents a mother and daughter (they display a family resemblance)  posing outside their front door just past their wood porch. Mom is sitting on a chair and her daughter affectionately rests her right hand on her mother’s shoulder. Note that the daughter is standing on and the mother is sitting on a pretty rug. They apparently brought the rug from inside the house for the purpose of being used in the photograph. Judging by the pair’s clothing, I believe that they are Mennonites. The stamp box on the reverse of the postcard indicates that it is printed on AZO paper which was issued between 1904 and 1918.  (SOLD)

Published in: on November 29, 2015 at 9:01 am  Comments (2)  
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TWO YOUNG WOMEN WITH BIG HATS (VINTAGE REAL PHOTO POSTCARD)

hats

This vintage real photo postcard provides a view of fashion sometime slightly after 1900. The ladies clearly dressed up for their visit to the photo gallery.  Note the women’s wonderful large hats. Be sure to take notice of the large pins extending from the hat on the right. This postcard is printed on AZO paper issued between 1904 and 1918.

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Published in: on November 25, 2015 at 12:00 pm  Leave a Comment  
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