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.
Julius A. Kay is the photographer who took this portrait of a domestic worker in Southport, England. She is attractive and wearing a fine housekeepers uniform. It seems apparent that she worked for a wealthy family. Mr Kay’s name is cited in a number of professional photography journals of his time. In addition, his work is mentioned in a medical book, Practical Radiograph: A Handbook of the Application of the X-Rays” (1896). Mr. Kay helped radiograph a hand with a supernumerary thumb (extra bone structure) which surgeons of a local infirmary were able to use to see the exact bone formation of the area. They were able to employ the radiograph image to make a decision about the necessity of amputation. ADDENDUM: A viewer of this image has expressed a strong opinion that the woman in this photograph is a nurse, and not a housekeeper. SOLD
A teenage girl poses for her portrait at the J. Garratt studio in Dewsbury. Where is Dewsbury? There are a number of towns sharing that name but Garratt’s Dewsbury is in England. John Garratt had studios in Dewsbury and West Town. He is cited in the Journal of Photography (1877) and in the British Journal of Photography (1880 and 1881). Next to Garratt”s name is the phrase “From Saronys” and the phrase is printed above the word “Scarbro”. Is there a connection between Mr. Garratt and Napoleon Sarony? At first I thought that Garratt might have worked for the celebrated photographer in New York City, Napoleon Sarony. Preliminary research provided me with an answer. “Scarbro” is an abbreviation for Scarborough, a town in North Yorkshire, England. A well known and commercially successful photographer in Scarborough was a man named Oliver Sarony. His studio had 98 rooms and at one point he had 110 employees. He was born in Quebec in 1820 and he came to England in 1843. He worked as a photographer in several English towns until he settled in Scarborough in 1857. He died in 1879. The business continued into the 20th century under the name Sarony & Co. The business was initially managed by Samuel Waind Fisher the husband of Oliver’s niece, Jennie. Interestingly Jennie was the daughter of Napoleon Sarony. To make a long story longer, it certainly appears that John Garratt was once employed by Oliver Sarony.
This cabinet card portrait features a young woman with dark eyes and long curly hair. She appears to be in her teens. She projects a serious demeanor as she looks at the camera. Preliminary research found some information about the Sword Brothers contained in “The History of York County Pennsylvania” (1907). William H. and George A. Swords were partners in a photography firm in York, Pennsylvania. William was born in Maytown, Pennsylvania in 1865. He learned the photography trade in Columbia, Pennsylvania and then established a studio in York. For a time, he was the junior partner in a firm called Pentz & Swords. In 1889 he partnered with his brother George. William had two marriages. He was widowed in his marriage to Adelaide Doffler and then married Jennie Fassett. William Swords was born in Maytown in 1860. He began his photography career working with a photographer named Jefferies and later bought out Mr. Pentz to become his brother’s partner. In 1885 George married Jennie Wampler. SOLD
This vintage real photo postcard features a very pretty woman with a wonderful smile and luminous eyes. She is beautifully dressed and adorned by a necklace and flowers. Note her attracive and very detailed headpiece. The image is colored (hand tinted) and numbered (23) so is obviously part of a series. The name “Watteau” is scripted on the bottom right hand corner of the postcard. My preliminary research could not ascertain whether “Watteau” is the name of the beautiful model seen in this image or if it’s the name of the photographer. My hunch is that it is the name of the model. The reverse of this RPPC is blank, save lines for an address. Therefore, the publisher of this postcard is unknown. (SOLD)
Mrs M. Whitehill posed for this cabinet card portrait produced by the Cook studio in Boston, Massachusetts. She was a nicely dressed and pretty young woman. Her name was gleaned from information possessed by the previous owner of this photograph. I could not find further information about her without knowing her full first name. L. W. Cook was a prolific photographer who began his career during the cdv era. City directories reveal that Cook had various addresses in Boston over the span of his photographic career. He used the 145 Tremont studio at least between 1874 and 1884. He also occupied three other Washington Street addresses besides the Washington location listed on this image. (SOLD)
A young woman poses for her portrait at the Samson & Company Studio in Barmen, Germany. She is wearing a dark dress with a dark polka dot top. The woman looks quite serious. In fact, her expression, in particular her eyes, projects a haunted appearance. One wonders what might be troubling this young lady. Barmen is a former industrial city located in the Bergisches Land region. The city merged with four other towns in 1929 to form the city of Wuppertal. It is interesting to note that the cabinet card gallery has two other images by a gallery named Samson & Company. Both of these photographs are German but they are not located in Barmen. The other two photo studios were located in Duisburg and Karlsruhe respectively. You may view all three images by searching the category “Photographer: Samson & Company”. To complicate matters further, the book “The Lives of Erich Fromm: Love’s Prophet” reports that Fromm’s mother took him regularly to Samson & Company for portraits. The author notes that the studio was located in Frankfurt and catered to Jewish families. Erich Fromm grew up to be a celebrated pioneer psychologist.
The celebrated American philosopher Bette Midler once said, “Ya Gotta Have Friends”. This vintage real photo postcard features a group of friends who posed together to create a tangible memory of their friendship. The four young women are well dressed and wearing corsages for their photo shoot at an unnamed photography studio. The postcard was made on AZO postcard paper which dates the image between 1904 and 1918.
This vintage real photo postcard features a very pretty well dressed young woman. Her beauty is not hidden by her very large hat and by the large bow she is wearing at her collar. She is also wearing a double strand necklace. The postcard’s “CYKO” stamp box indicates it was produced between 1904 and 1920. The photo postcard was produced by a private studio named the Boston Store Studio which was located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
A pretty and well dressed young woman poses for her portrait beside her bicycle at an unidentified photography studio in an unidentified town or city. The young woman is wearing a ruffled blouse with puffed shoulders, a neckerchief, and a hat with a feather. She is also wearing a ring as well as jewelry pinned on her blouse. She is dressed to go riding on her pretty white bicycle. This is in fact the way woman dressed to go bike riding. Interestingly, the reverse of the photograph has a portrait of a little girl glued to it (see image below). It is likely that the little girl in the picture grew up to be the woman with the bicycle. This vintage photograph measures 5″ x 7″ and is a great representation of cycling history.
THE CABINET CARD GALLERY 