PORTRAIT OF A LITTLE BOY AND HIS PEDAL CAR IN THE MOTOR CITY (DETROIT)

pedal car

This cabinet card features a young boy driving his Keystone Auto Pedal car. The elaborate toy car was made by the Mars Company. One source told me that the car was produced in 1905 but that information is unconfirmed. The child’s expression in this photo is priceless. He is trying to appear very serious, as if he was a mature and experienced driver. In other words he seems to be saying, “Driving is no big deal for me, I do it all the time”. A light stamp on the reverse of the cabinet card reveals that the photographer of this image was F. E. Nielson and his studio was at 344 Michigan Avenue in Detroit, Michigan. Fredrick N. Nielson was born in Denmark in 1884, immigrated to the US in 1903, and married his wife Sophia in 1912. He conducted his photography business in Battle Creek (1918), Saginaw (1920), and Allegan (1920-1931). This portrait suggests that Nielson was a talented photographer.   (SOLD)

Published in: on June 8, 2015 at 3:14 pm  Comments (3)  
Tags: , , , , ,

OLD MAN WITH AN INTERESTING BEARD IN ALLEGAN, MICHIGAN

An old man poses for his portrait for a photographer named Porter, in Allegan, Michigan. The man is wearing a jacket and has long hair and a wonderful long (but groomed) beard. The gentleman and his beard have earned a spot in the Cabinet Card Gallery’s category, “Beards (Only the Best)”. Click on the category to view the large collection of interesting beards that comprise the category. The photographer of this image, HV M. Porter wrote a letter to The Photo Beacon (1898) proposing a plan regarding how photographers could get better prices for their photographs. Porter advises readers that “the public doesn’t know a poor photograph from a good one, because it is so seldom they see a good one”. Porter goes on to propose the establishment of a board of judges who would give ratings to all photographers based on their submission of twelve photographs. If this plan was in effect, Porter asserts that the higher rated photographers could be paid more money for their work than lower rated photographers. Although Porter’s plan seems viable in theory; what would stop untalented photographers from paying talented photographers for samples that they could submit to the ratings board?

Published in: on March 11, 2011 at 12:01 am  Comments (4)  
Tags: , ,