PORTRAIT OF THREE “FUTURE MEXICAN BELLES”

mexicoThis vintage real photo postcard features three indigenous Mexican little girls standing behind a large urn. The children are barefoot and likely quite poor. A caption printed on the postcard declares them as “Future Mexican Belles”. I am not particularly comfortable with that caption and by today’s standards, it would be considered “politically incorrect”. This postcard was published by H. H. Stratton. The company was located in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and operated between 1908 and 1915. Stratton published many international postcards and is known for a series of postcards showing scenes of the Great White Fleet visiting a number of ports around the world. They also published Tarjeta postcards from Cuba. It was common knowledge that Stratton stole many images from other publishers, retouched them, and then printed them under their own name.   SOLD

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Published in: on December 20, 2018 at 2:46 pm  Leave a Comment  
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UNITED STATES VOLUNTEER UNIFORMED SOLDIER AND HIS WIFE IN CHATTANOOGA, TENNESSEE

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This photograph features a military man with a young woman who is likely his wife. The soldier is wearing collar pins that identify him as a member of the United States Volunteers. Members of the USV were enlisted in the army but were separate from units of the regular US Army. Although volunteer regiments existed during the civil war, the USV was not officially named until the Spanish American War in 1898. The volunteer army was a quick way to supplement the regular army during times of war and was unnecessary during times of peace. This portrait was likely taken during or just after the Spanish American War. The photograph is smaller than a cabinet card. It measures 3.5″ x 5.25″. Note that the woman is standing behind the man making him appear much more prominent. It almsost seems like that she was not even in the original pose and that she was superimposed onto his photographic portrait. The photographer is A. W. Judd of Chattanooga, Tennessee. Judd was born in 1846. The book “Chattanooga” (1996) reports that Amos Wilson Judd was a civil war veteran who began his photography business in 1877. His  name and studio appears in Chattanooga’s business directories from 1890 through 1920. He died in 1929. He had two brothers who were photographers. His son succeeded him in running his studio.  Judd had two portraits appear in Wilson’s Photographic Magazine (1900). The Photo Beacon (1906) states that Judd was the President of the Kentucky/Tennessee Photographers Association. Wilson’s Photographic Magazine (1908) indicates that he held a patent for a photography invention. A confederate soldier named Amos Judd was a member of the 2nd Battalion Georgia Infantry (State Guard), Company B. He mustered in as a private and left the service with the same rank.

Published in: on March 24, 2013 at 12:01 am  Leave a Comment  
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