PORTRAIT OF LEE TONG: PASTOR OF THE BAPTIST CHINESE CHURCH IN PORTLAND OREGON

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This photograph features a well dressed young Asian man sitting in a chair with his hat on his lap. He is is exhibiting an intense gaze at the photographer. On the reverse of this photograph is an inscription that informs us about the identity of this gentleman. His name is Lee Tong and he was a clergyman who attended the Eugene Bible University in Eugene, Oregon. The American Home Missionary (1913) journal lists him as a preacher. He also appears in the Portland directory as Reverend Lee Tong (1912-1914). A book entitled “Portland, Oregon: Its History and Builders” reports that he was the Pastor of the Baptist Chinese Church. Research reveals that the Eugene Bible College is now known as New Hope Christian College and it is located in Eugene. The school was founded by Fred Hornshuh in 1925. This photograph was taken at the Brown Studio in Portland, Oregon.

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Published in: on May 27, 2016 at 3:37 pm  Comments (2)  
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PORTRAIT OF A GUITAR PLAYING WOMAN TAKEN ON A RAILROAD PHOTOGRAPHY STUDIO CAR

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A young woman plays the guitar as she poses for her portrait by a railroad photographer. The Fallman studio was actually located on a train car. Printing on the front of the cabinet card notes that the photographer utilized a Parlor Photo Car. Some photographers, like Mr. Fallman, would rent or purchase a railroad car and travel from town to town. Sometimes the car would be disconnected from the train and the photographer would operate his studio until business conditions dictated that he move on to another locale. Fallman’s parlor car obviously contained backdrops and props. The woman in this photograph is sitting on a hammock next to a box topped with a couple of books. Preliminary research failed to uncover details about Mr. Fallman. However, the Cabinet Card Gallery possesses a vintage photograph of a cute little girl by Harry Fallman (1853-1907). His studio was located in Eureka, South Dakota. During his lifetime, Harry also lived and worked as a photographer in North Newberg and Portland, Oregon. It is unknown if Harry is the same Fallman who operated the rail car studio that produced the photograph above. To view Harry Fallman’s photograph and to learn more about him (and his celebrity son), click on the category “Photographer: Fallman”.   SOLD

 

 

Published in: on January 22, 2016 at 12:00 pm  Comments (2)  
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THE WORLDS SWEETEST BABY STANDS ON A CHAIR IN PORTLAND, OREGON

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This cabinet card portrait features a thirteen month old baby who an inscriber on the reverse of the photograph describes as the “Sweetest in the world”. The child’s name is written as “Dagmar Albright Games. The child in this photograph does in fact look quite sweet and is flashing a wonderful expression. The kid was born to model. She is standing on a velvet chair and is wearing some sort of a flimsy gown. The photograph was taken at the Busby & Company Studio in Portland, Oregon. Research reveals that according to the the 1910 US Census, Dagmar A. Games was living in Portland (Ward 4), Oregon.. She was 21 years old (born in 1889), unemployed and living in a boarding house. The 1920 census indicates that she was married to Frederick Swanberg who was employed as a manager of an ice company. Dagmar was unemployed and she and her husband were living in San Francisco. Dagmar’s mother, Anna Games, was living with the couple. The 1930 US Census discloses that Dagmar and her mother still lived in San Francisco but Frederick no longer resided with them.   SOLD

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Published in: on October 27, 2015 at 12:00 pm  Comments (4)  
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PORTRAIT OF TWO YOUNG GIRLS AND A DOLL (VINTAGE REAL PHOTO POSTCARD)

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This vintage real photo postcard features a portrait of two young girls and a doll. One of the girls is sitting in a wicker chair with the doll on her lap but the second girl has her hand on the doll as if she is saying “this doll is mine too”. The photograph of the girls seems to have been taken outside or else the photographer has a great backdrop and is very good at setting a scene. The girl’s names are written on the reverse of the postcard. “Dorothy and Margirie Warfield” are probably sisters. A quick genealogical search discovered that the 1910 US census lists sisters named Dorothy (age 3) and Marjory (infant) Wharfield (also spelled Warfield). The sisters and the rest of their family lived in Portland, Oregon. The girl’s parents were Arthur (age 29) and Gertrude (age 28). Arthur worked as a merchant (furniture store). It is very possible that the girls in the census are the same as the girls in the photograph. This postcard has a CYKO stamp box which indicates that it was produced sometime between 1904 and the 1920’s.

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Published in: on September 14, 2015 at 12:00 pm  Leave a Comment  
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ADORABLE LITTLE GIRL IN EUREKA, SOUTH DAKOTA AND HER CONNECTION TO THE MAN FROM PLANET X

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This vintage photograph features a well dressed cute little girl. She is displaying a serious expression as photographer Harry Fallman (1853-1917)  tries to capture the moment. Fallman’s studio was located in Eureka, South Dakota. The 1900 US census indicates that Fallman was born in New York but living in Eureka with his wife Nina A. Fallman (born 1864) and son Gilbert (born 1897). At the time of the census, Fallman was working as a photographer. The 1910 US census finds the 58 year-old Fallman living in North Newberg, Oregon. Apparently he experienced a mid life crisis because he had acquired a new wife (Emily Fallman) and she was just 27 years old. Fallman is listed in Portland, Oregon city directories (1913-1916) as working as a photographer. However, in the 1917 directory it is apparent that he switched careers and had become a grocer. An interesting side note concerns Fallman’s son. Gilbert Fallman (1897-1984) became an actor. Among his best known roles were appearances in “One Too Many (1950)” and “The Man from Planet X (1951)”.

Published in: on July 26, 2015 at 11:35 am  Leave a Comment  
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PORTRAIT OF OLIN CLARK: ADORABLE BLONDE LITTLE BOY FROM PORTLAND, OREGON

olin 1The subject of this vintage photographic portrait is Olin B. Clark (1900-1939) and he was photographed by A. G. Churchley of Portland, Oregon. Young Olin looks a bit intimidated by his photo shoot. He also looks very cute in his sailor type outfit. The 1910 US census finds young Olin living with his parents in Portland. His father, William C. Clark worked as a trolley conductor while his mother (Louisa F. Clark) was a homemaker. The 1920 US census revealed that Olin worked as an airplane mechanic in Portland where he lived as a boarder.

 

Published in: on March 6, 2015 at 12:38 pm  Comments (3)  
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HATTIE AND EMMA: FASHIONISTAS IN DALLAS, OREGON

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This cabinet card portrait presents a fashion mystery. What is the story behind the clothing that these two women are wearing? The previous owner of this photograph called the women “trendy” and stated that they were wearing “Victorian Bohemian” style dresses. I’m wondering if the women are wearing leather dresses. These women are certainly making a fashion statement. The women appear to be wearing slenderizing corsets. One is wearing a choker while the other is wearing a necklace. The woman on the left is holding what appears to be a sheet of paper. It is not clear why she would be posed holding a sheet of paper. The reverse of the cabinet card paper has an inscription which identifies these two women as “Hattie Williams Rhodes” and “Emma Black”. Miss Rhodes is standing on the left of the image while Miss Black stands the right. The photographer of this portrait is R. B. Collins and he operated a photography studio in Dallas, Oregon.

 

Published in: on November 26, 2014 at 10:12 pm  Comments (5)  
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HANDSOME BEARDED MAN IN PORTLAND, OREGON

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The subject of this portrait is quite the handsome gentleman and  has a wonderful beard. To view more interesting beards, click on the category “Beards (Only the Best). The reverse of the photograph has a printed stamp indicating that the photographer of this image was located in Portland, Oregon. In addition, the back of the cabinet card shows a medal for photography from the Oregon State Agricultural Society which was issued in 1881. Born in Illinois in 1844, Frank G. Abell moved to California with his parents in 1857. In 1862, at the age of 18, he joined the firm of William Shew in San Francisco, where he spend four years learning the art and business of photography. He opened his own gallery, Abell’s Star Gallery, in Stockton, California in 1866. The next year he moved back to San Franisco and then worked in such towns as Grass Valley, Red Bluff and Yreka. In 1877 he pursued his craft in Roseburg, Oregon and from 1878 to 1888 he was based in Portland. He must have left his heart in San Francisco because he returned there once again. His indecisiveness was evident when he returned to Portland where he worked between 1897 and 1907. When his health failed, he moved to Tacoma, Washington where he died in 1910.

Published in: on June 20, 2014 at 11:32 pm  Comments (1)  
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CUTE SIBLINGS IN BROWNSVILLE, OREGON

OREGON KIDS_0001Two adorable young children pose for their photographic portrait at the Winter studio in Brownsville, Oregon. The little boy is wearing knickers and the little girl wears curls. The photographer of this image is John A. Winter (1831-?). He was born in Ohio of Ohioan parents. He was active as a photographer in a number of Oregon cities including Eugene, Albany, and Jefferson. He was in business in Brownsville during the 1890’s. Winter owned a sheep ranch near Brownsville that totaled over 900 acres of land. From 1888 until 1900, he was the official photographer of Oregon State University. To learn more about John Winter, click on the category “Photographer: Winter”.

Published in: on June 24, 2013 at 12:01 am  Leave a Comment  
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STAGE AND SILENT FILM ACTRESS MABEL TRUNELLE IN FORT WAYNE, INDIANA

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This cabinet card features stage and film actress Mabel Trunnell (1879-1981). The reverse of the photograph is inscribed “Yours Truly, Mabel Trunnell 1898”. Therefore, this image captures Miss Trunnell at about age nineteen. Mabel Trunnell was born in Dwight, Illinois. She began her career as an actress of the stage but at age thirty-two she began to appear in films. In 1911 she appeared in “A Modern Cinderella, In the Days of Chivalry” and in “The Star Spangled Banner”. Her last film was in 1923 when she was in the movie “The Love Trap”. Her filmography on IMDb indicates that she acted in 199 different films. At the age of forty-four she returned to the stage. She was married to Herbert Prior, an early British film star. Trunnell was one of Hollywood’s first movie stars as was identified with Edison Studios. A magazine article in “The Moving Picture World” (1915) reviews one of her performance. The reviewer wrote “Mabel Trunnell becomes more attractive as the course of time silvers her hair”. An interesting sociological comment was also made by the reviewer which was in regard to the admirable strength portrayed by Trunnell’s character. The reviewer notes “most of us are tired of seeing women pictured as incurable weaklings”. The reviewer was certainly a man who was ahead of his time. This cabinet card was produced by the Barrows studio in Fort Wayne, Indiana. It appears that Miss Trunnell was photographed in a costume from one of her performances. She is dressed very much like a maid and seems a bit troubled in her pose. The photographer, Frank Rufus Barrows operated a studio in Fort Wayne between 1880 and 1900. He is considered one of the city’s most prolific photographers and had several locations while in business there. He was born in Sturgis, Michigan in 1854. He came to Fort Wayne in 1880 and partnered with Frank H. Clayton in operating a photographic studio. In about a years time he became the sole proprietor of the studio. He had many photos appear in Fort Wayne Illustrated (1897). He left Indiana for Medford, Massachusetts and operated a studio there until 1910 when he moved to Eugene, Oregon where he died in 1920.

Published in: on January 28, 2013 at 7:39 am  Leave a Comment  
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