I don't know Ya'll. I think this "Lady" looks like a man. What an amazing photo this would be if that were true. The face has masculine features. The hands are very manly. This person is sitting with their legs spread open wide under that skirt. Something a lady of that time period would not do in a photo or public. Am I crazy, far off on this one? I am interested to know what everyone thinks about this. There is no identification on the back of the cabinet card so all I really know about it is that the photograph was taken in Shelburne Falls, Mass. I love a good mystery! LOL!!
That bow is almost as wide as this child's shoulders!!! Talk about crazy fashion fads. LOL! It is a really sweet photo and I like her relaxed pose against the table. I cleaned her up quite a bit. The original is horribly torn and water stained.
Next week I am starting a series on the dating of antique photos. So many times we buy or receive photos with no family names or date taken written down. I have been studying and collecting photos for a long time now and I think it really adds more to your art when you know a little about your images. I have lots of examples of different types of photos and clothing prompts to help date the time period. I would love to share those here with you all. The photo above is part of my ambrotype collection.
Quote for Today:
"Love isn't finding a perfect person. It's seeing an imperfect person perfectly."
~Sam Keen
22 comments:
Since I love vintage photos, I'm really looking forward to your series - it sounds very interesting! ~Lori
You so made me laugh on this one! The lady looks like a dude. Ha Ha. Often times the women back then were pretty ugly! Thank you for this weeks FIT. She is so sweet.
Oh I love photos with mysteries attached to them, just like you do!! The first photo you show is quite curious!!!
I would love to read all your knowledge on dating photos. I have some of my husband's family that are not dated and I have a guess but would love to have it be a more educated guess. Thanks for your lovely blog images you show.
Thanks for stopping by at my place with a great comment.
:) Amy
Jamie!
You're hilarious!! I do agree "she" looks like a man, but I think she just has unfortunate hands and isn't very lady-like based on the way she's sitting. But she is wearing earrings and I don't think that trend started until a bit more recently :).
As always, thanks for the fun image!!
Cheers...
Gail
You are funny, Jamie. In spite of her plainness, I believe it is a woman. Many of us would look pretty plain without makeup and I don't think they wore it back then. (Glad I live now! I need all the help I can get.) I think the photographer had her make a lap for the child''s feet to go into so they wouldn't dangle in the picture. It does look awkward. Also, she does have a tiny bit of feminine curve in her upper torso. Not much, just a tad.
Thanks for your visit to my wordpress blog and for leaving a comment. I really appreciate it.
Faye
I think she is a farm girl, born and raised. No sons to help poppa so she had to work the fields in poppa's or her male cousins trousers. She smoked and spit right along with the best. And then a new baby comes along and momma dies. Now poppa realized he had better get his filly ready for courting. They made her put on that dress and sit there with her sibling. They sent for a distance female cousin to teach her the ways that momma never did because poppa needed her in the fields. They made her be prim and proper; or so they tried.......
Hi Jamie!
You are very funny! I giggled a bit at the thought of that poor woman being mistaken for a man! I think it's a lady though, just a bit plain. I have old photo's of some of my family, and some of them have that same look!!!!
I just wanted to pop by and thank you for visiting my new blog, and for your very kind comments! Good luck with my giveaway!
Big smiles and hugs, Paulette :o)
The series you plan to do does sound interesting.
I don't think the woman in the photo looks like a man. Since people couldn't smile during the photo taking process in those days (because of the time it took to take a photo), they often look harsh.
I've had some fun doing research on vintage photos that I've purchased from time to time.
If there's a name on the back, occasionally I get lucky and find info. about that person online. Recently I ended up with several photos (all purchased separately), and eventually I came across a photo of the entire group together. Kind of fun.
I also found out more names, and that the group had traveled from Iowa to Oregon. Without the internet I would never have the information I do.
OMG! I love those little photos! I saw a few for the first time a few weeks ago at a local store. They were fabulous, in beautiful little cases, right? They were $30-$40 each, and I didn't know if that was a good price. What do you think??
I'm really looking forward to your series!
Great photo -- I would say it is a manly lady:)
We would like to nominate you for a FreedomToBlog.com
Best of Blog Entry.
Please visit our site at: http://www.freedomtoblog.com
to submit your blog entry!
Benefits include:
1) Permanent Backlinks to your blog
2) Fully SEO optimized for maximum exposure
3) A chance to be published into a top 500 best of blog book"
Love them and I enjoyed reading what you wrote about them and your curiosities..makes me wonder about the photo's as well...hee hee!
I think it would be very interesting to know more about the pictures I use. So I will follow!
And yes the lady looks like a dude. The longer I look the more obvious it is. Very very strange.
Hi Jamie:
Thanks so much for having a stop at my art blog. I'm so sorry to hear about your father-in-law. It is sad to watch the elderly folk in our lives "wither away".
I wonder if you have put two and two together? I am Garden Painter Art, but I am also Musty Boxes Ephemera. Did you know that? You were my very first buyer on Musty Boxes!
Your blog is luscious, true eye candy and much more. I am a vintage photo fanatic, so your blog is simply gorgeous to me. I'm going to run over and put a link to your blog at my Garden Painter Art blog.
Thanks so much:
Kim
Garden Painter Art
Girl, I think you are definitely on to something here! And yes... what a story that would be!
Hi Jamie:
I know you love vintage photos just as I do. If you get a spare moment, swing by my blog. There's a little vintage photo "ghostly treat".
Kim
Garden Painter Art
Could not agree with you more on so many things you said. Great post!!!!
Linda
That is so funny! My story is this lady was rough and tumble with brothers on the farm she had to pull her own weight and then some. A Man of some money not much but enough for a proper life asked her to be his wife. She's not compfortable with wearing Dresses she'd rather have trousers with suspenders on working in the garden She does love hats though only to block out the sun and as such has nothing comely for this photo. She dearly loves her son and feels very compfortable being a mother. She hopes to have a brood as she has fallen deeply in love with her husband.
WOw the muse took me over sorry
I'm looking forward to the vintage photo info ...on flickr there is a few ladies and groups I like to follow that have some info too. Let me know if you want links
warmly
Stacy~Creativemuse
It would be so kind of you to share your expertise with us! I can't wait!
I agree with you that the lady looks like a man...but, after taking photos of an entire organization over the past couple of weeks, I have to say there are many women who have those kinds of features. I just don't know! It is a mystery!
Maybe she's just large-boned?
I have a couple of tin-types I think are family members, but I have no idea who - or when - they are. The images are rather difficult to see, so I scanned them and played with them with Photoshop Elements to bring them out a little more. I still have no idea who they are. On one, there was something written in pencil, although it doesn't help much - I scanned that, too. I'll have to keep an eye out for your dating information. Thanks!
LOL...hilarious. The vintage mystery. The lady is just a very unattractive creature, bless her heart. I totally see the masculinity thing, but I think it's a woman. It's the baby's astoundingly large head I'm concerned about! I think you may've found the real Benjamin Button!
I'll have to agree with your assessment of the 'person' in this photograph.
Personally, I think the kid knows something. Whadda think?
Post a Comment