The Passion of Former Days: assorted

Showing posts with label assorted. Show all posts

10 February, 2015

The Joy of Snow Shovelling

It might not be fun, but at least the misery has been shared over the centuries....

Boston Public Library

Shovelling snow, Boston, 1917-1934. Source

Boston Public Library

More snow shovelling in Boston, 1936. Source

National Library of Ireland

Shovelling snow into the Liffey, Dublin, 1936. Source

Studio Portraits with Bicycles

The other month we had a look at people and their bicycles--outdoors, riding, or posed close to a ride. This natural look, however, isn't the only one in the history of cyclist photographry. Particularly in the 19th century, people with an affection for their bicycles have used them as props in professional studio portraits as well.

State Library of Queensland

A young man in a studio with a penny-farthing, Queensland, Australia, 19th C. Source

Smithsonian Institution

Artist Elihu Vedder in the studio with his bicycle, ca. 1910. Source

State Library of New South Wales

Schoolteacher Miss Marley, Narraburra, New South Wales, Australia, ca. 1910. Source

Everywhere a Sign

Photographic evidence of the long history of being told to do this and don't do that....

George Eastman House

Take a Kodak with you! Autochrome, ca. 1917. Source

State Library of New South Wales

Keep your feet off the walls. Australia, 1947. Source

National Library of Scotland

Two WWI soldiers at a village sign, coming with the quietly devastating caption, "Owing to modern artillery, captured villages have to be marked with a sign board." Source

Going for a Swim

Folks going for a swim!

Canada. Dept. of Interior / Library and Archives Canada

The swimming pool at Chateau Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada, 1930s. Source

George Eastman House

An autochrome of people swimming in Silver Lake, 1907-1932. Source

University of Washington Libraries

Tourists swimming at Sunrise Lake, Washington, despite the presence of snow, ca. 1927. Source

Sincerely Yours

We're all familiar with the interest in getting the autographs of famous people on their photos... as far as I know people still do it, even in the digital age. However, how many of us have signed photos of our friends? Signing photos for friends and family used to be fairly common, especially when parting ways with people you might not see again for a while (there are lots from fellows who met in the service!). It's such a lovely personal touch.... I think I might do some for my far away friends!

"To my friend, Lou Gordon," from a fellow whose signature I can't decipher, 1920s. Source

Australian National Maritime Museum

"Yours Truly, Fred Ward," ca. 1915. Source

Australian National Maritime Museum

"All best wishes from an old friend/ Jack Kirkwood," 1917. Source

Double Exposed

The days of the accidental double exposure are nearly over. Digital and self-winding cameras have made pretty sure of that. Once upon a time, though, you had to remember to wind the film, or exchange the large-format negative, and of course it's so awfully easy to forget to do that. The results, luckily, are often so awfully interesting. Ordinary photographs are turned surreal through superimposition. Figures become ghosts. Each exposure captures only the scene in front of it, yet the picture created is a scene that was never in front of anyone.

Biblioteca de Arte-Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian

Amadeo and Lucie de Souza Cardoso, 1915. Source

Fylkesarkivet i Sogn og Fjordane

Double exposure with a 90 degree turn. Norway, ca. 1900-1910. Source

Library of Congress

An exterior and interior together, Virginia, 1935. Source

By Bicycle

Photographs of people with bicycles, from the 1890s to 1940s.

National Library of Australia

Women with bicycles on an Australian beach, ca. 1900. Source

Deseronto Archives

Two men cycling on a dirt road, Ontario, Canada, 1903. Source

Library of Congress

Cyclist Joseph Fogler with another fellow in an awkward trying-to-stay-on-bicycle pose, 1913. Source

Children's Tea Parties

Kids have been enjoying miniature tea parties with their friends and dolls for a long time!

Library of Congress

Girls having a tea party with their dolls, ca. 1900. Source

State Library of Queensland

A little girl pouring tea for her doll, 1918, Queensland, Australia. Source

UA Archives - Upper Arlington Public Library

Two girls and two boys have tea on a front lawn, 1918. Source

The Great Ferris Wheel

I've always found it just crazy that they (ie, George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr. and the folks who liked his idea) decided to build the first Ferris Wheel, they didn't stop to test small-scale versions of the idea or anything. No, they tried the idea of a giant spinning wheel by building it 264 feet tall with 36 40-seat cars. It blows my find that this actually had a happy ending.

Photographs from the Ferris wheel's start and its happily ever after.

Library of Congress

That original, at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. Source

State Library and Archives Florida

Taos, New Mexico, ca. 1945. Source

State Library of Queensland

A Ferris wheel in Brisbane, Australia, ca. 1918. Source

The Photographer Photographed

People's pictures of people taking pictures

Gjon Mili, LIFE © Time Inc.

Composer Darius Milhaud taking a photo of photographer Gjon Mili, San Francisco, 1957. Source

Library of Congress.

A little girl photographing her doll, c.1917. Source

State Library and Archives of Florida

Photographers taking pictures of a model, Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, 1946. Source

Election Day

As you may have heard (even if you're outside of the United States), it's Election Day. As a break from voting, and/or checking the results, and/or trying to avoid election coverage, some elections of former days!

From various collections; see source links.

Paul Schutzer, LIFE

Senator Robert F. Kennedy after voting (for his brother, the caption notes, though isn't that supposed to be confidential...?) 1960. Source

Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library Archives

President Woodrow Wilson voting, 1916. Source

Nationaal Archief

Dutch women voting for the first time, Amsterdam, 1921. Source

Out for Drinks

Bars, saloons, pubs and speakeasies of days gone by.

From various collections.

Ralph Morse, LIFE © Time Inc.

The bar at a music hall, London, 1946. Source

Tony Linck, LIFE © Time Inc.

Sam's Bar and Grill, NYC, 1949. Source

John Philips, LIFE © Time Inc.

A small saloon in Paraguay, 1939. Source

On Golden Sand

Finally! I'm settled and Interneted once more, in a shiny new city ready to start a masters--in Photographic Preservation and Collections Management, no less!

But, more importantly, time for some photographs! How about starting with another visit to the beach?

From various archives-- see source links.