From a collection of photographs produced by the L.M. Melander & Brother Company of Chicago between 1874 – 1889 depicting posed clichés, humorous situations and examples of the popular spirit photography genre of the time. Image credit.
The Marvelous City: Rio de Janeiro from 1909 to 1919
In 1912, William D. Boyce, the American businessman, explorer and founder of the Boys Scouts of America wrote of Rio in his book, Illustrated South America: A Chicago Publisher’s Travels and Investigations in the Republics of South America: The Bay of Rio de Janeiro has been the subject of poetic praise and description since it [...]
The Sharp and Bloody History of the Guillotine
From John Wilson Croker’s 1853 manuscript, The History of the Guillotine: The Guillotine was not originally designed with any view to what turned out to be its most important characteristic – the great numbers of victims that it could dispose of in a short space of time: it is curious, and ought to be to [...]
Hand Camera Takes Snapshots and Shoots Motion Pictures
There is now being manufactured a camera which can be carried in the pocket, operates automatically with the precision of a high-grade watch, and takes either motion pictures, snapshots, or time exposures simply by pressing a button. No tripod or hand crank is required, the camera being held in the hands and the image located [...]
The Game of Push-Ball Becomes an Extreme Motor Sport
“Push ball,” a game which is usually played by men on foot, was enjoyed recently by the drivers of six automobiles and numerous interested spectators. The cars were stripped of windshields and tops, lined up at opposite ends of the field, and, at a given signal, furiously charged the large inflated ball. Although the sport [...]
1920s Photograph Printer has Several New Features
A new photograph-printing machine includes several features not found in other machines. The ground-glass diffusion screen may be raised or lowered one inch by means of a small wheel at the left edge of the table. Two extra diffusion screens may be slid into place by handles at the right side of the table. By [...]
Single-Person Miniature Battleships for the Armchair Admiral in All of Us
Real “live” miniature battleships, ranging in size from 9 to 12 ft., each equipped with a 7-hp. gasoline motor, and with guns that fire singly or in broadsides, give realistic naval engagements on a miniature ocean near Cincinnati. One man, seated in the interior of each ship, operates both the power plant and the guns. [...]
You’ve Heard of Party Buses, But How About a Funeral Bus?
An automobile funeral car with a compartment that will seat 36 people, in addition to space for the casket and flowers, is attracting much attention in Cleveland, Ohio. The car has been used for a number of funerals and takes the place of nine closed carriages and a hearse. In bad weather it can be [...]
Today’s Facial Hair Really Doesn’t Compare to the Beards of Yore!
A beard that is more than twice as long as its owner is tall is the boasted possession of Valentine Tapley, a resident of Frankford, Mo. It is exactly 12 ft. long, and has to be wound around the waist or hung about the shoulders to keep it from trailing. Now while a 12 ft. [...]
Alexander Gardner’s Cracked-Plate Portrait of Abraham Lincoln Made 147 Years Ago Today
ALEXANDER GARDNER National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C. – October 31, 2014, through May 3, 2015 While we’re still three years out from this exhibition, this will be well worth a visit. The photographs produced by Gardner and the photographers who worked in his employ are some of the most iconic images ever produced. February [...]
Speed Demon Roadster Runs a Mile in 57 Seconds
One of the fastest automobiles in the world is here shown with its inventor, Walter Christy, at the wheel. The machine has been driven around a circular track at the rate of one mile in 57 seconds, although it is claimed that it has never yet been driven at its fastest speed because it becomes [...]
Immigrants in a New World: Portraits from Ellis Island
Under construction for a decade, the Ellis Island immigration station opened in New York harbor in 1900, just in time for the huge upswing in immigration to the United States that took place in the years leading up to World War I. In 1907, the peak year of immigration, 3,000 to 5,000 newcomers a day [...]
Freak Photographs of a Remarkable Nature: How to Make “Spirit” Pictures
Nothing lends itself better to freak work than the photographic art, and better examples would be hard to find than the ones here illustrated. The group of five pictures was taken by L.W. Hickman. The first picture shows the same head looking from behind a washboard set upon a chair; nobody is visible. The second [...]
The Ins and Outs of Making of Freak Photographs
An experiment that is interesting and one that can be varied at the pleasure of the operator, is the taking of his own picture. The effect secured, as shown in the accompanying sketch, reproduced in pen and ink from a photograph, is that made by the photographer himself. At first it seems impossible to secure [...]
Photographic Studio Found in the Deepest Parts of “Darkest” Africa
Near Elizabethville, Congo, is a photographic studio in which white man and native can sit for a photograph and rely upon a first-class likeness. The studio, which is constructed of bamboo poles and has a grass roof, was established a few years ago by an Englishman, who lays claim to be the pioneer photographer of [...]
Scenes from Charles Dickens’ Victorian London, 1839 – 1901
Nineteenth-century London was a city of bustling crowds and dirty streets, shrouded in a thick later of fog and smoke. Yet it was against this backdrop that Charles Dickens chose to set his novels and from which he drew his inspiration. Indeed, at times London took on a role of its own, dominating the narrative [...]