Margaret Bell and her Little Friends

I don't normally acquire photos of just people posing without some sort of historical context, but when I saw this one, something about the innocence these young ladies struck me. Little did they know that their photo would last over a century, long after all of them had passed. On the back is written, "Margaret Bell and some little friends in long dresses." Someone (maybe the same person, though older) later wrote, "At brother Ed's home in Cuba, New York". (Cuba is south of Buffalo, near the border with Pennsylvania.)

Family Photo Friday - Two Sisters

I don't normally acquire cabinet photo portraits for the Archive, there are just so many out there, and individually they are generally unremarkable (it's a shame, of course, that so many have lost their connection with the names of those pictured). However, these two very beautiful sisters caught my eye...the style of the portrait, and even the backing board, was a bit unusual. Sadly, no one bothered to write their names on the back. At least we knew that the photo was taken by a studio in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The watches pinned to their blouses was a fad in the 1890s.

Family Photo Friday

In the late 1800s, there were a lot of immigrants coming to America from all over Europe, including Germany. Often, they brought little with them except for what they could carry. This carte de viste print of a husband and wife is very, very worn, and was probably dearly cherished. It's a tragedy that it has since lost its family. The back of the photo includes the photographer's imprint, "E. Schink, Photographisches Melier, Essen."