Family heirloom
Dec 22, 2015 11:11:35 #
I re-discovered this old picture recently (it was in an album), scanned and sent it off to our Grand-daughter so she could get some insight to some of her female forebears.
The young lady at the far left is my paternal grandmother at about age 15-17, before she married my grandfather standing next to her. Her hair was then an auburn red; I remember her showing me a lock of it when I was about ten. The two girls sitting down were her sisters, and their mother is the woman sitting at the table in the black dress. The young woman standing up was apparently a friend of one of the girls.
Some history of the photo process:
One of the interesting things to me about this photo which was probably taken about 1885 - 1887 is the blue cast. It is not age or light deterioration; the film and developing process is called cyanotype and was developed by a Sir John Hershel in the early 1840's after he discovered that some iron compounds were light sensitive. The process was apparently used in lieu of silver nitrate as it was less expensive, but it resulted in the blue coloration; it was used from the 1840's through about the 1920's. This photo is printed on a fairly light paper, perhaps what we'd call 20# today, maybe a bit lighter, and is not pure white but has a light tan color. It must have been treated with some chemicals before printing, but I have no clue as to that part of the process.
The photo has been stored in an old album with other photos for at least the past 75 years, probably longer. I had never seen it until years after my father died. It was in a box of photos that my father had taken from her home after grandma died and I doubt he ever looked at it again. I took the box after my mother died in 2003 and discovered it some years later. It has probably not been exposed to light since 1930 when grandma was widowed and moved from her married home into a smaller house.
The young lady at the far left is my paternal grandmother at about age 15-17, before she married my grandfather standing next to her. Her hair was then an auburn red; I remember her showing me a lock of it when I was about ten. The two girls sitting down were her sisters, and their mother is the woman sitting at the table in the black dress. The young woman standing up was apparently a friend of one of the girls.
Some history of the photo process:
One of the interesting things to me about this photo which was probably taken about 1885 - 1887 is the blue cast. It is not age or light deterioration; the film and developing process is called cyanotype and was developed by a Sir John Hershel in the early 1840's after he discovered that some iron compounds were light sensitive. The process was apparently used in lieu of silver nitrate as it was less expensive, but it resulted in the blue coloration; it was used from the 1840's through about the 1920's. This photo is printed on a fairly light paper, perhaps what we'd call 20# today, maybe a bit lighter, and is not pure white but has a light tan color. It must have been treated with some chemicals before printing, but I have no clue as to that part of the process.
The photo has been stored in an old album with other photos for at least the past 75 years, probably longer. I had never seen it until years after my father died. It was in a box of photos that my father had taken from her home after grandma died and I doubt he ever looked at it again. I took the box after my mother died in 2003 and discovered it some years later. It has probably not been exposed to light since 1930 when grandma was widowed and moved from her married home into a smaller house.
Dec 22, 2015 11:38:39 #
Oh you are so lucky that your forebears were thoughful enough not to throw out 'old' boxes. Share some others.
Dec 22, 2015 11:40:45 #
Dec 22, 2015 12:44:34 #
Dec 22, 2015 14:05:25 #
Great story and an amazing photo! So lucky it wasn't pitched out. My grandfather took many photos while working on the construction of the Panama Canal. When he died, my grandmother threw them all out!!! : (
Dec 25, 2015 00:03:52 #
Feb 15, 2016 17:09:38 #
Beautiful photograph, JC. Taken during an era when ladies and gentlemen looked, dressed and acted like ladies and gentlemen.
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