American Historical Ephemera & Photography

Highlights include:

9 1/2 x 7 1/2 in. photograph on cardstock mount showing a man on a long dock overseeing two vessels containing large groups of men in uniform. A ship is visible in the background (some staining to print and mount, especially to margins; corner and edge loss to mount).

Taken off Waukegan on Lake Michigan, the ship shown in photograph is the U.S.S. Michigan after an 1897 rebuild and the addition of the large chart house. The men visible in the picture, with their crossed belts and cross bandoliers, are members of an armed landing party which frequently drilled, and appear to be sailors mixed with marines, with the officers in darker uniforms and the landing party commander on the dock. The Michigan carried up to six of these boats with a steam powered launch and a considerable landing party.

[With:] 9 1/2 x 7 in. photograph on printing out paper showing teachers and students studying a corpse, with the following period notation to verso, "Papa (William B. Thewalt) at Hahnemann Medical College, Chicago. / Top Row / 5th from right" (wear to edges and corners, including few short tears).

[With:] 9 3/4 x 4 3/4 in. photograph of a massive crowd of men, almost certainly workers, posed before 5 large ships, including many with scaffolding suggesting that they are in the process of being built (light edge and corner wear to print).

[With:] 7 1/4 x 5 1/2 in. albumen photograph on cardstock mount of a group of 9 boys in uniform, with period identification on mount, "Enterprise Baseball Club / Taken 1891." The young ballplayers are also identified by name (fading and toning to print, surface wear, and soiling; mount with edge and corner wear, including creasing, partial tearing/separation, and some loss).

[With:] 13 x 10 1/4 in. string-bound album containing over 400 silver gelatin photographs, 4 1/2 x 6 1/2 in. or smaller, with the majority measuring approx. 3 1/2 x 2 1/2 in., mounted recto/verso to album pages. Several photos are present but have separated from the pages. The album features photographs documenting people that are either vacationers or individuals that reside near a beach. The highlight is a series of images credited in the negative to "R. Stelzer" capturing what appears to be an interesting retreat/camping trip on a beach in which subjects of various ages are shown wearing feathered headdresses and bathing suits. Some of the subjects pose with staffs or are shown handling snakes. Additional views capture the subjects working and eating at a shack near the beach, suggesting that the group may also live there. Several personal snapshots of people reading, swimming, canoeing, and enjoying other leisurely activities are also enclosed as well as scenic views of the the ocean and sand dunes.

[With:] 34 silver gelatin photographs, 5 1/2 x 3 1/4 in., or smaller, housed in unmounted album pages accompanied by typed labels describing many of the scenes, ca 1901-1909. Some album slots are empty, indicating that this album is incomplete. A number of images of locations in Chicago are enclosed, including views of Washington Park, Lincoln Park, Humboldt Park, Douglas Park, and Chicago Avenue Water Works. Images of scenic areas in Riverside and Lasalle County, IL, as well as Colorado and British Columbia are also included, as well as a view of the ship Christopher Columbus.

[With:] 10 silver gelatin photographs, 11 x 14 in., or smaller, depicting scenic landscapes, including several majestic mountain views. 

Together, approx. 450 photographs dating from the early-to-mid 20th century. Condition generally fair to very good, unless otherwise noted.