Community Chat

[sunshine 919]

Thank you so much.  You always post such interesting things.  I am enjoying these photos.  You have a wonderful day   Were you a teacher of professor at some point?  I think I can speak for us that we appreciate you 

[SunValley]

The intensity, courage, grit, intelligence, and humanity that shine through in these photos by talented photographers is amazing. Lincoln's aspect perfectly captures the pain of war, toll of personal turmoil, and his empathy that a thousand pages of print can only hope to convey. 

[sunshine45]

these photos are wonderful!

i dont think i have seen the calamity jane or the leo tolstoy photos before.

do you think these photos have been restored quite a bit or are the actual photos themselves in great shape?

[MoJoV]

These historical people just jump off the page with their strength and fire.  Still smolders after all these years.  Thank you @Oznell.

[PamfromCT]

@Oznell, You are simply amazing.  Such a wide range of interests that you share here.

Off topic a bit,  But maybe an interest to some.  I am an elderly Early American nut. Just being honest.

Many years ago it was not too hard to fine tiny tintypes, in quaint brass frames, in antique shops.  I bought eight, and I glued them to my wall in a sweet arrangement in my living room.  All adults, pictures of children were more rare, so I was told.

I did inherit two tintypes from family.  I am 77, and these are tintypes of my grandmother’s parents as tiny children.  They are both standing on little chairs.  Jennifer looks lovely, and William looks quite dapper in his dress and mary Jane-type shoes.  I have had the pictures duplicated and given to family.

I do have a few child-related antique pieces in my home that I have had forever and still cherish.

See what you started, dear @Oznell ?

[BoopOMatic]

Speaking of Lincoln, there's a video on youtube of a man who was actually present when he was assasinated, the last man alive who was there. The title of the video is

"Last Witness to President Abraham Lincoln Assassination I've Got A Secret"

if anyone is interested.

[Nataliesgramma]

Thanks so much! Very Interesting!

[Oznell]

The response to these photos is SO interesting to read-- thanks to everyone who put down their thoughts.

I love that story about your husband's being inexorably drawn to old portraits in antique shops, @tends2dogs !

@Northern Belle 2,  that is a great tidbit about when recording of voices became widely possible... so many voices from the past I'd like to hear too. 

What a great insight about these photographers and their subjects, @SunValley !

@sunshine45,  that's a good question.  I don't know how much these early photos and daguerrotypes were processed or improved.

Thank you for such kind comments, @sunshine 919 and @PamfromCT .   I'm not a teacher or professor, @sunshine 919--  just have always liked this stuff, to the point of nerd-dom, ha. 

Your vintage tintypes are such a treasure, @PamfromCT , and what a great idea to have them reproduced for other family members to savor down through the generations. 

@BoopOMatic, a video of the last remaining witness to Lincoln's assassination, whoa what a precious artifact of that momentous event.  I must hunt that up.

[Tinkrbl44]

@Oznell 

Interesting photos, thank you for posting them.   

I remember once reading that, at some point in the evolution of photography, sitting for a portrait was sometimes grueling.  The camera did not snap a quick photo as it does today.  The process could take somewhere in the area of 15 minutes to take the full picture, requiring the subject to sit still and not move their facial muscles!  

I'd always wondered why people looked so solemn in photographs.   That facial expression took several minutes to "take".    Can you imagine holding a smile for 15 minutes and not moving a muscle?  No wonder no one smiled .... yikes!

[Patriot3]

@Oznell   These are great.  Some of them I've seen before, but like seeing them again.  I so wish we would have more of these old time pics in their reality.  So much history!