Early 20th century Family Album

Description

Black bound volume of 226 black and white gelatin-silver snapshots and studio portraits dating from the early 20th century. A few photographs are detached from the page, a few are missing, and one photograph has been cut down. The album lacks annotations, with no captions identifying people or places.

The majority of the photographs were taken out-of-doors, and depict families and friends enjoying themselves and each other, including siblings, mothers/daughters, fathers/sons, infants, servants, and caregivers. Most often, family groups (including children) are involved in summer activities such as swimming, hiking, boating, picnicking, and going on horse and carriage rides, however, there are outdoor winter scenes of sledding and skating. Domestic scenes include: pictures of a chicken coop; one of laundry drying on a line; candid photographs of children at play with favorite toys or dolls; and individuals with pets. Many of the group photos of young women with family and friends illustrate the hats, purses, and suits of the period. Also well represented are everyday children's clothes as well as many dress-up costumes. Mechanical objects depicted include a windmill, a bicycle, and an early automobile. One woman is pictured on crutches. A prominent photograph is that of a bride and groom with attendants posing out of doors, the clothes indicating the occasion was of a later period.