The Leatherman (ca. 1839–1889; aged 49–50) was a vagabond famous for his handmade leather suit of clothes who traveled through the northeastern United States on a regular circuit between the Connecticut River and the Hudson River from roughly 1857 to 1889. Of unknown origin, he was thought to be French-Canadian because of his fluency inContinue reading “Leatherman, the Mystery Man Who Walked Along the Same Path for 30 Years From the Mid-1850s”
Category Archives: 1800s
Sarah Rosetta Wakeman aka Lyons Wakeman: A Woman’s Life as a Man in the Civil War
In 1940, Jackson Doane, of Binghamton, unearthed a packet of letters, a ring and a picture in his family’s attic from Sarah Rosetta Wakeman, the older sister of Jackson’s great-grandmother. She was a family member that seemed to be little spoken about — and little known. In 1976, Jackson read those letters, discovering that theyContinue reading “Sarah Rosetta Wakeman aka Lyons Wakeman: A Woman’s Life as a Man in the Civil War”
30 Elegant Photos Show What Victorian Girls Wore in the 1860s
Victorian fashion consists of the various fashions and trends in British culture that emerged and developed in the United Kingdom and the British Empire throughout the Victorian era, roughly from the 1830s through the 1890s. The period saw many changes in fashion, including changes in styles, fashion technology and the methods of distribution. Various movementContinue reading “30 Elegant Photos Show What Victorian Girls Wore in the 1860s”
Vintage Photos of People Greeting the New Year from 100 Years ago
A New Year cheerful company, making music, drinking beer and smoking, ca. 1890s A New Year’s party, ca. 1910s Friends on New Year’s Eve, Grindelwald, Switzerland, 1909 Happy New Year 1899 Happy New Year 1902 Happy New Year 1904 Happy New Year 1907 Happy New Year 1908 Happy New Year 1908 Happy New Year 1912Continue reading “Vintage Photos of People Greeting the New Year from 100 Years ago”
Portraits of Archduke Ludwig Viktor, an Openly Homosexual Younger Brother of Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria
Archduke Ludwig Viktor Joseph Anton of Austria (1842–1919) was the youngest child of Archduke Franz Karl of Austria and his wife Princess Sophie of Bavaria, and as such was the younger brother of Emperor Franz Joseph I. He had a military career, as was usual for archdukes, but did not take part in politics. HeContinue reading “Portraits of Archduke Ludwig Viktor, an Openly Homosexual Younger Brother of Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria”
The Story of the Famous Photograph of Captain Jonathan Walker’s Branded Hand, ca. 1845
The letters “S.S.,” for slave stealer, were branded on the hand of Captain Jonathan W. Walker, an ardent abolitionist, as shown in this dramatic photograph. Walker was born in Harwich on Cape Cod in 1799 and spent his early years between the shipyard and the sea. His life-long interest in the abolition of slavery probablyContinue reading “The Story of the Famous Photograph of Captain Jonathan Walker’s Branded Hand, ca. 1845”
Camille du Gast, the First Woman to Race Consistently at International Level
“The danger of an accident is always present in my mind, though I am never afraid.” – Camille du Gast, Motor Monthly, Dec. 1903. Camille du Gast (1868–1942) became the first woman to race consistently at international level in 1904. After witnessing the start of the Paris-Lyon road race, the following year she was satContinue reading “Camille du Gast, the First Woman to Race Consistently at International Level”
Scalped in 1867 by Cheyenne in Nebraska, Here’s the Story Behind William Thompson’s Scalp
Scalping is often depicted in old-timey cowboy-and-Indian movies with lots of quavering music and dramatic pauses. But then you see the real scalp under a bell jar and it isn’t so melodramatic anymore. William Thompson’s scalp, archived at the Main Library in Omaha, Nebraska, looks more like some sort of rodent than an impactful partContinue reading “Scalped in 1867 by Cheyenne in Nebraska, Here’s the Story Behind William Thompson’s Scalp”
The Photography of Heinrich Kühn
Heinrich Kühn, originally Carl Christian Heinrich Kühn (25 February 1866 – 14 September 1944) was an Austrian–German photographer and photography pioneer. The grandson of a sculptor, Heinrich Kühn initially used photography to aid his medical studies. He gave up medicine for art around 1890 but spent much of his life pursuing technical research into newContinue reading “The Photography of Heinrich Kühn”
28 Amazing Vintage Photographs of American Stores From the 19th Century
In Victorian era, it was very difficult to keep perishable food fresh. People in the Victorian period would go shopping everyday and bought small amounts of groceries. There were no supermarkets in the 19th century, but little stores of different kinds. The Victorian stores opened six days a week and would stay open in theContinue reading “28 Amazing Vintage Photographs of American Stores From the 19th Century”
