Tag: Vintage photo collection
bookmark_borderVintage scenes from life
1920s dry goods store
I found this one a bit intriguing despite not really having a place for it in any future projects. Perhaps this is because I've always had a bit of a fancy for small neighborhood markets laid out in a late 19th/early 20th century style. It's what attracts me to Rudolph's Market & Sausage Factory in Deep Ellum, a fixture in the neighborhood since 1895, despite my being meat-free since 1999. There's no indication in the photo of this store's location.
Bathing beauties
Bathing suits have changed a lot in the last century. I'm guessing this photo dates to the 1920s or 30s.
bookmark_borderThe oldest photos in my collection
Note that I already penned a blog post spotlighting early Dallas cabinet cards, so I'm not including anything from that category of photos here. Some of these have seen prior publication in this blog in previous entries.
Daguerreotype of young lady, 1/6 plate, circa 1840s
This portrait of a young lady is said to date to sometime during the 1840s, making it the oldest photo in my collection as of this writing. The ringlets in the woman's hair are a particular draw for me stylistically, and, unlike most photos from this period, you can see a bit of a smile playing upon her lips. Daguerreotypes consist of sheets of silver-plated copper, very highly polished and chemically treated to be light-sensitive. The image consists of the same silver as the surface upon which it sits, meaning that the appearance of the photo alternates between a positive and negative image depending on how the available light hits it. Daguerreotypes are very fragile objects and are usually presented behind glass-plated frames, which are stored inside latched, decorative cases. Mine came without a case, but I immediately placed it into one upon receipt.Unfortunately, I have no information on the location, the photographer, or the identity of the woman in the photo. What I can say is that having one daguerreotype makes me want to have another. This was purchased from an online seller in mid-January 2025.

bookmark_borderSassy young lady

bookmark_borderA view down Elm Street, 1911-2024
This first postcard, published by S.H. Kress & Co. around the early 1910s, shows Elm Street as it would have appeared circa 1911/1912. Kress was a five and dime chain of stores that once dotted the country, known for its distinctive architectural designs and, later, for its segregationist company policies. According to contemporary newspaper articles, the Kress store shown in the postcard was commissioned and built in 1911 for a cost of $38,000 (around $1.2 million in 2024 dollars). The Wilson Building, seen behind the W.A. Green & Company building, housed the Titche-Goettinger Department Store until the end of the 1920s. The vantage point of the artist is Scollard Court, or present-day Exchange Place, renamed to the latter following the 1916 construction of the Exchange National Bank. Today Exchange Place is little more than a narrow, alley-like walkway sandwiched between the one-time Exchange bank building and that of its rival Republic National Bank, long since christened "Money Alley" and designated as a historical landmark. Note the streetcar lines running down the center of Elm Street.
