Captions vs Pictures

[Delmonico]

There was a discussion in The Cutting Edge where we we're talking about old pictures as a source of referance.  These pictures can be good but at times they can be worthless.  A picture where one has no real idea of the date or even the area of the country are good examples.  Also any studio picture is always suspect because photographers used a lot of props.

Also any picture with a caption needs a good look to see if it really is what it says it is.  I've seen some pictures in some respected referance books that I have often wondered if the picture editor really knew their bussiness or even looked at carefully.  I have a couple in my Photobucket account right now and will add more as I run across them again.  Please toss in any ideas you have on these, or if you find one add it, if you are not sure but wonder, toss it in, tell us what you see and we'll toss it around.  We may never be sure, but we can learn something from this.

One of my favorites is out of The Kansas State Historical Society, it appeared in the companion book to Ken Burns PBS series The West and the series.  The topic was what is often refered to as "Exodusters"  freed slaves who moved from the south to homestead on the plains.  This is an interesting and little known topic on it's own, I aplaud Burns for covering it.  I don't have the exact text with me, but if someone has the book handy and wants to add it please do.  but it reads something like: "A family of Exodusters waiting on a levee for a steamboat to take them to Kansas.



No I must confess I am not a river engineer, but as I remember, water on both sides of a levve are not a good thing.  Also on the right side of the picture, the fence row and the house in the water is also less than ideal.  One begains to wonder if perhaps it is a family that has taken refuge on a levee or a road to escape a flood. 

Also upon a bit of a closer look, one sees what may be a duffle bag, but with a closer look it appears to be a person, face down wrapped in canvas on a section of a picket fence.



When we discussed this picture years ago, someone suggested, tongue in cheek of course, that Grandpa really didn't want to move to Kansas and he was put in a straight jacket.  I am sure what we see is a drowned person who will be buried as soon as the water goes down. 

As a note, I worked on this picture quite a while back, I have better programs now and when I get a yellowed and faded picture I take it back to the original B&W and try to remove as much fading as possible.

[Delmonico]

Another one that is interesting with a good close look is from the book The Peacemakers
Arms and Adventure in the American West by R. L. Wilson.

This one is dated in his book as late 1860's, the exact caption though I don't remember, again if someone has their book handy feel free to add it.



What came up was the pointed toed boots, I've never seen where anyone has been able to really track down a date on these, but they seem to show up a little by the late 1890's and came out of Mexico.

With a little work with a photo program, one will notice the beer bottles were they type that had been sealed with a crown cap, invented in 1891and patented by William Painter on 2 February 1892 (U.S. Patent 468,258).



So we know the date in Wilson's book is too early.

[Delmonico]

Another one I find interesting is this picture of Isom Dart/Ned Huddleson, a cowboy and sometimes rusltler and horse thief wo was often around the Hole in the Wall and Browns Park.  He was shot from a distance on Oct. 3, 1900 outside his cabin at daybreak, most likely by Tom Horn.



The picture was taken by John Green of 18th & Market Sts., Denver, Colorado some where between 1870 and 1880 and is in The Denver Public Library Collection.  The picture appears in many books and the second pistol is often called a dueling pistol.



To me it appears to be a high grade Flobert Salon pistol, a target gun for indoor shooting that uses a BB Cap.  Either way it is one of the best examples of what has to be a studio prop.  One either even if it is a dueling pistol rather than a Flobert, neither is suitable for a second gun in the period.  Also of course Denver did not allow the carrying of guns so most likely both are studio props.  I doubt he really ever carrie much just tucked into the belt.

[rebsr52339]

What gets me in the above photo of Isom is the chaps/pants combo? What the heck are these all about. I can't even guess.

[Delmonico]

What gets me in the above photo of Isom is the chaps/pants combo? What the heck are these all about. I can't even guess.

Look more carefully, they are seperate.

Added 6-22:  That's what happens with B&W photgraphy if you don't plan you outfit well, stuff blends in.  A little playing and it all goes away and you can see what he's wearing better:

[Delmonico]

Ok, another one I always get a chuckle out of, not to pick on Ken Burns but he does get paid more than I do for this stuff, same the book that goes with his series "The West."

A Nebraska settler named Harvey Andrews and his wife tend the grave of their infant daughter, Victoria, carefully planted with pine seedlings and proctected by a picket fence."





Don't know where they got "Victoria or daughter, and of course those are Eastern Red Cedar, not any type of pine.

[Drayton Calhoun]

There was a discussion in The Cutting Edge where we we're talking about old pictures as a source of referance.  These pictures can be good but at times they can be worthless.  A picture where one has no real idea of the date or even the area of the country are good examples.  Also any studio picture is always suspect because photographers used a lot of props.

Also any picture with a caption needs a good look to see if it really is what it says it is.  I've seen some pictures in some respected referance books that I have often wondered if the picture editor really knew their bussiness or even looked at carefully.  I have a couple in my Photobucket account right now and will add more as I run across them again.  Please toss in any ideas you have on these, or if you find one add it, if you are not sure but wonder, toss it in, tell us what you see and we'll toss it around.  We may never be sure, but we can learn something from this.

One of my favorites is out of The Kansas State Historical Society, it appeared in the companion book to Ken Burns PBS series The West and the series.  The topic was what is often refered to as "Exodusters"  freed slaves who moved from the south to homestead on the plains.  This is an interesting and little known topic on it's own, I aplaud Burns for covering it.  I don't have the exact text with me, but if someone has the book handy and wants to add it please do.  but it reads something like: "A family of Exodusters waiting on a levee for a steamboat to take them to Kansas.



No I must confess I am not a river engineer, but as I remember, water on both sides of a levve are not a good thing.  Also on the right side of the picture, the fence row and the house in the water is also less than ideal.  One begains to wonder if perhaps it is a family that has taken refuge on a levee or a road to escape a flood. 

Also upon a bit of a closer look, one sees what may be a duffle bag, but with a closer look it appears to be a person, face down wrapped in canvas on a section of a picket fence.



When we discussed this picture years ago, someone suggested, tongue in cheek of course, that Grandpa really didn't want to move to Kansas and he was put in a straight jacket.  I am sure what we see is a drowned person who will be buried as soon as the water goes down. 

As a note, I worked on this picture quite a while back, I have better programs now and when I get a yellowed and faded picture I take it back to the original B&W and try to remove as much fading as possible.

I could be wrong, but, I seem to recall a program on the History Channel about a flood in the Thirties in Mississippi and this photo looks strikingly like one I saw in the show. It referenced how survivors waited nearly a month for any kind of aid.

[Major 2]

Ah ...Mi-sure' Ken Burns 

Met him 1 time to many, On the set of "Gettysburg" he was doing a cameo .... During the Pickett's Charge sequences
He has a line , speaking the Gen. Reynolds " General get down (Off his Horse) We cannot spare you....
Just before General Reynolds is morally shot from his horse.

Earlier before his BIG scene he had a large audience of Reenactor fans.... He made a comment, rather disrespectful to and towards the Reenactors themselves....
Most, considered him a conceded JERK.... with highly feminine tendency     GAYtysburgs, as it were !

[panhead pete]

Good stuff, Del,

I like the closeups and coloring. 

Thanks for sharing.

PhP

[Drayton Calhoun]

Ah ...Mi-sure' Ken Burns 

Met him 1 time to many, On the set of "Gettysburg" he was doing a cameo .... During the Pickett's Charge sequences
He has a line , speaking the Gen. Reynolds " General get down (Off his Horse) We cannot spare you....
Just before General Reynolds is morally shot from his horse.

Earlier before his BIG scene he had a large audience of Reenactor fans.... He made a comment, rather disrespectful to and towards the Reenactors themselves....
Most, considered him a conceded JERK.... with highly feminine tendency     GAYtysburgs, as it were !

I always considered 'The Civil War' series just a tad slanted.