01-19-09
CHRISTMAS VISITS
Pre 1920
Large-scale blowups will not be available for all of these, but are included
wherever they were to be had.
A "Stereopticon" slide-card from 1889. 3-D!
Another Stereopticon card from the 1890s, showing it's age.
1897 - "Early Christmas" - Stereopticon.
Christmas 1900 - Home of Wilbur and Orville Wright.
"Brown paper packages,
tied up with strings ..."
1902 - a hand drawn picture of a putz. This sems to have been
drawn from a real-life model. German style houses and animals pre- WW I.
1906: - "Santa's Workshop,"
- from still another Stereopticon card.
When it comes to
Christmas photos of this early period, we seem to turn up mostly these old
parlor-entertainment stereos more than anything else, and while charming and interesting -
they are nonetheless staged. This industry must have created lots of
welcome little side-jobs for hungry actors in it's heyday. Still, we can get an
authentic idea of dress and toys and the general appearance of those long-gone times.
Many many fascinating things in view, here.
New York - Madison Square - 1913. Famous photo by G.G.Bain - hand-tinted.
Christmas at a children's lodging house - New York - 1914.
1919 -
Wow! A new crystal set! There were no commercial broadcasting stations
in 1919. KDKA in Pittsburgh was the first in 1921 and even then was not on a regular
schedule. They would put ads in the paper to tell you when to listen. About all you
could get in these days was naval morse code wireless and ham radio geeks, but it was
such a wonder! And expensive! That very simple set with half a dozen parts in it cost
as much
- adjusted for inflation -
as a wide-screen HD-TV today.
A handsome present!
The Dickey family - 1913.
1913: You don't suppose the Dickeys missed the "Big Parade?"
That's a Stanley "Steamer" following the big attraction.
The Dickeys in 1915.
Macy's New York - 1915. The toy window. Hey, guys - this is the girls'
window!
