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Finds and Interests
Some of you may know that I collect vintage photographs and negatives. I built a website called History in Photographs to highlight and share the collection. These are more than just simple snapshots; they give us a glimpse into history and leave us with questions.
I’ve selected a few of the most intriguing and am excited to share what some experts have told us about the hidden narratives and stories behind each photo.
For these photos, we worked with Meghan Boehmer, a historical interpreter, reenactor, and writer who has traveled thousands of miles to learn about historical locations, records, and figures. She has agreed to share her expertise in period clothing with me, hoping to enhance our understanding of the subjects in the photos. Please take a look at what she was able to tell us about this photo.
A railway is a well-oiled machine. Train schedules are meticulously planned and timed out. There is one tool that every train employee must have, and that is a pocket watch. The pocket watch in the photo, along with several other clues, tells us a story.
This man is not a conductor or a porter. He’s not wearing the appropriate hat. He’s also dressed far too nicely to be doing manual labor like an engineer might, for instance. He does wear a matching waistcoat and pants, which may allude to a uniform. The way his sleeves are wrinkled, it looks as though he’s removed a jacket and pushed up his sleeves. He has a pen tucked into his breast pocket.
These details are all hints that he might have been a telegraph operator who pushed up his sleeves so he wouldn’t get ink on them, or when tapping code, the loose fabric around his wrists wouldn’t snag and cause him to falter. His side-buttoning boots and his jaunty hat date him to near the turn of the century, likely circa the late 1890s.
He looks like a man who takes his job seriously!