Mansion House Staff: 1900

The diversion may be one of the young Ricker family tripping over their billfold, a rich kid no doubt, (unlike tterrace!)

more on The Mansion at Poland Spring here.

I must thank you for these photos. Howells wrote a number of books set in the genteel milieus of the large resort hotels in New England, which flourished so magnificently at the turn of the 20th Century. These portraits give actual faces and costumes to the staff at those proud palaces of leisure and relaxation.

It looks like two of these women are wearing the same dress. That must have been awkward.

That guy in the middle looks like both he and his clothes got the full starch treatment.

[That may be a celluloid collar and shirt front or "dickey." - tterrace]

Given the setting, I conjecture that upon the photographer's "Watch the birdie!" some looked at the wrong one.

On those white dresses: must have been a constant problem. And those high collars in the summer, along with the long sleeves, must have made for plenty of sweat. (Although ladies didn't sweat then; they "glowed".) I wonder what they're looking at to their right, just outside of camera range.

I wonder what the diversion is to their right. Looks like it could be amusing. This type of photograph is to me most fascinating because of the variety of faces and expressions.