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Most of the photos on this site were extracted from reference images (high-resolution tiffs, 20 to 200 megabytes in size) from the Library of Congress research archive. (To query the database click here.) Many were digitized by LOC contractors using a Sinar studio back. They are adjusted by your webmaster for contrast and color in Photoshop before being downsized and turned into the jpegs you see here.
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American Girl: 1850
Submitted by Dave on Sun, 04/20/2008 - 9:06pm.
Tags:
Circa 1844-1860, another portrait sitter from the studio of Mathew Brady, this one with a striking amoeba-shaped chapeau. "Unidentified woman, head and shoulders portrait, facing front. Sixth-plate daguerreotype. Hallmark: Rinhart 31. Scratched on back of plate: 304. Same sitter as in Dag No. 116." View full size.
Quick cleanup.
Submitted by kdtop on Tue, 09/07/2010 - 7:49pm.
Here is my attempt to restore the photo to its original beauty. I like to image the joy this must have brought to the family when it was first delivered. I believe the first photo of a person ever taken achieved just 11 yrs prior to this one.
Time Wounds All Heels
Submitted by Anonymous Tipster on Tue, 04/22/2008 - 9:21am.
You do such a good job presenting these pictures that it is easy to forget the originals are dried chemicals on crumbling paper or oxidizing silver on fragile glass. It is jarring to see the ravages of years as they try to erase these echoes of the past.
Hovering Amoeba
Submitted by Mattie on Mon, 04/21/2008 - 11:36pm.
It's the world's first thought balloon. Unfortunately, the lady had nothing on her mind when the photo was taken.
Ectoplasm? Protoplasm?
Submitted by Anonymous Tipster on Mon, 04/21/2008 - 7:58pm.
Hey. I'll be different, Dave--"Look! There's a spirit hovering over her head! Ectoplasm! I bet she was a medium!"
Amoeba Chapeau???
Submitted by Anonymous Tipster on Mon, 04/21/2008 - 7:31pm.
That's not an amoeba-shaped hat but some water mark or chemical that has contaminated this very old tin-type photo. Also check out her snow white chin whiskers which are not real either but the result of aging or water damage.
[Ding! This marks the 10th person in 24 hours to comment that the paramecium floating over this lady's head is, in reality, "not an amoeba- shaped hat." Or maybe it's the same person, desperate to get the word out. - Dave]
THE 100-YEAR-OLD PHOTO BLOG
Shorpy.com | History in HD is a vintage photo blog featuring thousands of high-definition images from the 1850s to 1950s. The site is named after Shorpy Higginbotham, a teenage coal miner who lived 100 years ago.
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