Nineteenth century photo studios did more than take images of their clients. Many also took pictures of their communities.
The image in the banner for this article is but one of the pictures of Providence, Rhode Island on the Library of Congress website, (www.loc.gov). It is labeled Atlantic Building, Providence, R.I., with an attributed date of between 1863 and 1881. There is plenty of evidence in this photo to narrow that time frame from the photographic format to signage on the building.
What is it?
The double image horizontal format identifies this picture as a stereograph. The two nearly identical images become 3-D when seen with a stereopticon viewer. While stereographic images were available as of 1854, they became very popular in the late nineteenth century. Local photographers cashed in on the demand for this fad, by taking pictures of landmarks and popular events.
Photographic card stock came in a wide variety of colors in the nineteenth century. While images were initially on cream-colored stock, a range of bright colors such as red, green and yellow were also available as of the 1860s. This one is on green stock, a color common beginning in 1866. In this period, each stereograph cost from 25 to 50 cents.[1]
Who was the photographer?
Later stereographs were mass-produced and featured the photographer’s name (or the publishing company’s name) on the front of the image, but earlier ones can be unlabeled or bear the name of the photographer on the back. In this case, the Manchester Brothers took it. According to William Culp Darrah in Stereo Views: A History of Stereographs in America and Their Collection, the Manchester Brothers were active stereo photographers from 1868 to 1878.[2] City directories provide their full names—Edwin and Henry N. Manchester. They were among the photographic pioneers of New England, operating a studio in the early 1840s, and are credited with introducing the paper print to Rhode Island.
Signage Sense
While the photographer work dates and the color of the card stock narrow the time frame, it is the history of the building and the businesses that occupied space there that date the picture.
Tenants included the Economical Mutual Life Insurance Co, the Atlantic Fire and Marine Insurance Co, the First National Bank, and the Cranston Savings Bank. The Atlantic Fire and Marine Insurance Co (established 1852) moved into its new building at 45 Westminster Street, in about 1870 and remained in business until 1889. The Economical Mutual Life Insurance Co dates from 1866 but failed in 1873. The Cranston Savings Bank operated offices at the First National Bank beginning in 1871. The years that these businesses had in common in the Atlantic Building ranged from 1871 to 1873, a very narrow time frame.[3
Young Boy with Cap and the Bunting
Look closely at the front of the building. A young boy lounges leaning against it. He is dressed in a short jacket and a stylish cap, definitely in style for the early 1870s. But it is another detail on the façade that suggests that this image commemorates a celebration—the bunting on the upper story windows. Red, white and blue bunting was used for parades and other types of celebrations.
Each aspect in the image from the card stock to the bunting offers clues into the significance of this stereograph. Look closely at this picture to catch of glimpse of life in 1870s Providence.
Notes
[1] Darrah, William Culp, Stereo Views: A History of Stereographs in America and Their Collection (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania: Times and News Publishing, 1964), 17. [2] Darrah, ibid., 212. [3] Illustrated Handbook of Providence (1876) 87; Davis, William T., The New England States : Their Constitutional, Judicial, Educational, Commercial, Professional and Industrial History (Boston: D.H. Hurd & Co., 1897), 4:2436-2438; Bayles, Richard, History of Rhode Island (New York: W.W. Preston, 1891), 1:570.You Might Also Like
