just some more show and tell ~

yesterday gwyn_hwyfar asked me if my old photos were real and so i thought i would share one of my "realest" photos with you. this one is from 1859, given to "Rose" by her brother "Will". although the image itself (an ambrotype) has a fracture (which was how i managed to get this cheap once upon a time), the rest of the case is in pretty sweet condition. the case is gutta percha (a very early form of plastic), which didn't tend to hold up well. the note behind the picture is written in pencil in the tiniest print imaginable (the case itself is 2 x 2 inches ~ very small!). the lock of hair is light brown, baby-fine, and tied with a piece of brown thread (which is exceptionally well preserved).




closeups under the cut and a transcription of the note (though it's pretty legible, i think): ( i wanna see the pixtures! )

i wonder what happened to Will. he's a young fella. did he go to war? was he a yankee or a reb? who is the mysterious "S" he refers to? a girlfriend? a pal? always fun to speculate.