The Photo That Started it All!

From about the age of 10 or so I was preoccupied with the common things that people touched and used during the Victorian Era.  It was quite a while before I learned to differentiate among the decades that comprised this long period.  I was very excited to find, though, that I could own some of it. One of the first sorts of items I discovered that I could possess easily were photographs.  This was my first, found in a pawn shop not far from where it was taken in the late 1990s or 2000:

When I found it, I was pretty sure it fell within the Victorian Period, or at least the "Long 19th Century," and that was enough- it was a moment frozen in time that I possessed.  In the mean time, I have pretty finitely broken down the fashion trends during the entire 19th Century and beyond and found it obvious that it is characteristically 1890s.  The specifics make it even more valuable to me- not as a collector of antiques based on monetary value- but just as one preoccupied with common material culture.  A friend of mine (and fellow recreator of historic clothing), Michael Ramsey, and I have even been planning to modify a pattern for a very similar suit (available through http://agelesspatterns.com/) to "wearable" sizes:

This one dates to 1894 but is only available in the original size- 32- small even for the period.

Yours & c.

The Victorian Man

Photo From My Collection- From a Pornographer's Studio???

A few nights ago, I needed to unwind with something entertaining but informative yet not overly technical.  So, I reached for this book:

Louisville: Murder and Mayhem: Historic Crimes of Derby City.  It is based on actual events; well written yet not the most scholarly work around. Being fascinated with my home town's Victorian history, this was just the diversion I needed.  The title of the selection "Your Friendly Neighborhood Pornographer" caught my interest.  It was about a Louisville man, Henry Zinc, who the US Post Office caught peddling nude images of women through the mail in 1893.  His partner was allegedly "well known" local photographer Walter Elrod.  Elrod denied the charge but said that nearly every other photographer in town was involved in the trade and that the only images he ever gave Zinc were "works of art" having been given to him by a friend.  I immediately recognized the name "Elrod," though, as being present in my stash of antique photographs.  Suddenly, what had seemed to be a rather plain image of a late 19th Century Louisville woman had more of a story attached:

For years, I have had an image from the alleged pornographer's studio- only a a quick bicycle ride from where I currently live.  Her dress indicates the photo was taken in the 1880s or early 1890s- right at the time he was accused of having operated in "the business."

Yours & c.

The Victorian Man