« History of a Photo »

The life of this photograph might go something like this:

1910 – “This is last year’s float in the parade; that’s Ellen C_____ in the middle there; she got married in October.”

1922 – “Look, here’s a picture of some float from Harry’s carpet business.”

1938 – “Here’s a funny old picture, bet it was from cousin Frank F______’s daddy’s business before the war; think it went bust even before the crash.”

1956 – “Hey, look what I found in some old boxes in that closet; I think I remember someone saying somebody in the family used to sell persian rugs. Look at those dresses and hairdos.”

1978 – “Where did this come from? How did it get in our stuff? Any idea what it is? Beats me; give it to Aunt Sarah, she might know what it is."

2001 – "Here are some more boxes of junk from that estate; don’t know when I’ll have time to go through this stuff.”

2008 – “I’ll bet somebody will think this is interesting and buy it; never can tell. Put it on eBay. Call it Early 1900 Horse Drawn Parade Float.”

“Told you somebody would buy it! Some folks will buy anything.”

Photography and the technology to reproduce photos in print were a boon to advertising products, and pretty ladies were used to attract readers from the beginning.