When Photography Really Was: Plate #5
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Ken Nadvornick

When Photography Really Was: Plate #5

Many years ago I worked in a small neighborhood professional darkroom. We did all sorts of custom jobs for individuals and commercial clients. One of our specialties was handling old photographs.

One day a young girl came in with Grandma in tow. The desk person, Harriet, asked how she could help. The girl said, "Show her, Grandma." Whereupon Grandma handed over a small box of family glass plate negatives in various sizes. Harriet ran back to the darkroom to find me. The girl asked, "Can you do anything with these?" Absolutely.

These are straight contact prints from nine of those plates, made with Grandma's permission, that I was allowed to keep for myself. I thought it might be fun for everyone to see these. If you can fill in any additional details regarding locations, aircraft, cars, or anything else, please do. Especially possible original dates or time frames.

These contact prints date from around 1985. The photographs themselves seem to date from possibly the early 1900s. I know nothing more about their provenance other than that Grandma was a very nice lady.
Click to expand...
Ken Nadvornick
This is a full 5 x 7 inch plate.

Obviously a well-to-do family. They own both a horse and buggy, and a horseless carriage. The vehicle looks new up close. It's license reads "24678" but the smaller lettering cannot be resolved. This looks like it might be a Sunday trip to church? And only one favored pooch here.

For the record, I was not responsible for that adhesive tape damage. The negative was already like that, minus the tape, when I received it.
 
Molli
I absolutely love these photos, Ken. I wish I had negatives or plates from my grandparents' photo albums so I could do fresh prints. Unfortunately, I've had to go the digital route in repairing them instead :sad: I'm wondering if you have even a rough idea of the locality of these photos. I've had a bit of luck getting at least ballpark dates for older photos when license plates are included. I don't know how America went about sequencing their plate numbers, but Australia had a fairly specific way of doing things for each state, changing things around from one decade to the next and, in the last half century, what seems like every other year. If you have any more "clues", I'd love to help you track down more information about these photos. I pieced together an entire extended family tree from some anonymous photos once so I've had a tiny bit of practice :smile:
 
Eucalyptus trees appeared in California in the latter half of the 19th Century - mostly because they grow fast and taller than the local dry country trees. A lot of places are taking them out now to reduce the fire risk and to re-instate local fauna and flora. The dress style, vehicles and architecture look like California in the 1930's. I do think the family in the buggy could be the same as those on the lawn. I find old photographs fascinating. What they portray was mostly normal for the time, but looks unusual to modern eyes. The coupe was designed by an artist, not a wind tunnel :cool:
 
That's definitely an early-20s Model T. I'm guessing 1924 because I think they rounded the top of the radiator and the headlights look larger than earlier years. Hmm, they usually didn't have bumpers, though.
 
jimgalli
Definitely NOT a Model T Ford. Hudson had the white triangle on the radiator but this doesn't look like a Hudson either. Wonder why they're taking the buckboard when they have an automobile?
 
Ken Nadvornick
OK, how about a 1914 Hudson Model 6-54 Phaeton 7-passenger touring automobile?

http://tinyurl.com/b5e6rqq (see faded pictures on last two pages)
http://tinyurl.com/b68d2bw (see last two entries on page 6)

Note the roof and very distinctive radiator shape in the 3/4-view in link 1. The Hudson radiators this early seemed to change every year.

Note the folded windshield and lower bumper in the second photo in link 2. Also read the note by Bill Cohen, who believes both pictures are of the same model, the first one having been incorrectly identified.

Original price: $2,250.00
($51,799.73 in 2012 US dollars)
 
jimgalli
I think you nailed it Ken. 1914 fits well with the rest of the image. Clothing styles etc. Can you read the date on the license plate in the original.
 
Ken Nadvornick
Here's a close-up of the license plate (with a bit of contrast enhancement):
http://tinyurl.com/as2yl7e

And here's a color image listing of California license plates from the 1910s:
http://tinyurl.com/9wcaf23

Note that in the plate close-up the vertical letters "CAL" appear to the left of the number. This, along with the shape of the plate, the shape of the numerals, and the unresolvable, but also vertical, characters to the right of the number, seem to narrow it down to either the 1914 or 1915 plates. And since the 1915 plate is the only dark numbers over lighter backround of those two, I think it's definitely the 1915 California plate. None of the other images in the listing are even close.

So, many thanks to both Molli and Jim for supplying the crucial clues. Jim for identifying the Hudson triangle. And Molli for the online license plate database.

For future reference that database may be found here:
http://www.worldlicenseplates.com
 

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