Tintype Circus? Athlete? Opinions?

Hello again everyone!

Hope the month is still treating you all well.

Purchased this Tintype today out in CT while hunting around.

The man in the middle looks to either be a boxer or possibly an acrobat?

The man sitting to the left in the photo is also very odd. His face which is a bit blurry is sort of creepy. His ear on one side is much smaller than his other ear, and his hands have huge veins. Not sure if he's a oddity or deformity?

Any opinions would help out greatly!
As always, thank you so much in advance!

-Jon

 

I'm not so sure that the one ear (on his left, our right) is smaller than the other. I think the bottom part is just a lighter coloration that the upper part. I was able to zoom to 250% and I'm pretty sure the earlobe is there amongst all the black spots.

But wowza, those veins! A blood pressure issue?

He looks uncommonly tall (unless that's a trick of the angle.)

As to the guy in the middle, I think that was the typical boxer costume before 1900 (and perhaps even after for a while.) But I believe there are more options - "strong man" and sword swallower come to mind for carnivals and the midway at the circus.

Of course that begs the question of what the third guy in his normal dress and no obvious accoutrements of a carnival or circus performer has to do with the others.

 

As to the man with his "ear on one side . . . much smaller than his other ear" --is it possible that one of his ears is a "cauliflower ear" (a malady afflicting boxers who didn't have/wear ear/head protective gear)? I know you commented on the small ear, but is it "small" because the other ear is misshapen and appears larger?

Link is about "cauliflower ear(s)" which boxers were known to have before protective head gear was "enforced" in the boxing ring.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cauliflower_ear

 

Thanks for the quick reply! The man on the left is odd, and I think you are correct. It could easily be a "strong man" type as well. I was thinking if it was a boxer, the guy on the right could be a manager. But I'm not sure if they had managers back then. It's an odd photo for sure.

 

I think it could be cauliflower ear for sure. I know you guys and gals can't zoom as much as I with the photo, but it's odd. It seems like the man with the odd ears smiled super wide and then closed his mouth mid photo. If you zoom in real close you can see a wide smile with all of his teeth (blurry of course) due to movement.

 

I'd go with boxer, manager and second/trainer.

 

I think if either of the 2 sitters stood up, they'd be taller and huskier than the standing guy. "Circus" sounds like a good notion to me. Maybe a gymnast or a trapeze artist? I don't see any problems with ears or hands.

 

I've tried to make it a little clearer to see with the ear.

 

Yes, the man to our left moved during the time the photo was being taken.

I'm not sure whether circus performer or boxer for the standing man. I can't really see the bottom half of his clothing. I don't suppose you have a scanner? It would be easier to see details if this were scanned.

I did an image search for boxer 1890 and got the following.
https://www.google.com/search?q=box...=TzWUVNTqLNP2yQTa_YCoAw&ved=0CB0QsAQ#imgdii=_

One thing I notice is that in your picture, the man's pants or tights seem to be looser than the ones on these guys... but maybe it's just the way they happened to fit. Otherwise, I think it looks similar enough to the variety of costumes.

I don't think the muscle tone in his arms looks the same as what these boxers are showing, but also most of them have their arms flexed.

 

His whole face is a bit of a blur. I think it's just a matter of him moving when the photo wad snapped.

 

Oh, also, the man to our left with the big hand veins appears to have a droopy eye on one side.

 

Hello all! Thank you again for all of the help!

The sitter on the left definitely moved, as he looks to have smiled real wide and then closed his mouth mid photo. He does look to have odd eyes, as one only looks open to me. The veins on the hands really throw me off because I've never seen anyone with hands like that.

I did a search and the man in the middle may actually be a wrestler. His outfit seems to fit that a bit more than a boxer.

Maybe two wrestlers and a manager?

 

I think get the circus feel from this photo. It looks like these two guys are making money off of him. The back drop seems to have some kind of design or shadow on it. Seems slightly famous to get a pose like this. My eyes are bad, but I don't get the fighter vibe, he looks more like some type of a guy who'd get shot out of a canon. A daredevil type.

 

Baby Brother finally made it as a wrestler. Big Brothers came to see him and they had their picture taken.

If all of them were in the circus, wouldn't they all be pictured in their circus garb?

The two on the right appear to have the same chin and face stucture.
The man on the left and the middle seem to have the same shape ears.

Doesn't mean anything of course. They could just be best buddies who have known each other for a long time.

Whatever the man in the middle is, he doesn't have much muscle tone. Light Weight?

 

One more w/ the color taken out!

 

I scanned it, but not sure if this will be of any help, as it's not the best scanner lol : )

 

The gentleman on the left may have a genetic disorder such as Marfan syndrome.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marfan_syndrome

 

That's surely a possibility. I'm leaning towards "Boxer / Wrestler" Manager / Trainer.

But then again, it could easily be circus. So who knows! lol

 

The scanned version doesn't help... the resolution seems pretty low. That's o.k., though!

I like the idea of it being a wrestler -- they seemed to wear less clothing than boxers, though:
https://www.google.com/search?q=wre...=aYCUVM7XNouSyASLwIKgAw&ved=0CCoQsAQ#imgdii=_

 

Yeah, I need to work on my Scanning Skills. Is it just adjusting the DPI?