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Item #8:

I decided to put these two together. As I was reading the playbill I noticed the name "Marie Bonfanti". I recalled seeing that same name on the back of one of the photo's and I believe that this is the same person that is mentioned on the playbill. Apparently she was pretty popular at the time.

 

Very nice! Looks like the "The Children in the Wood" show at Niblo's Garden ran from December 1873 to early January 1874. Maybe a good show for Christmas time?

https://www.musicals101.com/1870s.htm

https://books.google.com/books?id=RwnuuuBfJvkC&pg=PA213&lpg=PA213&dq="niblo's+garden"+"children+in+the+wood"&source=bl&ots=cg0CBbhto4&sig=ACfU3U20Imdold8K_YVTb0LGUIIKdtgUwg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjC9YDK-LLwAhXYXc0KHefRCg0Q6AEwDnoECAQQAw#v=onepage&q="niblo's garden" "children in the wood"&f=false

Besides Marie Bonfanti, it also starred "The Vokes Family." As I recall, there were several sisters making up that family. I have photos of a couple of the sisters. Here is one, of Victoria Vokes (not from the same show).




I think your CDV of Bonfanti is from the 1870s, but don't know if it's related to that show!

 

I was wondering what "Vokes" meant and now I know. I was also unsure how old these CDV's were or that playbill. Didn't know if they were 1880's or 1890's I never thought anything was from the 1870's at all. I have learned a lot just today. I want to also look at the links you sent. Maybe there is more to to explore through the links you sent and what's in this box.

Thank you Figtree3!

As for your photo i't pretty amazing how people dressed and what they wore for these photo's.

I just clicked on that first link and I was shocked to see by year all of the plays. This will help greatly. Thank you!

 

You're welcome! And that first link was for just musical performances. There were a lot of dramatic plays performed in the 19th century, too.

 

Item #9:

Say hello to Charles Steele, he is the one that saved all of these things that were headed eventually to the dumpster. You guessed it, he's the one to the right.

 

Item #10:

Changing it up just a bit. Here are various tickets and stubs related to...

• Coney Island / Iron Pier (via DL&W R.R.)
• Delaware Lackawanna & Western Railroad (First Class / Special Excursion - Stamped Sussex RR. R. Aug 21, 1891 on reverse)
• Manhattan Steam Navigation Company
• Iron Steamboat Co (via the DL&Western R.R.)
• Ferry Foot Passage (via the Long Island Railroad - 1871)
• Detroit City Railway (sample lithographers ticket)
• ...and other places

 

I like the tintype in the middle! And you're lucky to have a photo of the perpetrator -- er, the collector!

 

Is something like the photo in the middle attractive to collectors? I cannot figure out how old that is or what they are wearing. I looked up Tintype photos and I don't even see people dressed like that. It almost looks like a Little House on the Prairie kind of thing, no offense to Laura Ingalls Wilder. The clothing is what is totally throwing me off. Thee are no marking on the back of the photo either other than the rust that you see coming through the front.

P.S. I also have pics in a book called "Images of America Newton" he is in a few of them. On top of that there are a bunch of copper printing plates and his photo is there as well. As a matter of fact the printing plate matches one of the photos used in the book.

 

Based on some features of their dresses, and the style of paper sleeve in which the tintype is set, my guess is that the tintype is from the 1870s. There's a chance that the clothes they are wearing are meant to be costumes for a play or performance. Or, maybe they were members of a religious group that wore such things. It occurs to me that 1876 was the U. S. Centennial. Maybe it's possible that it is for that?

The unusual clothing they are wearing would make the tintype attractive to some collectors. It would be even better if you could identify what exactly the clothing is for (performance, or religous?). Since Mr. Steele seemed to have collected a lot of theatrical items, I'm guessing that it is for performance. But that is just a guess.

I recently bought a tintype in an almost identical paper sleeve/frame to the one that you've shown here. I suspect this isn't American, though. Maybe northern European, or Asian? Somewhere cold!
(whoops it posted above my message instead of below.)

 

Regarding the unusual clothing photo, it reminded me of a late 1800's photo from my wife's family. Did people sometimes just dress up "old timey" for photos, especially if they were young? I believe this photo was taken around 1885.

 

I don't know the answer to why they would do that, or whether or not it was done for no reason at all. But I've seen enough photos of people dressed in all sorts of ways that I expect there were a variety of reasons. I suppose it's no different from anybody doing that in the 20th-21st centuries. In the 21st there are far fewer people going to photography studios, but you do see it sometimes.

 

Item #11:

I went to the Handbill and Broadside binder. Paged past this a number of times because it is folded. It measures about 18"x9".

This is a broadside from the "Wood's Museum" formerly know as "Barnum's American Museum" which in this case was the one in New York City.

What I found interesting is that it offered a lot of the things that a business would simply be shut down for, look closely and you can be the judge of that. "Baby Woman" this was a two or three year old child that prematurely reached puberty. Yup time to close the doors in todays world and I couldn't blame anyone for that.

Look up Comodore Foot (Charles Nestle) he met and spoke with President Abraham Lincoln and First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln. He also performed in England for Queen Victoria.

If you see any other interesting things please feel free to add them to this thread.

Hope you enjoy it....

 

Item #12:

In the envelope there were the three items that you see below it. The company called Harden Hand Grenade Fire Extinguisher Company made them. They are glass bottles which are sought after by collectors. what seems to be harder to find are letter like this one.

What I have read is that the content of the bottles was carbon tetrachloride would help to control the fire but it also had a number of negative effects. One being if thrown into the fire a gas vapor would be created and it could incapacitate the person in the area where it was thrown and cause them to pass out. Not so good if you are trying to escape the fire.

 

Carbon tet and chlorine react and create Phosgene , which if I remember correctly is basically "Mustard gas " ... I had a few of the thinner glass , tear drop shaped ' wall hanging fire extinguishers ...got rid of all of them .

By the way , neat stuff ! I imagine many of us here have collections that if someone were to throw it all away upon our demise, someone would be equally thrilled and lucky to find . Sometimes it's just hard to get rid of stuff that brings back memories.

 

People collect those fire grenades, so I imagine those documents would be very saleable.

 

Item #13:

This handbill was found in one of the worst area in the box, it's still somewhat intact but as you can see it has moisture damage and is fragile.

I don't have much other information to share on it maybe from 1880 or 1881 since the accompanying paper mentions August 1880. What I can tell is that Ms. Helen Potter was known for her impersonations.

 

TY, I did see the playbill but I did not find the article. I will read it, I click on what you sent above and it looks interesting. Thank you!

The box keeps on surprising me. I hope it's not boring folks here.

 

Item #14:


Below is a letter from the Lehigh and Hudson River Railway Company / Pennsylvania & New England. I can only make out a little bit of what the letter says but I can't make out what the letter is really about.

What I found when I flipped it over was the map which was unexpected.