Two Photos: One Mourning, One Indian Wars Veteran

Hello,

I was pointed this way by a fellow seller,

and was hoping for a little help with a couple of photos.

The first is a mourning photo which looks to say "B & ARY Employee"
but I'm honestly unsure.

The second, is a man in uniform. According to the last individual I spoke with, he's wearing a mismatch of clothing and gear. Photo probably 1890's, Indian Wars hat, Gauntlets, and a masonic sword. The letters on his hat look to be CJD or EJD.


Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

 

Welcome!

On the first one, maybe the letters stand for B&A RY? As in "railway?"

 

The guy in uniform might be a costume - theater or otherwise.

 

There are 3 major possibilities for B&A Railway (or Railroad) in the US - Baltimore and Annapolis, Boston and Albany and Bangor and Aroostook. Unless there's something else characteristic or identifying in the picture, it may be impossible to narrow it down.

 

Welcome to the forum. Can't help you. That first one is a doozy. The second one could be a stage actor wearing a conglomeration of prop costumes. My mother's eldest sister was on the local stage around 1900-1910 and she wore some strange get-ups.

 

First and foremost, thank you all for the replies and the warm welcome! I really appreciate it! Looks like I'll be on this forum hanging out from now on!

Bakersgma, I think it would possibly be Boston to Albany as the photo was taken in West Springfield, MA.

Does it look like B & A to everyone? I just really wasn't sure about that "&" symbol or w/e is between the B - A


Thelmasstuff, I think you may be right. It does look like he could be an actor. Now that you say it, there is a good chance it is the case. I really appreciate the help!

Thank you to everyone who has replied so far!
Regards,
Jon

 

Hi Jon,
Welcome to the forum. I hope you will find us informative as well as likeable.
greg

 

I think it might be B & A RY -- but I can't really tell for sure.

On the other photo, I can't help with ID-ing what he is wearing, but it does look rather costume-like to me.

Can you include the entire photo in both cases? Including the cards they are mounted on? Or is the first one not mounted on a card? Does either one have a photographer's imprint? Does either one have any handwriting on front or back?

 

Sure can, here are the full cabinet photos.

 

I think you are right on 1890s being the date of the photo of the man. It could be slightly earlier or very slightly later. I'm basing this partly on the sort of scalloped edge of the card and the dark color.

The other card is also probably 1890s, if that helps at all. You didn't mention any writing, so I'm assuming there is none.

I found this directory of businesses in Hampden County in 1896 that lists B. B. Rice as a photographer. http://files.usgwarchives.net/ma/hampden/directories/business/1896/westspri5nms.txt

I haven't found a date range, though. Still, 1890s is probable.

 

The uniform is reminiscent of the Fraternal organizations from the time around 1900. Some of the symbols look familiar..

 

Thank you all for the replies! Thank you all so much! Here is a photo of the back of the fraternal gentleman.

 

Very attractive back mark! I don't have time to research the studio, but that might be another avenue you could take, to find out when it was in business and make sure it fits into the time range being considered.

 

After a little research, they look to have been a studio in the mid to late 1800's. So looks like it's victorian, probably late 1880's-1890's

 

>The last individual you spoke with on the other site cannot be relied upon to supply valid information.>

Hmmmm... Hi, Davey! Hope you weren't speaking of me!!! I replied to the OP's posting on the man in uniform over on the Collectibles board. I suspect the OP didn't see my posting for he hasn't replied. Then again I was only giving a suggestion. Following is my suggestion from the other board.
----
That sword, pommel and guard, looks like it may be a Knights of the Golden Eagle sword. Their swords had standing eagle pommels and crossguards with triangles/deltas. This fraternal order was formed in the 1870s. Here is one of their swords:

Note the deltas in the guard and the standing eagle pommel.
http://www.cutandparry.com/Fraternal.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knights_of_the_Golden_Eagle

Of course this is just a suggestion. No doubt several other fraternal orders used eagles and deltas in their symbolism. The Masons were one, but Masonic swords tended to have knights heads as pommels. Also the star/sun, cross, etc... symbols on his sash were used by several other fraternal orders also. Knights of Columbus had this style of cross on their sashes as did other orders with many of them using Maltese crosses.

--- Susan

 

Susan, I don't think he was talking about you. (Your wink emoticon shows that you know that, but... thought I'd mention it.)

 

I have seen the RY abbreviation used for "Rail Yard".