Photograph Album. Western Photographs - Morman - California

WING FAMILY [CAPE COD, MA]

Publication: Photographer unknown, ca 1895 - 1905, N P

Photograph album of a cross-country rail trip ostensibly made by the Wing family of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. [N.p., n.d.: ca. early 1900s].

Oblong photograph album (approx. 14¾" x 11½"), original roan, "Photographs" stamped in gilt on upper cover; some wear but generally very good condition. The Wing family provenance is provided by an old eBay description laid in. We have not verified the provenance.

Contains 187 3½" x 4½" gelatin silver sepia-toned photographs. About a third are a bit faded, likely due to bad original exposure rather than actual fading; but others are excellent; the photographs are not mounted but rather slipped into pro-forma windows; all are removeable; overall a very good album covering a cross-country trip by rail.

An early and comprehensive snapshot album, and an excellent example showing the rapid rise in popularity of the Kodak box camera, introduced in 1888, after which snapshot photography quickly became a national craze. Some Wing family members are very likely among those pictured, but individuals are unidentified. Images include those of the Mormon buildings at Salt Lake City including Temple Square, the Latter Day Saints College, Amelia Palace, and the Bee Hive House -- one of Brigham Young's residences. There are also scenic views of Salt Lake Valley. The Wing family, probably of Cataumet, apparently took several cross-country trips by rail recording the scenes as they traveled, possibly following the route of the Northern Pacific to California. The photographs are untitled but many can be identified through their content.

Many state house views are included, and the first photographs in the album are of the Columbus, Ohio, state house followed by the state houses in Des Moines and Boise. The men are dressed in turn-of-the-century fashion, sporting dark suits, top hats and bowler hats. Women are in floor length dresses of late Victorian to early twentieth century style. No automobiles are in the photographs, only horse drawn carriages and trolley cars. There are several excellent photographs of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument in Des Moines built in 1896 to commemorate lowa's Civil War dead. Many photographs appear to have been taken as the train passed through the countryside and show a very open and early America, featuring stock yards, roaming cattle and pasture land. There is a photograph of the Pabst Blue Ribbon Brewing Co. in Milwaukee. Yosemite and the California coast line is pictured as well as train depot that appears to say "(Stock) ton."