H L King, May 10th 1885
Here is an 1885 picture of a graduating lawyer. Haven’t tried looking up the biographical details for him, but no doubt identification would be easy with all the details provided on the back of the photograph. The inscription reads:
Compliments of H L King, Cribbs, Pa, Westm’d Co, U of M “Law” Class ‘85, Ann Arbor, May 10th, ‘85.
Since it was taken in Ann Arbor (the front has an imprint from photographers Lewis & Gibson, Ann Arbor, Mich.) we know the U of M refers to the University of Michigan. Mr King is a resident of Cribbs Pennsylvania, in Westmoreland county. There is no Cribbs Pennsylvania listed in modern atlases, but there was a large Cribbs family who settled very early in Hempfield township, near the center of Westmoreland county, near modern-day Greensburg.
Julia Louisa Mayers, August 5, 1883
This is a photograph of a young girl, identified on the back on Julia Louisa Mayers, born February 2, 1881, at the age of two years and six months. The image is dated August 5, 1883.
There are various props in the photographer’s studio, and a painted background, but the center of attention besides Julia is the baby buggy, probably her mode of transport to the studio. She wears a simple yoked shift that flares at the bottom and has a scalloped lower edge.
The photographer for this image is William C Shoemaker, 602-1/2 Poplar Street, Philadelphia, whom we know was active in Philadelphia at least 1880 to 1890. The back imprint he uses is a standard type I call the Floral Bouquet over Picture Frame, with Camera and Palette with Banners.
This is not a tremendously popular motif, but I have seen many. The dated examples I have first appear in 1879, and this is the latest one in 1883. They may exist a few years earlier or later — do you have a dated example outside this range? Let us know!
