Circa 1880s CDV of a man from Sing Sing, NY

This is a CDV portrait (about 2 1/2 X 4 inch albumen print mounted on cardboard) of a rather stern looking fellow from the late 19th century.  Based on the thickness of the cardboard, the semi-elaborate graphics on the back and the round corners, we feel this is at least from the 1880s, possibly 1890s.  If I were expert on clothing styles, I might be able to be more exact.

Printing on back indicates photographer was a C. Smith of Sing Sing, N.Y.  It's possible (even probable) that the gentleman in this picture was a local citizen.

Click on the title if you're interested.

Comic Linen Postcard - Love Thy Neighbor

This is a mildly risque Curt Teich comic postcard, from 1938.  I can tell the exact year it was created from a notation in the stamp box on the back.  Another clue to the general era is the partial view of an automobile behind a tent, and the card itself.  This is a linen card, and the linens date from roughly 1932-1952.

Many of the comics were not all that funny, but they do provide some insight & a little commentary (intentional or not) to the attitudes of the time.

Click on the title to go to the listing if you're interested.

A Late 19th Century Family

This is one of my favorite antique photos, and I'm not sure why.  It shows a man with a heck of a beard, a woman (I assume his wife) and a baby.  I always thought he was smiling at something, but it's hard to tell.  Also it's a little unusual because I'm pretty sure this was taken outside, not in a studio.

I belive this is an albumen print mounted on cardboard - and most of the mounting was trimmed away at some point in the past. 

I think it's an interesting picture.  I've had it for a long time, so maybe I'm the only one who likes it, but I find it interesting just the same.

Click on the title to go to the listing, click on the picture to bigify it.

How we will cope with the future madness

On Jan 26th eBay announced changes in the fee structures for selling on their site, beginning March 30th.  A lot of sellers in the eBay community went ballistic, one going as far as to annouce they were putting all their stuff on sale, and would have a fire sale of sorts for anything that was left in March, and then would close down their store.  Well, if they had anything I wanted to buy, I guess that would be good for me.

I don't trust people who go ballistic.  Nothing ever remains the same, and anyone who expects everything to remain the same is living in some other reality.  Every year to 18 months, eBay fiddles with the fee structure.  It's going to happen, and we just have to deal with it.  Nothing I say or do is going to influence eBay, and if I decide to quit in protest, they would care less.   If I were a fly, they wouldn't even bother to swat me.

This change is major, however, and it's making us look at the way we do business.  I don't know if the way we do business is the best or not, but it works.  We make profit, and it provides a nice supplement to our income, but perhaps, especially with the rule changes, we could do better.  That's what we have to figure out. 

We'll almost certainly have to upgrade to a "Premium" store membership, because of our volume.  Right now we have a "Basic" store membership.  That means a $33 higher initial payment or so, and listing fees for store inventory are going up 2 cents an item.  But the auction fees will be reduced, and we've determined that if we make no changes & continue to do business the way we currently do, our total monthly fees will be fairly close to what they are right now - maybe a little more, or perhaps a little less, depending on sales and such.  So I'm not too worried.   If we stay with a "Basic" store and make no changes, our fees will go thru the roof, we would lose money.  So the forced upgrade is a bit of a no-brainer.

Last night, for the first time ever, we tuned in to an eBay internet radio town hall, where these changes were discussed.  The corporate people did a pretty good job of not really answering anyone's questions to anybody's satisfaction, or just giving back canned answers (see - I can be cynical).  A lot of the callers did a good job of being very rigid and unwilling to make any kind of changes in the way they do business.  

I'm sorry, but we won't be having any fire sales.  We're not closing down our eBay account.  We've tried other sites, and it's just not worked out for us, so eBay is what we have for now.  We'll figure it out and make adjustments.

1940s-50s Snapshot of a couple at a beach

This is a nice little snapshot of a couple having some fun at a beach.  Based on the styles I'd say it's from the 1940s or 1950s era.  Unlike many snapshots, this is actually a very good photograph - might have been professional.  I believe (but not sure) that it is Velox paper - the type of paper used can give an accurate indication of the date.  There is a stamped number on back, but nothing to identify the people or location.

Its a 3X5 inch picture (or close enough that it doesn't matter), and it's interesting to look at and think about. 

Click on the title to go to the listing, if you're interested.  Click on the picture to make it bigger.

Mt. Rushmore, South Dakota, George Washington Profile & Measurments

This is a standard/chrome postcard showing a profile of the Mt. Rushmore carving of George Washington, including it's measurements.

It has a serrated edge, so I'm sure this was part of a booklet at one time.   Information on back lists Wall Drug Store, in Wall, South Dakota as the publisher.

Click on the title to go to the listing.

CDV Two Women of Goteborg Sweden - with phone number

This is a CDV of two women from Goteborg Sweden.  The photo was taken by Alfred Back, who was a "Fotographi Atelier".  His address is listed as Goteborg, Sodra Hamngatan 59,  Platen Forvaras, with a telephone number of 5274.

We believe that a Radisson Hotel is now located at or near that address.  

Telephone service began in Sweden in 1877 - so this photo was taken after that.  This is the only CDV we have with a telephone number on it. 

The back has very ornate graphics - and that usually indicates a CDV from the 1880s-1890s. 

Click on the title to go to the listing, if you're interested.