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Since I began playing the drums myself at a very young age, you will probably understand why I absolutely had to have this photo the first time it caught my eye at a local shop in Exeter, NH! It was taken in Boston at the studio of JW Black at 173 Washington Street sometime during the 1860s, revealed by the photographer's backmark on the reverse side of the carte de visite. Unfortunately when the person who glued the very fragile image to the white card, they didn't do a very decent job and ended up creating a few wrinkles in the photo which may appear like black lines across my scan. Still this is a wonderful portal to the past! Even though he is wearing what appears to be a dress, which was commonly worn by both little boys and girls at this time, this remarkable child has an interesting, pensive look on his face and has a tight grip on the drum stick. Who knows, maybe he went on to rock it out with John Philips Sousa!!
2 comments:
Great photo Chris! Wow the 1860s were very progressive..boys in dresses..
I have always found the dresses on little boys thing curious.I wonder what made it so acceptable for a very long time. I think around 5-6 they switched to at least short pants.
I would think drummers were very popular during the 1860s due to their role in battles in the Civil War. Maybe this little boy's parents wanted him to become one. Or maybe the drum was a brother's or father's. Or maybe it was just a popular prop for this time period.
You definitely need an historical imagination to enter a "portal of the past".
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