Figure 1.-- Here we note a family photographed at the Atelier Gerdom in Thorn. It is undated, but to is looks to have been taken in the 1890s. It is a fascinting pprtrait because it is colorized. It is much better done than often crudely colorized postcards. It almost looks like a color portrait, but as far as we know color photography ws not a commercially viable process at this time. As this is a colorized image, we are not sure to what extent the image reflects the actual colors of the childrn's clothes. Image courtesy of the BP collection.

Here we note a family photographed at the Atelier Gerdom in Thorn. It is undated, but to is looks to have been taken in the 1890s. It is a fascinting pprtrait because it is colorized. It is much better done than often crudely colorized postcards. It almost looks like a color portrait, but as far as we know color photography ws not a commercially viable process at this time. We do not see similar colorized portraits from other countries, at least not of this quality. As this is a colorized image, we are not sure to what extent the image reflects the actual colors of the childrn's clothes. We are unsure how this might have worked. Pergaps the photographer filled out a form such as dark blue suit and red dress. The colors shown certainly look reasonable. There are four children, three boys and a girl. The younger boy looks to be about 4 years old and is not yet breeched. As he has a brother only slightly older (perhaps 6 years old), we have a good idea as to when the boys were breeched in this family. He looks to be wearing red and white dressed or kilted skirt outfit. The two older boys are wearing what look like identical blue uniforms. Note that they are wearing their belts over their tunics or jackets. Their older sister wears a red dress. The toy props are interesting. The children seemed to have a scaled-down croquet set. The younger boy has a hoop which seems to have an inner circle. We are unsure if these outdoor toys are studio props or toys the children actully played with.

Location

Here we note a family photographed at the Atelier Gerdom in Thorn. A HBC reader tells us, "When this picture was taken, Thorn belonged to the German territory of West Prussia. It has been Polish since 1918, except for the World War I German occupation (1939-44). The Polish name is Torun. Copernicus was born here in 1473."

Chronology

It is undated, but to is looks to have been taken in the 1890s. We would say the late 1890s. The tunics look like the early 1900s, but the hair cuts seem more 1890s.

Photography

It is a fascinting portrait because it is colorized. It is much better done than often crudely colorized postcards. It almost looks like a color portrait, but as far as we know color photography ws not a commercially viable process at this time. We do not see similar colorized portraits from other countries, at least not of this quality. As this is a colorized image, we are not sure to what extent the image reflects the actual colors of the childrn's clothes. We are unsure how this might have worked. Pergaps the photographer filled out a form such as dark blue suit and red dress. The colors shown certainly look reasonable.

The Family

Unfortnately we do not have the name of the family. Lokking at them we believe the children came from a prosperous family. We suspect that a colorized photograph like this was relarively expensive. There are four children, three boys and a girl. The younger boy looks to be about 4 years old and is not yet breeched. As he has a brother only slightly older (perhaps 6 years old).

Breeching

we have a good idea as to when the boys were breeched in this family, because one of the younger boys has been breech while the other has not. Their age suggest that the boys were breeched at age 4-5 years.

Clothes

The younger boy looks to be wearing a red and white dress or kilted skirt outfit. It almost looks like a turtle-neck sweater over a skirt, but we suspect it was a one-piece dress. It is very difficult to tell. The two older boys are wearing what look like identical blue knee-pants tuinic suits. They havee a look of a uniform. We wonder if the boys might have worn this outfit to school. ms. Note that they are wearing their belts over their tunics or jackets. This was a popular style and the belts give a kind of military look. Their older sister wears a red dress.

Hair Cuts

Three of the children wear bangs. They are cut somewhat differently, but are similar. The older boy's hair is cut differently. I'm not real sure just how it was cut, but rather looks brushed up at the front.

Toys

The toy props are interesting. The children seemed to have a scaled-down croquet set. The younger boy has a hoop which seems to have an inner circle. We are unsure if these outdoor toys are studio props or toys the children actully played with.

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Created: 12:41 AM 12/2/2005
Last updated: 4:00 PM 12/2/2005