05 October 2011

Wordless Wednesday (Nearly): Stratton Family Photo

The Stratton Family
This is a stereograph family picture taken outside the family home.  The photographer was E. A. Morley of East Lee, Berkshire, Massachusetts.  Edward A. Morley is listed as a traveling photographer in the 1880 US population census residing in Berkshire County.  The photo dates from ca 1881.

From left to right:  Charles Stratton II (1876-1945), Charles Stratton I (1832-1886), Lucy (Baker) Stratton (1839-1926), Lucy (Hamblin) Baker (1804-1895) and Frances Leda Stratton (1878-1968).

Charles Stratton II, Charles Stratton I

Lucy (Baker) Stratton and Leda Stratton

Historically, people had somber expressions when their photos were taken.  The unusually light coloration of Charles I and Lucy (Hamblin) Baker's eyes may be due to the photographic processes used in early photographs as discussed by Brett Payne in "The Man with the Piercing Blue Eyes."

Lucy (Hamblin) Baker

6 comments:

  1. I Read Bretts Post.
    No Wonder They Look Somber....With So Many Variables (eye colour:Clothing Colour;etc) They Probably Had No Idea How The Photograph Of Themselves Would Turn Out1

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  2. ...and I imagine they sat for a long while as well...I like how the woman were dressed alike, somewhat matching, and the back ground is quite interesting to me...looks like a lovely place...

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  3. Tony and Karen, you are right that they undoubtedly had to hold the pose for a very long time. I don't know how they managed to get the young children to comply!

    I've noticed in other photographs of Charles I that the 'white-eye' effect was lessened when he didn't look directly into the camera. It is likely that is why he was frequently posed looking off-camera.

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  4. Great pictures. May I say that I am sad that the skeleton has moved along. That was one of the awesome things about the house.

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  5. Wow! Check out Charles I beard. He is certainly a somber looking man. I do see Gramps in his father Charles II face. So cool! Keep up the awesome posts!

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  6. kitmf and Anna,
    Thanks for dropping by. The skeleton lives on if only in this blog, our memories and, perhaps, an occasional haunting ....

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Comments welcome!