Affectionate

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I’ve mentioned this before, but I’m intrigued by the use (or sometimes overuse) of the word “affectionate” by people, particularly dealers, when describing vintage photos. It sometimes seems to be code for people touching in some way, and it’s a common enough word to search on if that’s what you’re looking for. But I’ve seen people posing stiffly, without smiles or any obvious warmth, and a single hand politely on a shoulder earns the label “affectionate”. It can make me chuckle. These two carte de visite pictures show what I think of as affection, showing physical displays of fondness that don’t mean (or don’t necessarily mean) anything romantic or carnal. I’m guessing they’re siblings or cousins or best friends, something like that. But, of course, I know nothing about these people, so who knows? (Having said all that, both photos were purchased among larger bunches of photos, and I don’t believe either was referred to as affectionate.) By the way, the photo on the right has no information, but the photo on the left was by Barrows of Fort Wayne, Indiana. That was probably Frank R. Barrows. Information about him is here.