Stairs and balcony with twenty women
What it is:
Photo measuring 4.5 x 2.75 inches.
What I know about it:
Nothing! Undated and unidentified.
Comments:
Here’s one that leaves me a little mystified. The composition is nice, but who are these people? It’s hard to get a clear look at them, but they appear to get generally younger the farther right/down they go. Could these be the teachers and students at a school? An array of employees somewhere? Some sort of women’s club? The location puzzles me, too. It looks like they are standing around a garage. And while they are obviously posing for the camera, only a few seem to be smiling at the camera, as if somebody took a test photo without warning them. In any case, I think it’s a fun picture to look at, and it’s fun to guess.
Pics of Then 
Yes, it is fun to guess. Your collection must be amazing to see, all spread out on a desk or floor. It would be like time travelling through the last 100 years of American history.
Sometimes photos ARE spread out all over the floor. I’ll remember to take your advice and stop and be pleased at the effect, rather than just bemoan the mess. 🙂
Some of them go back as much as 150 or 160 years, don’t they?
Yes, I do. Not this one, of course. And I don’t want to make grand, pretentious statements declaring that my collection stretches back to the dawn of photography or anything. But I have some (including ones I’ve posted) from the 1860s, which would make them 150 years old or so, and I have at least a couple that seem to be from the 1850s. I sometimes stop and marvel at the things I’m holding in my hands, as much in amazement that they exist at all, as that I am fortunate enough to have them.