Soldier and mother in Ashton-under-Lyne
By: usermattw
Tags: antiques, Army, Ashton-under-Lyne, photography, vintage photography
Click here to view it larger.
Remembering that it’s Mother’s Day, I thought I’d post this one. I took a guess when calling them soldier and mother, since I have no idea who these people are, or what their relationship is to each other. But it seems like a reasonable assumption. Perhaps they took this photo as he was about to ship off somewhere? He’s wearing a British army dress uniform. Here’s what it looks like in color (an image I shamelessly swiped from somebody’s eBay listing).
Her dress is interesting, too, because it appears more intricate when the image is enlarged. What looked like scuffs or other damage when holding it in my hand turned out to be things like ribbons sewn onto her sleeves. The photo is a cabinet card (4.25 x 6.5 inches), produced by Walker & Smith of Ashton-under-Lyne, England. For those interested in such things, here is the back (click to enlarge).
Pics of Then 
A proud mother and son. The son is hardly more than a boy.
Yes, indeed. I hope this picture wasn’t the prelude to a tragedy, but it’s easy to think such things with the benefit of hindsight