Posted 12 years ago
antiquariu…
(136 items)
IMAGES NOT TO BE REPRODUCED IN ANY WAY!
Here are a few of my collection of early vaudeville, burlesque and theatre stars from the early 19th century on cabinet cards. The first is Johnny Ray, a vaudeville clown, and it is autographed on the front. It was taken by Morrison in Chicago. The second is Francis Wilson in "The Stroller", 1901, written on the back. It was taken by the Burr MacIntosh Studio in New York. The third is Maude White and is autographed on the front. This was taken by Falk in Madison Square, New York. The last is a publicity shot of Chauncey Olcott, 'The Irish Tenor' and silent film star with a group of children (his family?) and a very large dog. This was taken by Donovan in New York. They are all nice images with more sepia toning in the Olcott image than the other 3. They are all gelatin silver images with good contrast and sharpness, and are in excellent states of preservation.
I love the last one with the family!!!
Yes Moonstonelover, the family is great - but I wondered where the Mom was.....
Well one of 3 reasons she was not there....died of childbirth and busy having a luncheon somewhere else OR directing the picture :)
Probably died of childbirth or laying somewhere exhausted - looks like 6 kids under the age of 6 and possible twin boys on the left side!
My thoughts exactly :) I am glad we think alike :)
In the last photo, I wonder if it's a theatre promo shot. The two boys kneeling with the dog are not dressed the same as the other four, they have patches on their clothing & their hair is not combed (street urchins).
I found two other pictures online, one of him & the two boys, & one with the two children standing closest to him in the original.
http://eris.uky.edu/catalog/xt7mkk948324_64_1
http://www.etsy.com/listing/54541902/antique-rare-cabinet-card-publicity
Great pictures, love them!
The Mom is probably "Entertaining the Milkman" what with her husband away all the time...lol
walksoftly - so interesting that you searched up these other two photos. The outfits and the background are the same in all 3 shots - so these were obviously all taken at the same time and yes probably theatre publicity shots rather than family. Perhaps he was in a movie with these kids?
Here is an interesting YouTube clip of Chauncey Olcott doing the original version of "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling" in 1917, which he co-wrote.
Another photo of him with the dog in the same outfit is dated to about 1895:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/01/ChaunceyOlcott-pre1897.jpg
From the info in my first link the photo was taken by Samuel M.Wilson, 1871-1946. It has the same title as yours "Chauncey Olcott, 'The Irish Tenor.' Donovan, New York". I looked up Donavan New York but came up empty on that search.