Historic Photography

In the years leading up to the Civil War, the advent of photography was upon us.  This new technology and art form was becoming wildly popular.  This popularity manifested itself in many forms.  Cultural phenomena today, such as the baseball card craze, can attribute it's roots directly to carte de visites, which were commonly referred to as "visiting cards" and "parlor cards" in antebellum America. The carte de visite was simply an albumen print on cardboard, about two and 1/2 inches wide and four inches tall bearing an individual image.  Think of it as a small version of the portrait photography that is so popular today, even giving rise to the current cultural vanity we call selfies.  People exchanged and traded them with friends, relatives and neighbors, in the same way little boys like myself traded baseball cards in 1960's.  The tradition continues today with things like Pokemon, football, basketball, and the like.

In the 1850's and 60's, there were few people who the camera loved more than John Wilkes Booth.  And John Wilkes Booth loved the camera right back.  He was frequently called "the most handsome man in America".  Crowds of women swooned inside and out of theatres when he was scheduled to make an appearance, in what I like to describe as the "Elvis effect".  Women wanted to be with him and men dreamed of being him.  And why not?  He had it all--fame and riches from a successful acting career, God-given talent, good looks and intelligence.  That is, he had it all until he shot Lincoln in the back of the head at Ford's Theatre.

One interesting result from the dawn of this new technology of modern photography, now serves us as a literal glimpse into history.  What a remarkable idea.  Capturing an image, a likeness of reality, these things that remind us of where we have been, and produce a hope in us that it will help us have a glimpse into the future as well.  It was inevitable that as soon as photography had been born, photo-editing immediately followed.  The case in point being one of America's most photographed individuals:  John Wilkes Booth, who exceeded the demands of his profession as an actor measured in the number of portraits he had made of himself.  Below, is a copy of the original portrait taken of that famous man of the stage.  What is fascinating is the way this photograph was altered, printed and distributed following the assassination of Lincoln.

Compare this with the two edited versions below, the first, a very subtle interpretation of evil, and the second, a much more in-your-face, blatant interpretation.

Magnified view, click on image and drag to move.

Plainly visible, but with gentle lines curving to the contours of Mr. Booth's person, he holds a derringer in his right hand and a dagger in his left, as it rests on his hip.  Now compare that image with the more heavily edited image, with Lincoln and party in the background, and the Devil blowing sulphar and smoke in Booth's direction.

While these photographs exhibit a fine example of a historic figure and an exercise in First Amendment rights, they also reveal to us that Political Correctness is an old, old sport.  We may think of ourselves as unique in having to deal with an overload of political correctness in our time, but these photographs prove that even in 1865, the spin doctors and the revisionist historians were already very busy, immediately following the Civil War.

      

For my history buff friends, I found a blog that gives the low-down on Norman Rockwell's take on tatoos.  The painting was featured on the cover of Post magazine on March 4, 1944.
http://tweedlandthegentlemansclub.blogspot.com/2014/04/americana-norman-rockwell-tattoo-artist.html

Enjoy.

KJV--Genesis 6: 14

Make thee an ark of gopher wood;  rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.

Marriage

My wife tells me exactly what to do, exactly when to do it, exactly how to do it and exactly why I should do it. As I watch ESPN, I say "um-hmmm" while I completely ingnore her and then later, I imitate her.

Christian Marriage

As the head of my household, I tell my wife exactly what to do, exactly when to do it, exactly how to do it, and exactly why she should do it.  She says "um-hummm", while she completely ignores me and then later, she imitates me.

Vegan Recipes

A man can never have enough vegan recipes using common ingredients, and which are delicious, as well as  quick and easy to make.  Please leave links, comments and recipes whenever you have a chance.  An added bonus would be getting some of those recipes that are also oil and sugar free, yet still retain that "WOW!!" factor.  For example, I tried the sofritas at Chipoltle's the other day, as a stand-alone sample in a little cup they provided.  It could pass for someone's very good homemade chilli, yet it used some type of tofu instead of ground beef and didn't have beans in it.  It was hardy and had great flavor.  The only difference I would have made would have been to add a couple of types of beans and more onion and garlic.  Does anyone have a faux sofritas recipe like the one Chipoltle's uses?  I'm betting that they used some type of oil at some point in the process of making it.  Other than that, it seemed like they used healthy ingredients.  The staff there didn't know how to make it because it comes to them from distribution already made.

From Virginia, The Old Dominion (1939) by Matthew Page Andrews: an excerpt from the diary of Mrs. Angus W. McDonald of Frederick Co, VA, but "forced to refugee in
Lexington",
"I cannot deny that when I first heard of the taking off of Lincoln, I thought it was just what he deserved;  he that had urged on and promoted a savage war that had cost so many lives;  but a little reflection made me see that it was worse for us than if he had been suffered to live, for his satisfaction had been great when we were disarmed, and he was disposed to be merciful."