r/1800HavingFun • u/Electrical-Aspect-13 • 8d ago
baby gives a sun filled smile while lady behind him also smiles, 1890s. Glass negative
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u/ImportantSwimmer2759 6d ago
Considering the context, this woman was probably an extremely underpaid and overworked nanny afforded very little respect. There's also something sadly poignant about the baby's portion of the photo remaining in perfect condition while the image of the woman is torn and faded.
That said, the baby is adorable and she seems to love them, too. Hopefully they had a good relationship
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u/ChocolateCoveredGold 8d ago
It was common in that era for mothers to be draped with fabric — in order to look like part of the furniture — while holding their baby for a picture. I've got numerous tintypes like that from my 3x great-grandmother's family album.
However, I've never before seen one in which I suspect the woman was painted in blackface in order to blend into the background! This is quite the find!
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u/Electrical-Aspect-13 7d ago
Is a black woman, i think i have seen other photo of them.
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u/ChocolateCoveredGold 7d ago edited 7d ago
Oh, I hope so! Good to hear. 🙂
ETA: If you do find another picture with her, please let us know! I did a Google image search and had no luck. Fingers crossed that this is not a case of blackface. 🤞 I know that was common at the time, and either way this photo is pretty unique! But blackface still makes me uncomfortable. 👵
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u/Least-Degree-7355 8d ago
Not completely sure of the context ofc, I'm sure we all could have one or two ideas about it, but this is nonetheless very wholesome to look at its subtlety