Antique Photo of a Mandolin of the Day

[Tavy]

Here are a couple from my files. It is sort of difficult to tell whether they are just dark from age or stained dark. Both are Stridentes, neither of them are mine.

Not sure, but those look like dark-with-muck-of-ages rather than stained dark?

[brunello97]

Not sure, but those look like dark-with-muck-of-ages rather than stained dark?

Sounds like my mother, who never acknowledged a summer sun-tan. "That's ground-in dirt." Usually she was right.

Mick

[brunello97]

It is possible that the fellow in the photo with the darktop mandolin had a new fretboard added.

One of the Riccas I had, Jim, had a gorgeous dark-pumpkin colored top, a half-shade darker than Gibsons of the era. Also a heavy MOP band around the top like this. The headstock on this one doesn't look like any Ricca I have seen though. Nothing makes me think this is from LR, though.

Mick

[Jim Garber]

Yeah, Mick. Ricca did not occur to me either. Maybe a small custom shop of the period.

[brunello97]

The orchestra is from Camden, NJ. That's near Philadelphia isn't it? Wouldn't it be something if this was a Martucci?

Mick

[wwwilkie]

I couldn't find this one on here anywhere but maybe it's already been posted.
I picked it up a few years back and it was paired with a great oversized photo of a mandolin orchestra (which I'm trying to locate). Anyone know anything about this? It would seem to be a poster that was used to advertise shows.

[hank]

Loyd appears to be playing with an F4 with an F5 behind him.

[wwwilkie]

I got this one when I had my shop in Britain. There were several old timers in my neighborhood who remembered him well. I'll include a link to a video.
http://www.britishpathe.com/video/tr...s-mandoliers-1

[Jim Garber]

Wyatt: There was a thread that Martin Jonas of Liverpool started about acquiring a bunch of original arrangements from Troise and his Mandoliers.

[wwwilkie]

Wow, what an incredible thread! Thanks for the link Jim.

[Arnt]

Came across this local treasure trove of vintage mandolin pictures. Its part of the "Digital Museum" program from various museums in this country, they have a section of pictures called "Mandolinen i Mitt Hjerte" (The Mandolin in My Heart). The site is only in Norwegian I'm afraid, but the pictures are the most interesting part anyways.

http://www.digitaltmuseum.no/folder/32

Here are a couple of examples

[Robbie Ray Mojo]

Hi Arnt,

I love the second one with the four girls with the bowl back mandolins, you don't often seem to see people smiling in older photos, but it really brings the picture to life - no need for an English translation there!

Rob

[blueron]

Hi Arnt,

I love the second one with the four girls with the bowl back mandolins, you don't often seem to see people smiling in older photos, but it really brings the picture to life - no need for an English translation there!

Good observation Rob. The reason why people often looked very stiff and stern and unemotional in old photographs was that they required very long shutter speeds, so the subjects were well warned of the need to sit totally still for one or two or even more seconds.

The lovely photographs of the girls looks like it was shot in a situation either with a lot of light, or with artificial strobe lighting that would have frozen the image, allowing them to pose naturally.

ron

[Jim Garber]

Nice site with some wonderful pics. I like this one with the reverse scroll mandolin and the early picture of Caspar the Friendly Ghost as a toddler

[Tavy]

Nice site with some wonderful pics. I like this one with the reverse scroll mandolin and the early picture of Caspar the Friendly Ghost as a toddler

Great example of long-shutter-speed misery there - the guy with the smurf-head mando looks like he's just sat on a spike!

[Jim Garber]

Actually the baby being held by his mom on the right is also blurry of face.

[brunello97]

Actually the baby being held by his mom on the right is also blurry of face.

I guess they're too young to know what 'cheese' is. (Sagen sie käse is the best I can do.) Kind of scary to think that all those Norwegians really are smiling for the photo.

I love the photo of the mando-fisarmonica duo. Right after mine own hjerte.

Mick

[mandoisland]

I have extracted pictures of mandolin clubs form the Colorado College Yearbooks - you can find this in my tumblr:
http://mandoisland.tumblr.com/archive
Just click to the pictures of mandolin ensembles to get the complete post with additional pictures and the linkt to the source at archive.org.

[Gregory Tidwell]

I have extracted pictures of mandolin clubs form the Colorado College Yearbooks - you can find this in my tumblr:
http://mandoisland.tumblr.com/archive
Just click to the pictures of mandolin ensembles to get the complete post with additional pictures and the linkt to the source at archive.org.

I think that's a great page, Michael, but my iPad hates it.

[mandoisland]

I think that's a great page, Michael, but my iPad hates it.

You can try the main tumblr page:
http://mandoisland.tumblr.com/

Maybe this works better on the iPad.

[JeffD]

Good observation Rob. The reason why people often looked very stiff and stern and unemotional in old photographs was that they required very long shutter speeds, so the subjects were well warned of the need to sit totally still for one or two or even more seconds.

There is another contributing factor: that dentistry was not what it is today.

[JeffD]

We are living in exciting times, with all these old time pictures. So many universities and museums are digitizing their collections and making them available on line. All this wonderful stuff is being released that you once had to rummage through dusty archives to see. Future generations are going to take it for granted that all of this is avialable at the touch of a mouse.

[dustyamps]

Looks to be a Gibson A-2 in the photo.

[Jim Garber]

Here is a proud young mando with his Washburn Model 1125. The mandolin would have been around 1900.

[Jim Garber]

Looks like a dad and daughter. She is playing (I think) a carved top reverse scroll Regal/B&D and his guitar looks like an archtop May Bell.