Stories that Inspire…

Margaret Brownley

Sage advice for photographers from…

A Vision of Lucy

(Available for preorder)     

• When photographing stampeding cattle, charging bulls or blazing   shoot-outs, use a fast shutter speed

• Brides, take pity on your photographer.  Matthew S. Brady and his helpers were able to record the entire War Between the States with little more than 1100 photographs.  Half that number should satisfy most brides.

• Doctors, do not look at the camera like it’s a patient needing help through death’s door.  Such a pose will speak ill of you, and it won’t do much for your practice, either. 

• A man imagines himself more handsome than his photograph; a woman believes herself more homely.

• While posing for a photograph spinsters should avoid looking desperate or deprived.  A serene smile will show that your circumstances are by choice and not for lack of beauty or character.

I loved writing about old time photography and have nothing but awe for the brave souls who first took camera in hand.  It wasn’t just men who battled unwieldy equipment and exploding chemicals in the name of art.  Women were also photographers and a few even made a name for themselves.  It was these early female photographers who  gave me the inspiration for the heroine of my book, Lucy Fairbanks. 

Cameras and Babies: an Odd Combination

 Since female occupations were not listed on the census until 1870, it’s hard to know how many professional women photographers existed in America before that time. We do know, however, that some, like Julia Shannon of San Francisco, owned their own studios as early as 1850.  Julia took the family portrait to new heights when she shockingly advertised herself as a daguerreotypist and midwife. No one appeared to be shocked when male barbers and blacksmiths offered photographs with their other services. 

Women had an advantage over male photographers, who were often confounded by female dress. This explains why one photographer advertised in 1861 for an assistant, “Who Understands the Hairdressing Business.”  Women also had a few tricks up their leg of mutton sleeves—or rather their skirts.  Elizabeth Withington invented a “dark thick dress skirt” to use as a developing tent when she traveled.   

Those cheerless faces in early photographs were partly due to vices that held heads still for long periods of time, but that wasn’t the only reason.  A tightly controlled mouth was once considered a thing of beauty.  In her essay “Why We say ‘Cheese’: Producing the Smile in Snapshot Photography,” Christina Kotchemidova, an Assistant Professor in Mass Communication at Spring Hill College, wrote that photography was once the domain of the rich. Smiles were worn only by peasants, children and drunks.  She then goes on to explain that fast shutter speed, dental care and cultural changes began a process of “mouth liberalization.”

Photographers used all sorts of devices to hold a client’s interest.  One even had a trained monkey. Another photographer had a canary that sang on command.  Mechanical birds were a favorite gimmick and “Watch the birdie” became a familiar refrain in studios across the country.

                                                        What Will it Be?        Prunes or Cabbage?

Magazines and newspaper ran ample advice for posing.  An 1877 edition of The Chicago Inter-Ocean advised women with large mouths to say the word “Flip,” although one photographer preferred the word “Prunes.” If a small mouth was the problem the word “Cabbage” would make it appear larger. And, yes, some photographers really did give children laudanum or chloroform to keep them still.

Not everyone was enamored with cameras.  One dog owner put up a sign warning “photographers and other tramps to stay away” after his dog had an unfortunate run-in with a tripod.

Did photography have a bearing on the suffragette movement?  Indeed, it did, but it appeared to be more of a detriment than a help.  The photographs of militant suffragettes or women dressed in bloomers did more harm than good,  If you think America was tough on suffragettes, think again. The women’s rights movement was considered the biggest threat to the British Empire.  According to the National Archives the votes-for-women movement became the first “terrorist” organization subjected to secret surveillance photography in the world. 

Photography has come a long way since those early daguerreotype days.  One can only imagine what the brave souls of yesteryear would think of today’s “aim and click” cameras.  Now days you can’t even drive down the street without having your picture taken. But as Miss Gertrude Hasslebrink in A Vision of Lucy would say, “Never leave the house unless you’re ready for your close up.”

Meet the Ladies of Rocky Creek

                                      A Lady Like Sarah                                             

Suitor for Jenny

A Vision of Lucy

margaretbrownley.com

 More Love and Laughter in the Old West…

One of the characters in my book A SUITOR FOR JENNY is Kip Barrel, the town barber.  The poor man wanted to be an opera singer in the worst possible way but he was unable to overcome his stage fright. After a disastrous debut in a New Orleans opera house he decides to return home to the family cattle ranch, a prospect he dreads.  Fate intervenes and while riding through Rocky Creek his horse suddenly dies, forcing him to stay in town.  He eventually opens up his own barber shop.

 “I dreamed of being the Barber of Seville,” he laments.  “Instead, I’m the barber of Rocky Creek.”

Of course, he hasn’t given up singing completely. A cowboy wanting a haircut and shave at Barrel’s shop also gets an earful of Rossini.  Not bad for a few nickels.

Not all barbers provided entertainment with their shaving cream, but most did offer a little something extra. Some even gave out free mugs of beer and cigars.  In some towns barbershops offered a full menu of grooming choices. For fifty cents, a saddle worn stranger could get a bath, shave, haircut, boot shine,  his mustache waxed and pants pressed. He could also learn who was hiring, where to go for room and board and maybe even find some female companionship

Barbers have a long history dating all the way back to cavemen when whiskers were tackled with clam shells and flint.  People have been battling over locks since ancient times.  Whatever style one generation frowned upon the next generation was likely to embrace.

In the early 1800s clean-shaven faces were the rage. Hairy chins were deemed “a disgusting insult to refined society” if worn by anyone other than artists, writers or pioneers. Anyone sporting a beard might have found himself at the mercy of jeering townsmen as one hapless man in Massachusetts found out.  

This all changed during the California gold rush.  Beards were then grown as much for safety as convenience.  Few mastered the art of shaving with a straight edge razor and beards were the sun-screen of the day.  Whiskers also protected against frost bite.  

By the time the Civil War broke out  beards were favored even by easterners.  Eleven year old Grace Bedell wrote to president nominee Abraham Lincoln telling him that if he wanted to be elected president he best grow a beard.  “All the ladies like whiskers,” she wrote, “and they would tease their husbands to vote for you and then you would be President.”  Lincoln wisely took her advice.

It wasn’t until the 1890s that the clean-shaven chin was once again king. President Benjamin Harrison has the distinction of being the last president to sport a beard.

Women Take up the Razor

The first female barber was Madam Gardonis who worked in Galveston, Texas during the 1860s.  Frank Leslies Illustrated magazine described her as “the first woman who has successfully invaded this particular masculine profession.”  

Petticoat barbers weren’t the norm but more and more women entered the profession in the late 1800s.  An article in the San Francisco Examiner in 1896 had this to say: “Women’s latest audacity has been to lay hands on man’s most sacred implements—the razor and strop—and to shave him right to his very face.”

One woman interviewed for the article was asked if she was nervous when she first shaved a man.  She replied, “I don’t know which was trembling hardest, the man or I.” She went on to say that if she could have chloroformed the man she would have gladly done so, just so he wouldn’t look so scared.

What’s with the Barber Pole? 

We can’t talk about barbers without mentioning that all familiar red and white barber pole.  Barbering was more than a hairy business.  From the Middle Ages until the end of the 19th century barbers performed many medical duties including bloodletting, dentistry and bone setting.

The barber pole served triple duty in those early days.  After being pre-wound with bandages ready for surgery the poles were then hung outside the door to encourage business. During surgery, patients clutched at the poles (probably while yelling in pain). Later imitation posts were painted red and white to represent bandages used before and after bloodletting.

Changes

 The early 1900s brought many changes to the profession both good and bad.  Barber licensing laws were passed and states began to upgrade certification requirements. Then, too, the safety razor made home shaving a breeze.  The depression years took a heavy toll on barbers, but women saved the day when the “bob” became the rage. What better place to get the boyish trim than a barbershop?  Of course not every barber welcomed female clients, but those that did thrived—at least as long as the style lasted.

One thing that hasn’t changed is the battle over hair between generations.  It wasn’t that long ago that Disneyland refused entry to hairy hippies, and it seems like only yesterday that my husband greeted our kids with “When are you going to get a haircut?”

Now that my children are grown the battles over hair continue–with children of their own.   History repeats.

That’s it folks, the long and the short of it. Anyone with a hairy tale to share?     

www.margaretbrownley.com

 Available for Preorder 

A Vision of Lucy (A Rocky Creek Romance)