Sepia Saturday 169: Keeping a Kodak Story, the Autographic camera

The image prompt from Sepia Saturday this week depicts a swarm of photographers framing shots of the Washington Monument, the Tidal Basin and cherry trees in full bloom in April 1922. My focus will be on the instrument rather than the practitioner.


US Patent 1184941 issued to H.J Gaisman, 30 May 1916
Between 1912 and 1917, a young backyard inventor by the name of Henry J. Gaisman was granted several patents for photographic cameras. These improvements allowed the user to "write" a brief caption permanently on the film through a small window in the back of the camera, most importantly, at the time the picture was taken. Gaisman stated that his work on this device arose from the fact that "it annoyed him to return from a vacation trip with pictures that he could not identify," an irritation familiar to most of us who have taken more than a couple of snapshots.


"The Autographic Kodaks"
Detail from 1914 Advertisement by Eastman Kodak Co.
Image © and courtesy of Duke University Libraries Digital Collections
In July 1914 George Eastman of Eastman Kodal Ltd. paid Gaisman the "remarkable" sum of $300,000 for the patent rights. Within three months several Kodak camera models (1A, 3 and 3A) were on sale, modified accordingly, a special red paper/carbon-backed Autographic Film Cartridge also available in the appropriate film sizes (Coe, 1978).


"Make Your Kodak Autographic"
1914 Advertisement by Eastman Kodak Co.
Image © and courtesy of Duke University Libraries Digital Collections
In their marketing blurb Eastman Kodak described the Autographic as "the most important photographic Development in two decades." Not only was the feature "incorporated in all of the most important Kodak models," but they also supplied Autographic Backs at very reasonable prices, which could be retro-fitted to at least ten different models, as listed in a number of advertisements.

Prices from $9.00 to $65.00. If you already have a Kodak we can sell you a separate Autographic back. Prices $2.50 up.

"The Autographic Kodak" - a negative image
Detail from 1914 Advertisement by Eastman Kodak Co.
Image © and courtesy of Duke University Libraries Digital Collections
The advertisements emphasized the usefulness of the Autographic feature, and some included examples of the negatives and prints produced by the camera:

Every negative that is worth making is worth a date and title. The places you visit - interesting dates and facts about the children, their age at the time the pictures were made - the autographs of friends you photograph - these notations add to the value of every picture you make ... The amateur photographer who wants to improve the quality of his work can make notations on his negatives, of the light conditions, stop and exposure.

No 3A Autographic Kodak Special Model B
Image © and courtesy of Tauranga Heritage Collection
Kodak claimed great success with the Autographic models, in an 1915 advertisement apparently taken in by their own marketing strategies and hype (in West, 2000):

The Autographic feature has scored a hit, and a big one. At first, perhaps, the interest was mild ... now, in considerably less than a year, it is pretty hard to sell a camera without the Autographic Feature.

It would have been more accurate to say that it was pretty hard to find a Kodak camera without the Autographic feature as a standard feature.


"The Day of His Going"
1918 Advertisement by Eastman Kodak Co.
Image © and courtesy of Duke University Libraries Digital Collections
After the United States joined the War in April 1917, Kodak urged wives to capture the day of their husband's departure for Europe on film, not forgetting the date and title, permanently recorded on the negative. The Vest Pocket Kodak Autographic, reputedly used by the famed Ansel Adams on his second visit to Yellowstone in 1917, was even marketed as "The Soldier's Camera." The marketing focus was now on nostalgia rather than usefulness.


"?13/2/18 On Barron's Farm" - Paper print (116 x 78mm; 4¼" x 2½")
by an unidentified photographer using A116 film and a No. 1A Autographic Kodak or a No. 2A Folding Autographic Brownie camera
Image © and courtesy of Kristin Cleage
Fellow Sepian contributer Kristin Cleage posted this print of a rural family on her blog Finding Eliza a couple of years ago, and kindly assented to my using it to illustrate this article. It is typical of the prints that could be produced from Autographic film, the black left hand border containing a somewhat overexposed caption which is rather hard to read, perhaps indicative of a problem that was sometimes encountered with the Autographic.


No 1A Autographic Kodak (L), No 2A Folding Autographic Brownie (R)
Images © and courtesy of Historic Camera
Assuming that it is a contact print, the size corresponds to A116 film, which was used by both the No. 1A Autographic Kodak and the No. 2A Folding Autographic Brownie cameras, shown above. Kristin believes it was mostly likely taken at the farm of Oscar Barron in Elmore, Alabama, where her great-grandmother Annie Graham was working and living with her four children in 1920.


"Old Bill" - Paper print (40 x 60mm; 1⅝" x 2½")
by an unidentified photographer, undated
using A127 film and a Vest Pocket Kodak Autographic camera
Image © and courtesy of the Tauranga Heritage Collection
Another example of an Autographic print, this one probably taken in the late 1910s or early 1920s and possibly a copy, is from the Gunson-Stewart Album in the Tauranga Heritage Collection. The identity of the subject is unknown, although "Old Bill" could be William Nassau Stewart (1873-1954) of Katikati, maternal uncle of a former owner of the album.


Vest Pocket Kodak Autographic Special
Image © and courtesy of Historic Camera
Unless it is an enlargement rather than a contact print, the print size indicates A127 film, which was used in the Vest Pocket Kodak Autographic Special. Autographic cameras were on sale in New Zealand from at least as early as October 1915 (Advertisement, BOP Times, 1915).


"EAP" Kodak Autographic Print
Image © and courtesy of Fred the Oyster & Flickr
One of the few Autographic images that I did find is this example from Fred the Oyster's Flickr feed, which he scanned (and presumably inverted) from a negative purchased in a junk shop. I have seen very few examples of prints with the Autographic-style caption, and a trawl on the internet produces a similarly meagre catch.

Well known New Zealand photohistorian Bill Main (1990) wrote:

A type of camera which turns up regularly on our doorstep for our museum at the Centre is the Autographic Kodak in all its various shapes and sizes. The paradox of this is the fact that perhaps the rarest item in our collection happens to be photos made with the distinctive Autographic inscription on the print surrounds ... Why this innovation never appealed to the millions of Autographic camera users needs a lot of analysis and study.

and others have described similar experiences (Anon, 2001):

Over the years, at flea markets and antique stores, I've searched through boxes of old snapshots, but I rarely find Autographic prints with notations in the margins. If my experience is typical, then it makes me wonder if the Autographic feature was used very often?

Write it on the film - at the time.    Make every negative more interesting; more valuable by permananently recording, at the time of exposure, the all important - who, when, where. It's a simple and almost instantaneous process with an Autographic Kodak Ask your dealer, or write us for catalogue EASTMAN KODAK CO., Rochester, N.Y., The Kodak City

Eastman Kodak advertisement, 1917
With a little perseverance they can be found - Getty Images has a couple of examples from c.1918 and 1920 - but they are often referred to as a rarity. Judging by the number of Autographic cameras now available on eBay, between 1914 and the late 1930s, when they were discontinued, a huge number (reputedly millions) were sold, so why are there so few extant prints with the caption selvedge? There are several possible explanations:

• There are many more examples, both in private collections and on the web, but they have not been recognised as emanating from Autographic cameras. Searching the web with Google Images retrieves hundreds of images of cameras, but very few photographs produced by them.
• When prints are scanned for display on the web, the tendency is to remove framing and borders for aesthetic reasons. Many captions may also have been removed in the process, making them impossible to identify.
• Despite Eastman Kodak's initial enthusiasm for the innovation, it is conceivable that the majority of Autographic users over the two decades that they were produced just couldn't be bothered to caption each and every snapshot they took.

The text of this Kodak advertisement from 1915 suggests, however, that most prints never have included the captions, even though they may have been inscribed on the negative:

The Autographic records are made on the margins between the exposures. It is not intended that they be made to appear in the prints themselves but that they be simply preserved as an authoritative reference. It is obvious, however, that they may be shown on the print itself - if desired.

Sadly the bulk of the negatives from films exposed during the Autographic era have probably been discarded decades ago, so we may never know.


Vest Pocket Autographic Kodak Special
Image © and courtesy of Tauranga Heritage Collection
If you have any snapshots in your collection, either prints or original negatives, that include the typical Autographic caption, I'd be keen to hear from you, and perhaps to share images of them in a future Photo-Sleuth follow-up. Please email me.

For those readers wanting to match prints and negatives to cameras, this table may be useful. I've also created a Autographic Print Format PDF template with the various format sizes, which may be downloaded and printed out. It's always worth bearing in mind that not all prints are contact prints, i.e. identical in size to the negative from which they were printed. Enlargements were also offered to customers, even in Victorian and Edwardian times, but the vast majority of prints that were produced prior to the 1930s seem to be the much more affordable contact prints.

Film Size	Print/Negative Size	Camera Model(s)
A116	2½" x 4¼" (64 x 108 mm)	1A, 2A
A118	3¼" x 4¼" (83 x 108 mm)	3
A120	2¼" x 3¼" (57 x 83 mm)	1,2
A122	3¼" x 5½" (83 x 140 mm)	3A
A123	4" x 5" (102 x 127 mm)	4 (with conversion back)
A126	4¼" x 6½" (108 x 165 mm)	4A (with conversion back)
A127	1⅝" x 2¼" (41 x 57 mm)	Vest Pocket
A130	2⅞" x 4⅞" (73 x 124 mm)	2C

Acknowledgements

Kristin Cleage and Fiona Kean kindly assented to my use of Autographic prints, the former from her personal archives, the latter from the Tauranga Heritage Collection. Fiona also went to some trouble to assist with obtaining photographs of several Autographic cameras from the collection, for which I am most grateful.

References

Duke University Libraries Digital Collections, Emergence of Advertising in America Collection.

Eastman Autographic film, on Early Photography

Advertisement, Bay of Plenty Times, Volume XLIV, Issue 6506, 6 October 1915, Page 4, courtesy of Papers Past.

Anon (1914) $300,000 Won by a Young Inventor, The New York Times, 10 July 1914.

Anon (2001) Eastman Kodak Size A118 Autographic Film Cartridge, Scott's Photographic Collection.

Chocrón, Daniel Jiménez (2013) No. 1 Autographic Kodak Junior, on From the Focal Plane to Infinity.

Coe, Brian (1978) Cameras, from Daguerreotypes to Instant Pictures, United States: Crown Publishers, 240pp.

Gustavson, Todd (2009) Camera, A History of Photography from Daguerreotype to Digital, New York: Sterling, 360pp.

Macpherson, Alan M D (nd) Kodak - No. 2 Autographic Brownie, on Classic Cameras.

Main, Bill (1990) Kodak Autographic Special, New Zealand Centre for Photography, 10 Cameras Exhibition [retrieved 12 March 2013 from cache on the Internet Archive Wayback Machine].

West, Nancy Martha (2000) "Let Kodak Keep the Story" - Narrative, Memory, and the Selling of the Autographic Camera during World War I, in Kodak and the Lens of Nostalgia, University of Virginia Press, Ch 6, p.166-199.

"Your King & Country Need You" - Scarratt's Call to Arms

The Barracks, Derby, No. 993, publ. 1915
Albumen Glass Negative, by F.W. Scarratt of Derby
Image © and collection Brett Payne
This is the second of the two glass plate negatives purchased recently on eBay, both of which turned out to be originals from Derbyshire's first locally based picture postcard publisher, Frank W. Scarratt. It is not over-exposed, as the previous one was, and therefore required little in the way of digital manipulation to produce the image above, apart from inversion and desaturation of the original 24-bit colour scan. It depicts a group of young men waiting in line at the gates of Normanton Barracks, Derby, attended by a single soldier standing to attention, and with several onlookers - among them women and children - to the left of the entrance.

Gateway and Entrance, Normanton Barracks, 1915
Image © and courtesy of Picture the Past Ref. DRBY000681
This particular postcard is not listed in Rod Jewell's Yesterday's Derby and its Districts, the authority on Scarratt's work, so presumably not many examples of the postcard print have survived intact. I did find a rather inferior, unattributed version of the image on Picture the Past (Ref. DRBY000681). The barracks were built between 1874 and 1877, and became the headquarters of the Sherwood Foresters in Derby until 1963; they were demolished in 1981-1982.

Detailed examination of the posters pasted to the columns of the gateway reveals the announcement of the Embodiment of the Territorial Force and the General Mobilization of the Army Reserve, these having taken place in August 1914. I can't claim to have read all that from the indistinct scanned image, but there was enough to make out the general form of the poster and the Yanks, naturally, came to the rescue once again for the rest. I found exact facsimiles of three, and one similar to the fourth, in the fine digitized collection of war posters and postcards from the University of Minnesota Media Archive.

Territorial Force, poster 43x34cm, 3 Jun 1914
General Mobilization Army Reserve, Poster 54x41cm, 11 Aug 1914
Images © and courtesy of University of Minnesota Media Archive
Scarratt had maintained his prolific output during 1914 (139 views), somewhat reduced to 79 views published in 1915, but this was his first postcard which betrayed any sign that there was a war on. Judging from the dates of publication of the posters and the postcard's series number, it could have been taken any time from late 1914 until mid-1915.

Your King & Country Needs You
Another 100,000 Men Wanted, poster 76x51cm, Aug 1914
A Call To Arms, poster 152x102cm, 24 Aug 1914
Images © and courtesy of University of Minnesota Media Archive

Great War recruiting posters
Images © and courtesy of Library of Congress
There is another poster or signboard at the right hand edge of the postcard view. Sadly, it's not clear enough to make out anything much, but it might well be a recruiting poster along the lines of the two displayed above, of which there were a huge variety produced during the course of the war.

Initially I wondered if the glass plate was a copy negative made from a postcard, since an artifact on the image appeared as if it had resulted from a fold or crease. However, closer examination of the emulsion side of the glass negative shows a slightly darker stain over the bottom quarter.

Donington Hall and Entanglements, No. 1020, publ. 1915
Postcard by F.W. Scarratt of Derby
Scarratt produced very few views with subjects readily identifiable as having been taken during the Great War. Soon after the Normanton Barracks shot in 1915 he visited Donington Hall, Leicestershire, where the conversion of the grand building and estate into a German Prisoner of War camp, complete with barbed wire entanglements and sentry boxes, resulted in several published postcards (1006/1020/1021). Apart from these few examples, he appears to have left the coverage of wartime and military subjects to other local photographers such as W.W. Winter, Frederick K. Boyes, Pollard Graham of Derby, Albert Heath of Clay Cross, Henry Hinge and H.P. Hansen of Ashbourne, Fred Holbrook of Belper, Alfred Rippon of Chesterfield.

Sentry Box & Entanglements, Donington Hall, No. 1020, publ. 1915
Postcard by F.W. Scarratt of Derby
His production then dwindled considerably; 35 views in 1916, 33 in 1917, and a single view in 1918, and none in 1919, probably due to a combination of shortage of materials and a reduced market. When he resumed publishing in 1920, one of his first photographs was of the War Memorial in his home town, Barton-under-Needwood (1130).

Sepia Saturday 96: The Khaki Boxing Squad

For this week's Sepia Saturday photo prompt Alan has has vacillated somewhat between the World Wars, so I thought I'd present my own little World War conundrum.



Among my grandfather's photographs was this snapshot of a group of seven soldiers. Although my grandfather wasn't included, and I didn't recognise any of the others, since the reverse had a piece of paper attached with a number of names inscribed, I thought it would be a relatively simple matter to work out why he had the photo.



The back of the loose paper photographic print has written on the back what appears top be the oldest inscription, in blue ink, "3 Sept. 1943 Yours truly from Johny Basham." Then below it, in different blue ink but in my aunt's handwriting, "FRIENDS OF DAD'S FIRST WORLD WAR," and "FRONT ROW LEFT - DAD" crossed out. This is what introduces the conundrum. The date suggests the photograph was given, probably to my grandfather, by "Johny Basham" during the Second World War, but my aunt's inscription suggests the friends were from the First. My next thought was that perhaps my aunt had simply made a mistake. A cursory examination of the uniforms, however, suggests they are indeed from the earlier of the two world wars.


Private Leslie Payne, CASC, 1916 (left) Major Leslie Payne, Pioneer Corps, 1941 (right)
My grandfather served in the CASC and the Canadian Machine Gun Corps (Canadian Expeditionary Force) during the First World War, but if these soldiers were from the Great War, their cap badges suggest they were not Canadians. He later served as an officer in the Pioneer Corps in England during the Second World War, which would correspond with the date written on the back.



The attached scrap of paper has the following names hand written in pencil and blue ink: Will, Pat O'Keefe, J. Basham, Dick Smith, Jimmy Wilde, Capt Bruce Logan, Jimmy Driscoll. When I started Googling these names, it very quickly became apparent that boxing was the common thread. An article about "Peerless Jim Driscoll" in particular has the following:

The Great War deprived him of a chance of further world champion bouts. He joined the army and belonged to a famous khaki boxing squad that included Bombardier Billy Wells, Pat O’Keefe, Johnny Basham, Dick Smith, Captain Bruce Logan and the ‘Mighty Atom’, Jimmy Wilde.

On the Welsh Warriors web site, devoted to Welsh boxing legends, there is even a reproduction of exactly the same group photograph. The Wellington Evening Post of 8 March 1919 carried a story with the heading, World's Boxers International Luncheon:

A luncheon was given at the Savoy Hotel on 13th December to the boxers of the world's Services who had fought and won and lost in the two days' battle at Albert Hall for the King's trophy ... Side by side were Jimmy Wilde, and Joe Lynch, the American. Lynch on Wednesday was pummelled by Wilde ; he left the ring with a nose all askew. Yesterday Wilde and Lynch delighted to exchange autographs ... an epoch-making event, and one that never will be forgotten. It brought the English-speaking races together to engage in a great national sport."
Captain Bruce Logan, the old amateur boxer, oarsman, and all-round sportsman, the captain of the British Army side, and Sergeant Jim Driscoll, trainer, in a few well-chosen words ... "We of the American team believe Jimmy Wilde to be the greatest boxer the world has ever seen, or will ever see. He is a most wonderful boxer, and it has given us the greatest possible pleasure to see him in the ring."

For those readers who are boxing devotees - I am not one - I've put together some links to biographical details of some of the Khaki Boxing Squad members: Bombardier Billy Wells, Peerless Jim Driscoll and Jimmy Wilde (The Mighty Atom).


Johnny Basham and his manager W. T. Dodman, Wrexham, c. 1920s
Image © Wrexham County Borough Museum and courtesy of Culturenet Cymru
So who was Johnny Basham? Casglu'r Tlysau/Gathering the Jewels, the web site of Culturenet Cymru, provides a potted biography to accompany this excellent image of the young boxer with his manager, taken between the wars.


Sergeant Johnny Basham, c. 1914
Image © Royal Welsh Fusiliers Regimental Museum and courtesy of Culturenet Cymru
John Michael Basham (1890-1947) was born in Newport, Monmouthshire and joined the Royal Welch Fusiliers in 1912, when he was posted to Wrexham, Denbighshire.


Signed photo of Johnnie Basham, c. 1920s
Image © and courtesy of Jo Sports Inc
There are obviously a few autographed photos of Johnny (or Johnnie) Basham still around, including this one that I found on the net, which has a very similar inscription to my grandfather's photo.


John Michael Basham's WW1 Medal Index Card
Image © The National Archives and courtesy of Ancestry.co.uk
The medal index card for Basham confirms that he served with that unit during the Great War, being entitled to both the Victory medal and the British War medal. The biography goes on to say that "He was stationed at the barracks in Wrexham for many years and attained the rank of sergeant." Denbighshire rang a bell for me, as I knew my grandfather was stationed there during the Second World War, so I checked the records that my father and I have put together over the years.


Major Leslie Payne, c.1943
Image © and courtesy of Barbara Ellison
In early June 1943 Major Charles Leslie Lionel Payne was the Officer Commanding 315 Pioneer Corps at Newport, Monmouthshire. By early November that year he had been transferred to Pool Park Camp at Efenechtyd, near Ruthin in Denbighshire (now Clwyd), Wales, where he was O.C. of the 88 Company, Pioneer Corps. He remained there throughout that winter and at least until March 1944, probably housed in pre-frabricated wooden huts such as the one pictured above.


View Larger Map
The remains of Pool Park Camp, Efenechtyd
Thomas (2003) records the existence of Pool Park as a Prisoner of War camp, but not much else. The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (RCAHMW) has a little more:

World War 2 camp for Italian prisoners of war, consisting of several huts to the west of the B5105 road and a sewage works on the opposite side, set within the grounds of Pool Park ... The barracks for personnel serving at the camp was built in Park Road, Ruthin

It also includes grid coordinates for the location. Brett Exton, in his list of POW camps in Great Britain, shows it as Camp 38.


Site of old POW camp, near Ruthin
Image © Eirian Evans and courtesy of Geograph.co.uk
Licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence
Unsurprisingly much of the physical evidence of these camps, which were only ever meant to be temporary, has disappeared. Somewhat belatedly, efforts are now being made by English Heritage to collate and research from what surviving information there is, largely held at The National Archives, and even to preserve some sites.

Malcolm Sanders on his web page about Prisoner of War Mail provides some useful background information on the formation of these camps and thestatus of the Italian prisoner of war.

From October 1942 until January 1943, with the El Alamein campaign, 130,000 mainly Italian and some German POWs, were sent to England ... From September 1943, with the fall of the fascists in Italy, the status of Italian POWs changed. In May 1944, Italian POWs were asked if they wished to work in the UK as 'cooperators'. Those refusing were held in 'non-cooperator' camps; others were referred to as members of Italian Labour Battalions, rather than as POWs.

Major Payne (3rd from left) with Italian POWs and RC clergyman
Image © and courtesy of Barbara Ellison
This group photo, which regular readers will recognise as having been the subject of a photo quiz (Sepia Saturday 80), shows my grandfather with four Italian POWs and an older man who I presume is a Roman Catholic priest. It may have been taken at Pool Camp during the winter of 1943/1944 - the trees certainly look bare enough for that time of year. However, by August 1944 Major Payne was O.C. of 584 Italian Working Company at Carfax Estate (Camp 584), near Tongham in Hampshire, so it may have been taken there the following winter. He remained in charge of that company until October 1945, although they moved to Puckridge Camp, near Aldershot, Hampshire in spring or early summer.

Getting back to the original signed photograph of the Khaki Boxing Squad, the date of 3 September 1943 corresponds to when he was based at Pool Park, near Ruthin, which in turn is not far from Wrexham. I think it quite likely that my grandfather either worked with or met Johnny Basham during his spell in North Wales. I've not been able to dig up any details of the former boxer's Second World War service, but since he was of a similar age to my grandfather, it's unlikely that he would have been sent abroad.


Image © fleamarketinsiders and courtesy of Flickr
As an epilogue to this story, when I was a young lad I was given a pair of child's boxing gloves which had belonged to my father as a boy. I tried them on a few times, but never did much more than tap the wall to try them out. Unfortunately, I don't recall what my father said about who had given them to him or why (he was probably an even more unlikely boxer than I am). I pondered on whether it was likely that Mr Basham had been any kind of influence on my grandfather's choice of present, but by the time he met Johnny, my Dad was 15 years old, and his hands would have been far too large for the gloves that I recall.

Now head over to Sepia Saturday, where you'll find a wealth of alternative takes on this week's theme.

References

Anon (1919) World's Boxers International Luncheon, Evening Post (Wellington New Zealand), 8 March 1919, p10.

Exton, Brett (nd) Location of POW Camps in Great Britain, Island Farm Prisoner of War Camp: 198 / Special Camp: XI, Bridgend, South Wales.

Malaws, B.A. (2006) Pool Park Prisoner of War Camp, Efenechtyd, Ruthin, Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (RCAHMW)

Sanders, Malcolm (nd) Prisoner of War Mail and POW Camps in UK, King George VI - Great Britain (Postal History).

Thomas, R.J.C. (2003) Prisoner of War Camps (1939-1948), English Heritage.

Zoncada, Pietro (Sgte.) (1944) Letter to "Maggiore Payne," The O.C., 584 Italian Working Company, Carfax Estate, 14 August 1944, Collection of Brett Payne.

Peerless Jim Driscoll, the most famous son of Newtown, Ireland, Wales and Europe: Poems, History and Language

Welsh Warriors, by Johnnyowen.com

Sepia Saturday 90: What did you do in the war, Grandpa?

This week's Sepia Saturday photo prompt is a cutely posed studio portrait of a young Princess, taken in Spain in 1916 when she was seven years old. Of course Spain remained neutral throughout the Great War, and visits to the studio may have continued unabated, even by ordinary folk. In Britain, however, the war had been going on for two years, times were tough, and many studios experienced reduced business, or were even closed due to the lack of customers.


Corporal Robert Hollis, Machine Gun Corps
Postcard portrait by Pollard Graham, 108A Friargate, Derby, c.1917-1918
Image © and Courtesy of Fran Powles
Derby photographers were no exception, and it is informative to note that Pollard Graham shut eight of their branches in the Midlands - from Northampton to Burslem to Lincoln - between 1913 and 1916, leaving only the headquarters studio serving customers. Even after the war, it would be some time before business picked up sufficiently for the firms to contemplate expansion again, with their first post-war branch opening in 1920. Understandably, their clientele had changed too, with the majority of clients being uniformed soldiers about to head off to war. Postcards tended to be the predominantly used format. For most people there wasn't much spare cash around for the fancier mounts and frames.

Corporal Hollis of the Machine Gun Corps probably had this portrait taken on a visit home from the front, perhaps even after a period of recuperation, since he is sporting a wound stripe on his left sleeve.


The Brown family, Postcard portrait by Pollard Graham,
108A Friargate, Derby, 13 July 1917
Image © and Collection of Brett Payne
While most portraits tended to be a single figure, or perhaps couple, I am fortunate enough to have a group portrait of my grandmother's family, the Browns, taken in the summer of 1917. The older two of her three brothers are dressed in uniform. Arthur was a Corporal/Sergeant Dispenser, RAMC, and served with the 57th North Midlands Field Ambulance Unit. He became a chemist after the war. I'm not sure what unit Frank served in, and the insignia on his lapels are not clear enough for me to make out. Ethel worked as an apprentice milliner before the war, but during the war both she and her mother Edith served in some medical capacity, probably at a hospital in Derby. Edith has what appears to be an RAMC badge pinned to the front of her dress, Ethel some other type which I've been unable to identify. Percy was still at school, while Fred Brown, at 47, was presumably too old to be called for active service.


Unidentified Royal Navy man, perhaps with his father
Postcard portrait by Pollard Graham, 108A Friargate, Derby, c.1917-1918
Image © and Courtesy of Grace-Ellen Capier
This rather nice vignetted portrait shows an unidentified Royal Navy man seated with an older bearded gentleman who may be his father. I can't decide whether the single stripe on his left arm signifies that he holds the rank of "Able Seaman, Higher Grade," or whether it is a "Good Conduct" badge. Also just visible on his right sleeve is part of another badge. By comparison with Royal Navy Badges used during the First World War, it may be something like an Armourer's badge.


Thomas Frederick (Fred) Green, Royal Garrison Artillery
Postcard portrait by Pollard Graham, 108A Friargate, Derby, c.1917-1918
Image © and Courtesy of Betty Bowler
A very young Fred who also visited Pollard Graham's studio, probably on the eve of his departure for the front, is wearing standard Great War issue uniform with an RGA (Royal Garrison Artillery) shoulder title. The Medal Index Cards show a Thomas F. Green, 189835, Gunner in the Royal Garrison Artillery, entitled to the Victory and British War Medals.


Unidentified young man, Army Ordnance Corps, c.1914-1918
Postcard portrait by F.J. Boyes, 22 & 24 Osmaston Road, Derby
Image © and Collection of Brett Payne
Frederick J. Boyes was another Derby photographer who attended to portrait requirements of those dutiful young men during the Great War. The AOC shoulder title of this unidentified young man with his very neatly combed hair show that he served with the Army Ordnance Corps, which dealt "with the supply and maintenance of weaponry, munitions and other military equipment."


Uncle Bill (Notts & Derby Regiment) and Auntie Hilda, c.1914-1918
Postcard portrait by F.J. Boyes, 22 & 24 Osmaston Road, Derby
Image © and Collection of Brett Payne
This young man and his new bride (I presume from the prominently displayed wedding ring) are identified on the reverse only as Uncle Bill and Auntie Hilda, but he wears the shoulder titles of the Notts and Derbys Regiment, as well as a circular badge containing a red cross, similar to that of Arthur Brown, above, which may signify that he is some sort of medical orderly.


Charlotte and Alfred Horobin with their nieces, c.1915-1916
Postcard portrait by F.J. Boyes, 22 & 24 Osmaston Road, Derby
Image © and Courtesy of Sally Jackson
Sally Jackson sent me this portrait of her grandparents Alfred Irvin Horobin and his wife Charlotte Louisa née Brady with their nieces, daughters of his half brother, Arthur Swinfield Newton and his wife Lillia née Tomlinson. Alfred is dressed in uniform, wears shoulder titles of the RFA (Royal Field Artillery), and has a crown on his sleeve, suggesting he was a warrant officer. His finely waxed moustache, not clearly visible in this image, is certainly in keeping with that rank - all he needs is a swagger stick - but I've been unable to find an appropriate Medal Index Card for him.


Frederick William Lomas of Derby, c.1914-1916
Postcard portrait by R. & R. Bull, Ashbourne
Image © and Courtesy of Derek Smith
Unfortunately this portrait of a fresh-faced Frederick William Lomas, taken by the Ashbourne firm of R. & R. Bull early during the war, is not clear enough for me to read his shoulder titles.


Unidentified man and woman, c.1914-1918
Postcard portrait by H. Hinge, Ashbourne
Image © and Courtesy of Ellen Oakley
Henry Hinge, also of Ashbourne, took this rather wooden - and now pretty battered - portrait of a non-commissioned officer, identified on the reverse only as "Gran's brother," and his presumed wife. He has sergeant's stripes on his lower sleeve, as well as two wound stripes, and is also holding a swagger stick, which makes me wonder whether he is a drill or staff sergeant. His shoulder titles are not visible, and I'm not familiar enough with regimental badges to recognise the one on his cap.


Louisa and Doris McAuslan at Green Hall Hospital
Postcard portraits by Frederick Holbrook, George St Studios, Belper
Images © and Courtesy of Robert Silverwood
Louisa McAuslan and her daughter Doris were working for the Red Cross at Green Hall Hospital in Belper during the war, when Belper photographer Frederick Holbrook visited and took these two fine portraits.


Frank Tomlinson, c.1914-1918
Panel print portrait by Seaman & Sons, Chesterfield
Image © and Courtesy of Phil Gregory
This less common format by Seaman & Sons of Chesterfield is often known as a panel print, although it is not too different from a postcard cut into three, and I have often seen them constructed in that manner. Phil Gregory's relative Frank Tomlinson obviously served in a Scots Regiment during the war, as evidenced by his Glengarry hat, but I have no further information about him.


Sergeant George Manning, Royal Field Artillery, c.1917
Mounted print by W.W. Winter, Derby
Image © and Courtesy of Christine Hibbert
Sergeant George Manning of the Royal Field Artillery paid a visit to the studio of W.W. Winter in Midland Road Derby "whilst at home on leave from the battlefields of Europe." The single bar on his lower left sleeve is a wound stripe, indicating that he had already been wounded in the line of duty.

Geoff Caulton's PhotoDetective web pages have some excellent descriptions and images of uniforms, badges, shoulder titles and other tips for identifying subjects on portraits from the Great War.

Roger Capewell has an extensive web site devoted to Military Images, including a comprehensive list of badges with images.

For questions about the Great War, both of a specific and more general nature, the Great War Forum is well worth trying. Chris Baker's The Long, Long Trail gives valuable advice on how track a particular soldier's service during the war, including an excellent article on how to interpret Medal Index Cards.