Sepia Saturday 284: Panel Prints and Coupon Prints

My contribution for Sepia Saturday this week features a photographic format that was popular for only a brief period, and which often receives only cursory attention in photohistory texts, even though they are fairly commonly seen. In the late 1890s and early 1900s, more or less at the same time as amateur photography was taking off, a profusion of new formats were introduced, presumably in an effort to entice customers away from buying their own cameras and back into the studio.


Charles Howell's early studio at Pleasure Beach, Blackpool, undated
Image © and courtesy of Colin Harding/Photographica World
Among these were the panel print and its smaller sibling the coupon print, which appeared shortly after the turn of the century, had their heyday between 1905 and 1915. Initially the new tall, thin shape was probably a draw, but I have little doubt that their low cost proved the main attraction for both studios and their customers. At half a dozen for sixpence from Charles Howell's beachfront studio in Blackpool, they were half the price of the already wildly popular postcard portraits.

The examples featured below include a few from my own collection, and may not represent the full range that were available, but at least they give a fair idea of the format. I've attempted to keep the colours as accurate as possible, and on my screen they are displayed actual size, although they may appear differently to you, depending on the device being used to view this page. I've also provided a number of references to Geoff Caulton's very useful PhotoDetective 1901-1953 pages, which gives many examples of the rapidly changing fashions in hair, hats, clothing and accessories during that period.


Two unidentified young women, c.1914-1918
Panel prints (56 x 121 mm) by D.A. Maclean of Middlesboro & Blackpool
Images © and collection of Brett Payne
These two young women probably visited Maclean's popular Blackpool studio during the Great War, judging by their practical swept back hair styles, V-necked blouses and white corselet skirts typical of that period. Since I acquired them in the same batch, the appearance of identical backdrop and wicker chair suggests they may have been taken on the same occasion.


Two unidentified teenage girls in costume, c.1912-1915
Panel prints (54 x 113 mm) by unknown photographer
Images © and collection of Brett Payne
The younger girl on the left has her hair swept back in a transitional hairstyle, tied with what must be one of the largest butterfly hair bows that I've seen, popular from 1912 to 1918. The older girl has her down in what was sometimes referred to as her crowning glory, although the metal wrist cuffs suggest a costume of some kind. These two panel prints also have similar poses and an identical backdrop, and I wonder if they were sisters appearing in the same stage performance. Perhaps readers more au fait with theatre of the time might be able to suggest a classical play and/or character. Troilus and Cressida is the only one that comes immediately to mind as being from that era.
Post Script Thanks to Rob from Amersfoort, we now have a probable ID for the role being acted, i.e. that of "Mercia" from Wilson Barrett's 1904 four act historical tragedy, The Sign of the Cross, as shown here and here. Thanks Rob.

The wristwatch on the younger girl's left arm is an interesting accessory. It's actually a leather-cased ladies' fob watch popular during the Edwardian era.


Unidentified young women, 28 April 1913 (left) and c. 1910-1915 (right)
Coupon prints (39 x 86 mm) by unknown photographer
Images © and collection of Brett Payne
The most striking feature of these two women is their enormous cartwheel hats, no doubt kept perched in place with long hatpins and a low pompadour hairstyle. The large-buttoned and belted jackets, probably worn over hobble skirts, confirm that these were taken some time during the decade before the Great War. Also noted in the right-hand portrait is the very visible reference number (7141, reversed), probably written in ink on the negative.


Unidentified young woman and girl, c.1910-1915
Coupon prints (36 x 88 mm) by unknown photographer
Images © and collection of Brett Payne
The young lady on the left again has her hair in the transitional style characteristic of the pre-war period. The portrait of the girl is more difficult to date, because her clothing and loose hairstyle could be from any time during the period 1905 to 1920. The belted dress with slightly dropped waistline is similar to some seen in the early 1920s, but the lace collar is more akin to the pre-war period.

These coupon prints were designed so that four could be made from a single postcard cut into strips. The glass plate was probably exposed four separate times, using a card inside the camera, in front of the plate, to mask off all but the desired strip. The shadowing effects across the lower part of the portraits - light in the left-hand portrait, dark in the right-hand portrait - were produced by placing a vignetting card close to the camera, between the lens and the subject.


Unidentified woman, c.1908-1916
Coupon print (35 x 69 mm) by unknown photographer
Image © and collection of Brett Payne
The dark, simply ornamented and middle-waisted dress worn with a high frilled collar and long sleeves is also suggestive of the pre-war period. Her hair style, however, is suggestive of a couple of years later. Detailed painted backdrops became far less common after the war, photographers, and presumably their clients, tending to prefer plain or simply ornamented patterns.


Unidentified man and child, c. 1918-1920s
Coupon print (38 x 70 mm) by H.O. Seaman of Great Yarmouth
Image © and courtesy of Paul Godfrey
This coupon print by Herbert Oscar Seaman, scion of the well known Chesterfield (Derbyshire) firm of Alfred Seaman and Sons, is unusual in that it has a tiny number printed at the base, apparently with the aid of some kind of counter (better visible with an enlarged version of the image).


Extract from patent GB190305361(A), 16 Apr 1903, by D.B. Seaman
"Improvements relating to Photographic Cameras ..."
Image courtesy of the European Patent Office
In 1903 Herbert's older brother Dennis Benjamin Seaman applied for a patent for a camera specifically designed to produce a series of such 1½" x 2½" images on a single photographic plate (Specification), while "a smaller lens projects an image of a ticket with a number or the like." It seems likely that the coupon print produced by Herbert Seaman, and likewise several others in the collection of Paul Godfrey, were made with an apparatus very similar to that designed by his brother.


Unidentified man in front of H.O. Seaman's Parade Studio, Yarmouth
Postcard print, Image © and courtesy of Peter Jones
The postcard photo shown above depicts the storefront of Herbert Seaman's Parade Studio in Yarmouth not long after the end of the Great War, and possibly with Herbert himself standing at the front door. In the window is a sign advertising "12 LARGE MIDGETS FOR 1/-." Given that he was selling a dozen postcard prints for two shillings, it seems likely that the "midgets" were commonly referred to as coupon prints.


Two unidentified woman, taken c. late 1920s
Coupon print (43 x 88mm) by While You Wait Photographs,
The Beach Studio, 12 Lower Promenade, Whitley Bay
Image © and courtesy of Robert Pols

Bessie Fisher, 2 August 1929
Panel portrait (unknown dimensions) by Charles Howell, Blackpool
Image © Peter Fisher and courtesy of SmugMug
The popularity of the format declined considerably through the 1920s, and by the end of the decade they were largely relegated to seaside arcades (above) and photobooths (below) as a novelty format.


Novelty format displaying weight of unidentified woman
Panel print (47 x 103mm) from photobooth, dated 10 September 1935
Image © and collection of Brett Payne
I'm very grateful to Paul Godfrey who has shared his collection of images, extensive knowledge and the results of his research. I'd also like to extend my appreciation to Colin Harding, Peter Jones, Robert Pols and Peter Fisher for graciously permitting me to use images from their collections in this article.

For those who find the plethora of photo formats a little confusing, I've prepared a photo format size guide as a PDF file which you can print out and use to gauge photographs from your own collection.

Sepia Saturday 160: Charles Howell, the Official Photographer of Pleasure Beach

Alan's photograph for the Sepia Saturday theme this week was, as I deduced about 18 months ago, probably taken in the late 1940s or early to mid-1950s at Blackpool's Central Pier.


For my own contribution, I'm going to turn to the left and walk a mile or so south along the Promenade, past the South Pier to Blackpool's famous Pleasure Beach, according to Wikipedia "the most visited amusement park in the United Kingdom," and seen in Google Earth's Streetview above.


Postcard portrait of unidentified woman and child, 17 July 1933
by Charles Howell, Official Photographer, Pleasure Beach, Blackpool
Image © and collection of Brett Payne
Somewhere in this vicinity, close to the Promenade - I haven't yet been able to determine the precise location - was where Charles Howell (1866-1943) operated a popular seaside resort photographic business between the two world wars. In this postcard portrait by Howell a mother envelops her arms protectively around her somewhat fearful child, who is perched precariously in a saddle on the back of a stuffed pony, itself mounted on a wheeled base strewn with "grass." A large painted backdrop depicting a cottage in a rural setting and wooden floorboards complete the scene.


The printed back of the standard postcard carries an imprint, "Charles Howell, Official Photographer, Pleasure Beach, Blackpool." Although there are references to hundreds of postcard portraits on the web taken by Howell with this claim to official license, I have been unable to find any other photographers using the same title, and therefore assume that his permission to operate within the grounds of Pleasure Beach was sanctioned by the owners, the Thompson family. This must have been an important concession - in the mid-1890s, according to one report, around three dozen beach photographers were reported to be plying their trade in a single day (Moore, 2012).

Fortunately Howell was one of those thoughtful photographers who provided a clear date stamp on the back of most of his portraits, presumably as much to facilitate the purchase of prints by customers as to enable future family historians to date the holiday photos of their loved ones.


Postcard portrait of unidentified family group, 4 August 1928
by Charles Howell, Official Photographer, Pleasure Beach, Blackpool
Image © lovedaylemon and courtesy of Flickr
Charles Howell opened his first photographic studio in Blackpool on Bank Hey Street close to the tower in 1913, having operated briefly for a couple of years in Oxford Road, Manchester (Jones, 2004). Here, and later at 85 Central Beach, he exploited the burgeoning market for novelty caricature portraits using comical or grotesque painted foregrounds (Harding, 2008).

In 1923 he opened another studio which formed part of the rapidly expanding attractions at Pleasure Beach, and started to style himself as the "Official Photographer." The portrait of a young family above was taken at these premises in 1926, only three years after it opened, and demonstrates that the stuffed pony had already become one of what developed into a large array of studio accessories.

Howell ... offer[ed] playful portraits incorporating an assortment of novelty props ... you could be photographed wearing a top hat, playing a banjo or holding a giant bottle of beer. You could be photographed on a papier mache horse or a real, live donkey. (Harding, 2008)

In the summer of 1926 the pony was already looking a little worse for wear, with one floppy ear and a rather wrinkled coat. It is interesting to observe that the painted backdrop is very similar to that used for the summer 1933 portrait, althought not identical. I suspect that the same view had been embellished or repainted, perhaps more than once, in the intervening seven years. Certainly the base of the canvas screen (detail above) had become rather tatty, and the somewhat bedraggled "grass" looked more like seaweed.


Postcard portrait of two unidentified young girls, undated
by Charles Howell, Official Photographer, Pleasure Beach, Blackpool
Image © L.M. Wood and courtesy of Flickr
It's not surprising that some customers chose instead to pose on or alongside a real live donkey. I presumed that the donkey was borrowed or hired by the photographer from one of the many rides available on the nearby beach, until I noticed that in many of Howell's postcards that include the donkey, it has a saddle blanket with the neatly embroidered name "Radium."


Postcard portrait of unidentified woman on donkey, 28 August 1926
by Charles Howell, Official Photographer, Pleasure Beach, Blackpool
Image © and courtesy of Audrey Linkman
This postcard from 1926 has the donkey under some duress (although doing well not to show undue sufferance) and a more topical backdrop which includes a large ferris wheel and a representation of the Blackpool Tower. It includes a negative number at the top, which I have thus far only seen on one other Howell postcard, dated 30 Aug 1930.


Postcard portrait of unidentified boy, undated
Unattributed, but probably by Charles Howell, Pleasure Beach, Blackpool
Image © lovedaylemon and courtesy of Flickr
An undated portrait of a schoolboy still in uniform (presumably his socks and school shoes are stuffed into a satchel somewhere out of sight) riding Radium has another version of Blackpool's fairground style attractions on the backdrop.


Charles Howell's early studio at Pleasure Beach, Blackpool, undated
Image © and courtesy of Colin Harding/Photographica World
Colin Harding includes in his short article about Howell this photograph of the studio premises within Pleasure Beach, advertising 6 postcard photographs for a shilling, and makes it clear that the portraits would be "ready while you wait." The sign above the central doorway encourages visitors to "be photographed on the motor cycle," a studio prop which Harding refers to as Howell's trademark.


Postcard portrait of Sarah Corkish and friends, 1939
by Charles Howell, Official Photographer, Pleasure Beach, Blackpool
Image courtesy of Rootschat
In a group portrait dating from 1939, Howell went to great lengths to satisfy the whims of his customers. Not only are the six women arrayed around the legendary Coventry Eagle motorcycle and the perennial stuffed pony, but a large toy dog mopes dejectedly in the foreground, there is a 30 mph speed limit sign almost disappearing off stage to the right, and the woman on the far left carries one of the famous giant beer bottles. The backdrop depicting a large gatepost and (as I know from other portraits which include the scene) a driveway leading to a grand home completes this bizarre scene.

As Harding writes in his article, the studio was "... a place where people could escape the cares of the workaday world; a place where, if only for the fleeting moment, the boundaries between fantasy and reality become blurred." That was, after all, the ethos of the Thompson family's Pleasure Park.


Panel portrait of Bessie Fisher, 2 August 1929
by Charles Howell, Blackpool
Image © Peter Fisher and courtesy of SmugMug
I'm tempted to carry on showing you more of Charles Howell's wonderful variety of customers and array of studio props, because there are many, many examples to be found on the web, but I don't want to get carried away, so I'll leave you with a final example. This is one of the panel prints that Howell advertised at 6 for 6d.

Jones (2004) shows Howell working at the Promenade in Blackpool until 1939, but there are some dated examples of his work at that location from 1940 (listed in the holdings of the Greater Manchester County Record Office, via The National Archives ARCHON Directory). Charles Howell died on 26 November 1943 at Moore-street Nursing Home, Blackpool, aged 77.

References

Breen, Thaddeus C. (2012) Photographers and Studios in Dublin, on Irish Archæology

Edwards, Steve (2007) 'Poor Ass!' in "A Donkey in Blackpool, 1999," Oxford Art Journal 30 (1), p39-54, Oxford Journals.

Harding, Colin (2008) Charles Howell, Photographer of Pleasure, Photographica World, 2008/3, The Photographic Collectors’
Club of Great Britain, p16-19.

Jones, Gillian (2004) Lancashire Professional Photographers 1840-1940, Watford, Herts: PhotoResearch, 203pp.

Moore, Nick (2012) Blackpool and District Now and Then, The Chronology of a Holiday Resort, version XVI (accessed 18 Jan 2012)

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.