In many of the old RPPC and Cabinet Cards the portrait is set within a photo mask. This is a cut out mask that is placed between the negative and the photopaper before it is exposed so that the resulting print appears to be framed inside a heart or a leaf or just a circle.
Here are a few.
On this one the photographer moved the mask slightly during exposure in the dark room to produce the fuzzy line of the oval.
The oval, vertical or horizontal, is probably the most common photo-mask.
Now, the one at the left was not done the same way.
First the print paper was exposed with just a leaf pressed in the middle. Then the leaf was replaced with the portrait negative and exposed to light again. The result is a black border around the portrait.
This one was done like the "leaf" portrait just above.
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Area 51 and a Half 
You are probably not authorized to see these.
Don't take my picture! Oh! You DID didn't you! 
This is a collection of photographs that disappear on the way home from the photo processing shop.
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THE KIDS 
It is always a mystery how a photograph of any of these precious children could end up lost or abandoned.
Here are a few.
You will probably say "Ooh..." at least once.
Dee and the Business School 
The beautiful Dee. A curious story, What do you see?
WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?
"What are they doing?"
Okay, I'm not gettin' the duck foot at all. Love these, but the duck foot is weird.
ReplyDeleteGosh, I don't get that one either. I theorized it might be a family crest or a Christmas bell.
ReplyDeleteI think in reality, the photographer just folded a sheet of paper, cut out what he thought was a random design and then printed the picture through the hole. Then he had to do some fancy talking to get the family to buy it. It still looks like a duck footprint.
Oh wouldn't that have been fun to watch. A duck print. The husband had asked for a nice duck print to hang on his wall and the wife came home with this.
ReplyDeleteThat's funny! These old prints always have a story.
ReplyDeleteI saw it as a bell silhouette!
ReplyDeleteThanks! You know, you could be right! I didn't think of that. Maybe the customer's name was Bell!
ReplyDeleteThanks for reminding me about this page, I have some new discoveries to add. I'll do that today.