Vintage Guru Reveals Her Glamour Secrets
V
intage can be intimidating. It's certainly not as simple as going to the mall, finding your size, and buying a mass-produced outfit. You have to dig through racks and racks of wildly diverse items, with mysterious sizing, looking for…
The Killer Mobile Device for Victorian Women
Adrift in a sea of digital apps for every imaginable function, we often feel our needs are met better today than in any previous era. But consider the chatelaine, a device popularized in the 18th century that attached to the waist of a wo…
Gloriously Grotesque 19th-Century Pipes
The meerschaum pipes carved in Eastern Europe at the end of the 19th century are among the most bizarre and improbable concoctions in decorative art. Some feature …
The Beautiful Chaos of Improvisational Quilts
What would jazz look like if it had a physical presence? According to Sherry Ann Byrd, a celebrated quilt maker who posts on Show & Tell, it might look something like the hand-made "M-provisational" q…
Our Dad, the Water Witch of Wyoming
“And the Lord said unto Moses, Go on before the people, and take with thee of …
This 1959 Goggomobil Is Insanely Cute and Gets 55 MPG. Why Can’t Detroit Do That?
The last time we spoke to Justin Pinchot, he took us on a guided tour of his collection of toy robots. Recently, J…
California Cool: How the Wetsuit Became the Surfer's Second Skin
When Bob Meistrell started surfing in Northern California during the early 1950s, 20 minutes was about all he could stand in the frigid coastal waters. Despite the constant rush of …
The Unfiltered History of Rolling Papers, Plus Tommy Chong's Big Fat Jamaican Vacation
It’s kind of ironic that Tommy Chong, the smokiest half of Cheech and Chong, i…
World's Smallest Museum Finds the Wonder in Everyday Objects
Tucked away in a lower Manhattan back alley, the freight-elevator-sized, generically named Museum is one of New York City's newest curiosities.…
Fightin’ Femmes: Unmasking Female Superheroes with Author Mike Madrid
When I was growing up in the ’60s and ’70s, reading comics wasn't as popular as it had been in the ’40s or ’50s. But my older sister had comics, including a big collection of “Betty and Veronica.” Our parents encouraged us to read everything, so at 6 years old…
For identification | Photographs887 of 2292 |  |  |
Create a Show & TellReport as inappropriate
Posted 12 months ago
Blackhawk
(1 item)
The buttons are all in script 538 on this cabinet photo, and the photographer is J. W. Black & Co, 333 Washington St., Boston. Your information concerning uniform, insignia and other details are appreciated.
Create an account or login in order to post a comment.
PhotographsFrom Mathew Brady's Civil War photos to Ansel Adams' landscapes to Irving P…
Military and WartimeMilitary and wartime antiques and memorabilia includes an enormously wide v…
Certainly look like cannons to me. Not the typical crossed cannon insignia, though. Royal artillery uses something similar, but even those aren't a good match.
The collar insignia is a prominent wheel superimposed over an artillery gun trail and cannon barrel. The officer wears no epaulettes and looks something like Adelbert Rinaldo Buffington, a US ordnance officer who served 1861-1901. Could this photo show a US ordnance uniform that is quite different from the usual US army officers uniform?
I think it could be helpful if you were able to make out the engraving on the chest medal.
based on the cannon and the script 538 on the buttons, I don't believe this gentleman is in the regular US Army. He is possibly one of the many 19th century militias, from another country (in spite of the photo being taken in boston) or even a military school instructor.
First, I do not know of regimental numbers being on US Army buttons in the time period this image suggests, but the practice was quite common in Europe.
Second, I checked a couple of my best reference books, and didn't see Artillery or ordanance officer's insignia like these, the cross cannons and ordnance bombs being used long before the photo was taken.
I won't say absolutely positively - but I'll be surprised if he's US Army.
I think Chrisnp is correct. The collar insignia is not American as far as i know and the medal shape and suspension looks foreign also. possibly British regimental?
I telephoned the historian of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts and then emailed the cabinet photo. The man in the photo is a member of the oldest chartered military organization in the western hemesphere which dates from 1638 and is still active and headquartered in Boston, Mass.
Wow. That's cool!