When it comes to collecting photographs, images of men are typically far less popular than those of women. However, there are two primary categories where there is some rather high interest: Images which gay men and images from the military. This photo features a young male soldier holding his rifle with a bayonet. While there’s no date (or other information on the photo), we had a few militaria collectors agree that it’s likely from WWI.
One of the most fascinating areas of collecting antique and vintage photographs are those images showing the interior of shops and retails stores — like these real photo postcards, circa 1907.
Notice the well-dressed help and the tin tiles on the walls; the fine array of items, such as china in the display cases, the baby buggies and strollers… Oh, the things you could see with the actual antique postcard in your hand and a magnifying glass!
In this next image, there are plenty of guns, tools, keys, and hardware — along with spinning wheels, a few stray things, such as coffee pots and lanterns. On the walls there are other intriguing photographs… Lots of lovely ladies — including one with two horses! Perhaps a circus act? Among all the beauties, what appears to be the bottom half a wrestler or other male athlete.
Images via Lynnstudios.
The following tips and scans of vintage hunting gun charts and guides come from The Standard Book of Hunting & Shooting, edited by Robert B. Stringfellow, copyright 1950, Stackpole & Heck, Inc. They are shared here to help gun collectors. (I’ve also posted some vintage hunting decoy designs from this book here.)
Various types of sporting gun stocks:
Here’s a good tip cropped out of the scan on polishing guns without scratching:
One thing to remember is to never discard worn polishing cloth, even when “worn out completely.” New cloth cuts. Used cloth polishes without cutting.
This is an illustrated guide to foreign (German, English, Birmingham, Austrian-Hungarian-Czechoslovakian, French, Belgian, Spanish & Italian) barrel proof marks which were “in common use today” — which was 1950.
Here are some pages identifying some rifle ammunition and bullets:
