BS: Can anyone ID this man?

Subject: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: kendall
Date: 08 Sep 11 - 01:26 PM

I found this photo inside an ancient Victrola that Sinsull gave me. He looks very familiar but I can't place him. HELP.

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: bobad
Date: 08 Sep 11 - 01:27 PM

Is it the invisible man?

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: jacqui.c
Date: 08 Sep 11 - 01:28 PM

Photo Here

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: Rapparee
Date: 08 Sep 11 - 02:08 PM

Kendall Morse in his younger years?

You're right -- he does look familiar, but I can't place him at the moment.

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: artbrooks
Date: 08 Sep 11 - 02:23 PM

Resembles Robert E. Lee

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: Ed T
Date: 08 Sep 11 - 02:48 PM

I don't recognize him, but if he came over to repossess my swamp buggy, I would be mighty afeared:)

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: Amos
Date: 08 Sep 11 - 02:54 PM

I suspect it is a senator, from the stance! :D

A

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: Rapparee
Date: 08 Sep 11 - 02:57 PM

Well, we can eliminate Burl Ives, Pete Seeger, Enrico Caruso, "Lewd" van Beethoven, Johnny Bach, and Wolfy Mozart. He also doesn't look like Amos, but there is some slight resemblance to Bobert.

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: IvanB
Date: 08 Sep 11 - 03:00 PM

Alexander Graham Bell

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: GUEST,999
Date: 08 Sep 11 - 03:12 PM

As Ivan B said, it sure looks like him

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: Ed T
Date: 08 Sep 11 - 03:24 PM

A close resemblance to Bell in this photo

Bell

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Sep 11 - 03:28 PM

Looks like Robert E. Lee.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: Gurney
Date: 08 Sep 11 - 04:11 PM

Ho looks like my pal Jack Robinson, so he's probably Geordie. Descended, anyway.

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: ClaireBear
Date: 08 Sep 11 - 04:15 PM

I'd definitely go for Lee over Bell. They eyebrows are dark on both; Bell's were white. Also the shape of the hair and beard are the same.

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: Joe Offer
Date: 08 Sep 11 - 04:44 PM

Alexander Graham Bell was the first thought that came to my mind, too.

Either him, or maybe Kendall - with hair...

-Joe, without hair-

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: Ed T
Date: 08 Sep 11 - 04:44 PM

Looks like Lee and Bell. Something fishy here?

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: Ed T
Date: 08 Sep 11 - 05:23 PM

Robert E Lee was related to Helen Keller-She was a close friend of Alexander Graham Bell.
Helen Keller was a socialist-Graham Bell was a Canadian (though born in Scotland).

Keller dedicated her autobiography to Bell, where she said: 'You have always shown a father's joy in my success and a father's tenderness when things have not gone right.'

Need I say more?

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: GUEST,Guest from Sanity
Date: 08 Sep 11 - 05:36 PM

Looks sorta like Bobert!

GfS

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: GUEST,Guest from Sanity
Date: 08 Sep 11 - 05:40 PM

jacqui.c, Your crocheting is certainly beautiful!!! You are indeed talented there!!!

GfS

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: Lox
Date: 08 Sep 11 - 05:40 PM

Can anyone date the clothing or any other bits and bobs in the photo?

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: olddude
Date: 08 Sep 11 - 05:55 PM

absolutely you have a great photo I believe of Walt Whitman the great poet. Go to his galley of images on the web. Dead ringer. Probably valuable also

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: olddude
Date: 08 Sep 11 - 05:58 PM

By the way here is an early Archive photo of Walt
Walt

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: Desert Dancer
Date: 08 Sep 11 - 06:09 PM

Way too dressed up and trimmed up for Walt.

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: SINSULL
Date: 08 Sep 11 - 06:15 PM

I always assumed it was a family photo that was left inside.

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: Amos
Date: 08 Sep 11 - 06:17 PM

It is probably one of these guys for sure.

A

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: SINSULL
Date: 08 Sep 11 - 06:20 PM

Any marks identifying the photographer, Captain?

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: gnu
Date: 08 Sep 11 - 06:25 PM

That's my great uncle "Peg Leg" Henry Pascalin a police photo taken after he kicked in the liquor store window in Chipman, New Brunswick, Canada back in tha 30s. I can tell by the mole that looks like a maple leaf.

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: Desert Dancer
Date: 08 Sep 11 - 06:30 PM

Bell's whiskers are a different shape. He also is not quite so beautifully dressed. (It's easier to see the trends if you look at one of 'em at a time, Amos.)

Someone in the newspaper trade? (in these portraits, often the props are intentional: he's leaning on a writing desk, with newspaper in hand...)

~ Becky in Long Beach

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Sep 11 - 06:36 PM

Look at his hair - he has a cowlick or a natural curl on his right (left side in photo). It's in the photos of Lee and it's apparent in this photo. He doesn't look like Whitman or Bell - look at the shapes of their heads. Lee wore his beard the same way most the time - there are too many points of similarity (to take the term from fingerprinting) between Lee and the photo for it to be any of the other suggestions.

Kendall's Photo and Robert E. Lee (enlarge that one and compare the brows, the nose, the beard and hair). Kendall's photo has whiter hair, so I'd guess that is later. Lee died in 1870.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: Rapparee
Date: 08 Sep 11 - 06:37 PM

I think that's a computer keyboard in the background. Probably Babbage or Hollerith.

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: Lox
Date: 08 Sep 11 - 06:39 PM

Sorry guys, but it is not any of the possibles suggested so far.

Kendall - you're gonna have to trace the ownership of the victrola you found it in.

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: Desert Dancer
Date: 08 Sep 11 - 06:54 PM

Nope, I don't buy Lee, either. Check the trim of the mustache which gives a different feel to the mouth. Also, Lee did a side part, and though it's debatable, it looks more like a comb back on your mysterious gentleman.

The clothes are not his style, again.

Also, if it was Lee I would think another copy would show up online.

~ B in LB

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: GUEST,Guest from Sanity
Date: 08 Sep 11 - 06:57 PM

Macaulay Culkin, after years of hard partying!

GfS

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 08 Sep 11 - 07:26 PM

Composer, maybe. Have to look through some of the biog. books.

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: Ed T
Date: 08 Sep 11 - 07:39 PM

Here are some more clues (since there is no reason to believe he is famous), what he may look like in other profiles.

preparing for bed

At the gym

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: olddude
Date: 08 Sep 11 - 07:44 PM

Whitman I am still stuck on Whitman
walt again

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: GUEST,The Length
Date: 08 Sep 11 - 07:49 PM

The guy who sleeps outside Walmart in Greensboro NC.

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: olddude
Date: 08 Sep 11 - 08:02 PM

Will Fly .... that's it ... you sly dog Will making and old picture and hiding it in Kendall's machine. By the way Captain, ain't it about time ya upgraded your music box ... I mean it may have been state of the art back in the day, but there is better sound producing equipment today there is yah

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: olddude
Date: 08 Sep 11 - 08:21 PM

Ok, so I save it asked my wife do you know this guy ... her immediately reply was, "Hey where did you get the great photo of Robert E. Lee" It was when he was the "chancellor or something of Virginia Univ 1890's" whatever she rattled on with. She is a civil war expert .. teaches it .. writes and publishes it ...

I have to go with my wife, she is too darn good with this stuff.

Go to the National Archives smithsonian and email a copy to them, they will tell you for sure. Then you can make big bucks on it

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 08 Sep 11 - 08:23 PM

I think the sense of recognition may be due to a close resemblance to a current film/TV actor whose name escapes me. Not someone really well-known, but one of those guys who shows up in lots of films in lesser roles.

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: kendall
Date: 08 Sep 11 - 08:31 PM

He lived from 1820 to 1895. It's none of the ones suggested.

Possibly a composer?

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: michaelr
Date: 08 Sep 11 - 08:47 PM

I axed Virgil Cain and he axed his wife ("there goes Robert E. Lee!")

It's him fer sure.

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: Rapparee
Date: 08 Sep 11 - 09:07 PM

I think he's the in this movie.

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: Bobert
Date: 08 Sep 11 - 09:23 PM

Lets get real here, folks...

There was a time when people wanted these photos taken of themselves looking like they were kings or generals or barons or...

Back before my "Betty Ford" days I was a scavenger... I found (and still have) lots of pics like this... I mean, ordinary folks lookin' like kings or generals or barons...

This photo is way after Lee... I'd date it closer to 1900 based on the clothes... No matter... I doubt if anyone here is going to identify it...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: Ed T
Date: 08 Sep 11 - 09:26 PM

It could be Walt Whitman, not that there is anything wrong with that.

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: olddude
Date: 08 Sep 11 - 10:02 PM

Bobster in his sunday going to meetin cloths

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: Bobert
Date: 08 Sep 11 - 10:10 PM

Listen, ya'll... It ain't me...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: Rapparee
Date: 08 Sep 11 - 10:40 PM

I even put up a movie of who it is! Geez, don't you folks know Father Christmas when you see him?

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: GUEST,Guest from Sanity
Date: 08 Sep 11 - 11:00 PM

Bobert: "This photo is way after Lee... I'd date it closer to 1900 based on the clothes..."

But, he isn't going to tell you where he bought them!
(wink!)

GfS

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Sep 11 - 11:17 PM

I picked up the date (1870) at Wikipedia, my bad. Should have double checked. But I still think it's Lee.

Here's a portrait and another portrait.

Kendall, you may have a very important personal portrait of Lee there, so treat that photo with care.

Has it dawned on anyone to turn it over and see what it says on the back?

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: GUEST,Chongo Chimp
Date: 09 Sep 11 - 12:04 AM

It looks to me a lot like the missionary guy who was convertin' the heathen on the West coast of Central Africa back when I had just had took up work with the White traders in the early 20s. Reverend Creach was his name, Josiah Creach, and he was an okay guy as far as I could see. He was with the Presbyterian Church. He said we were all God's children and he never showed no prejudice against apes at all in that respect, so I gotta say he had my respect. Last I heard, though, he went into the interior of the country, got captured by some hostile Natives, and was cooked and et by them.

Damn shame. The same thing has happened to more than a few of my own relatives over the years. It's a jungle out there.

- Chongo

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: GUEST,Josepp
Date: 09 Sep 11 - 12:29 AM

Thought it might have been Elisha Gray but I guess not. Gray is the true inventor of the telephone and the founder of Western Electric which was originally called Gray & Barton Co. He also built the first true synthesizer in the 1870s and used it to invent "streaming."

http://history.graybar.com/images/1844-1925/1901_2.jpg

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: GUEST
Date: 09 Sep 11 - 12:49 AM

If the photo was found in a gramophone then it is likely to be of a composer, musician, conductor, singer, bandleader or some such. It is definitely not Robert E. Lee or Walt Whitman.

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 09 Sep 11 - 01:14 AM

A friend of mine who knows quite a lot about historical clothing (she sews costumes for re-enactors, historical site guides, etc.) says "between 1905-1912, most likely. The watch chain is a little older."

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 09 Sep 11 - 04:19 AM

Further to Guest of 12.49 a.m: that looks more like music manuscript in left hand than any other sort of reading matter, doesn't it?

~M~

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: Will Fly
Date: 09 Sep 11 - 04:33 AM

OK Dan - I confess. I posted the photo of myself to Jacqui and got her to hide it in the victrola - just to confuse the old devil (Kendall, that it). I can see it worked only too well...

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: GUEST,kendall
Date: 09 Sep 11 - 08:37 AM

All are wrong so far. Of course I checked the back! He was born in 1820 and died in 1895.

I too believe he is a composer and I know I've seen that face before. It's driving me SANE!

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: SINSULL
Date: 09 Sep 11 - 08:48 AM

Ask a silly question...
The photo was in the victrola when I purchased it at a yard sale on Long Island. I assumed it was of the man who originally owned the victrola. It is not Robert E Lee or Walt Whitman and it is definitelt not Kendall.
Maybe Bob Dylan????

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: kendall
Date: 09 Sep 11 - 08:56 AM

I will know the name when I hear it.

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: Rapparee
Date: 09 Sep 11 - 09:15 AM

George Frederick Root?

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: Rapparee
Date: 09 Sep 11 - 09:23 AM

Nicholas de Giers (Nikolay Karlovich Girs)?

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: Rapparee
Date: 09 Sep 11 - 09:27 AM

John Henry Brown?
Augustus Morris?
John Sharpe?
Frederich Engels?

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: olddude
Date: 09 Sep 11 - 10:23 AM

Mozart, yah that's it

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 09 Sep 11 - 10:27 AM

Any pub in a folk festival would be liable to have a bunch of possibles...

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: VirginiaTam
Date: 09 Sep 11 - 11:32 AM

Not Walt compare the eyelids (space between brow and eye) is much bigger on Walt.

I would say not Bell as wrong period of clothes given age of man in Kendall's photo. Besides Bell's forehead much longer and hair curlier / frizzier.

Man in Kendall's photo is dressed in Victorian gentleman clothing as shirt collar, silk waistcoat (see pattern) and pocket watch chain indicate. Took me some time to source that coat but I found this which might explain it Victorian frock coat? The way the front of subject's coat is not bunching up as he sits, I suspect it is short in front.

Men of a certain class tended to dress in weekday (business) best for photos. And if they deigned to have photo taken then they could afford to be dressed in the fashion of the day and usually did.

Just my take.

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: MGM·Lion
Date: 09 Sep 11 - 11:34 AM

That was a morning coat, not a frock coat, which was even-tailed all round like an indoor overcoat, not cutaway at waist but tailed like that in the picture.

~M~

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: Max
Date: 09 Sep 11 - 11:50 AM

Hmmm. Ran it through some hi-tech reverse photo searches with no results. I isolated the picture from kendall's shot, if that helps anyone or anything. (got laid off yesterday and apparently have too much free time)

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: VirginiaTam
Date: 09 Sep 11 - 12:19 PM

Perhaps it is a morning coat.

I don't know how that style coat drapes when one is seated. It does not appear to me to have the "university" or angled sloped front as above link shows. Though as the article on link above states there was some mixing of Frock and Morning coat styles going on by the 1850s.

Fascinating speculations this thread. I love studying costume.

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: open mike
Date: 09 Sep 11 - 12:37 PM

Sorry to hear that you were laid off, Max.
Too bad the newspaper is not visible in the foto...
we might be able to find some info on time or place...

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: kendall
Date: 09 Sep 11 - 01:39 PM

I'm so sorry, Max. I hope you find another real soon.

Folks, keep it in mind that he lived from 1820 to 1895. That eliminates all of the suggestions so far.

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: The Sandman
Date: 09 Sep 11 - 01:54 PM

john henry brown

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: Rapparee
Date: 09 Sep 11 - 01:56 PM

Nope. My recent suggestions, including Root and Engels, lived and died in that time frame.

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 09 Sep 11 - 02:07 PM

Kendall: You don't read carefully, do you?

George Frederick Root
Nicholas de Giers
John Henry Brown
Frederich Engels
all lived from 1820 to 1895.

I haven't identified Augustus Morris and John Sharpe, but I imagine Rapparee has determined that they lived from 1820 to 1895, and that's why he suggested them.

However, Wikipedia has pictures of the first 4, and I think they can all be eliminated based on their looks. See if you agree.

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 09 Sep 11 - 02:08 PM

I guess I cross-posted with Rapparee.

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: VirginiaTam
Date: 09 Sep 11 - 02:15 PM

Why does he have to be celebrity? I would at first discovery think it to be a photo of family member of or actual owner of the victrola. Talking about the clothes is way more interesting.

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: Rapparee
Date: 09 Sep 11 - 02:22 PM

TAKING away the clothes might be even more interesting. He might have a tattoo or something.

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: The Sandman
Date: 09 Sep 11 - 03:03 PM

lokat john henry browns eyes they are the same as yer wan

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: pdq
Date: 09 Sep 11 - 03:17 PM

John Henry Brown has larger ears, a balder head and a high bridge nose.

Their expression is similar but he is not the Mystery Man.

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: GUEST,The Length
Date: 09 Sep 11 - 03:59 PM

Hey, you will never know who this guy is, it is just a standard studio cabinet portrait, hundreds, if not thousands of these appear on ebay each year, all of them will remain anonymous.

Maybe this guy owned the Victrola, big deal. Maybe the Victrola was sold at an estate sale and some kid stuck the picture down the side of it.

All this, he looks like Jack or maybe Chuck, truth is, he could look like anyone you want him to, even your old granddaddy.

The guy maybe owned a liquor store or was a doctor, who knows. Bury him again in the Victrola and let him rest in peace.

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: olddude
Date: 09 Sep 11 - 04:30 PM

Ahab ... right before the whale nailed him ...

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: kendall
Date: 09 Sep 11 - 04:51 PM

Jim Dixon, it doesn't matter how well I read, I say again, I know this face and I will know his name when I hear it.

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: Barbara Shaw
Date: 09 Sep 11 - 05:00 PM

Here's a page full of composers who lived from 1820-1895. The nose looks like E.T. Paull, but several others on the page are also possibilities. My first thought on seeing the photo was Mark Twain, but the nose is wrong. (It's usually a clear indicator of identity, and only gets "moreso" with age...)

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: Rapparee
Date: 09 Sep 11 - 06:14 PM

I'm pretty sure it's Elvis.

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: Helen
Date: 09 Sep 11 - 06:17 PM

Kendall,

I immediately thought he was a composer, too. I had a bit of a Google on the image search for composers' portraits but no-one stood out. I feel I will know the name when he finally is identified.

Helen

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: Helen
Date: 09 Sep 11 - 06:26 PM

Try Googling images of:

"composers of the 19th Century"

etc

What about Giuseppe Verdi?

Helen

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: freda underhill
Date: 09 Sep 11 - 06:39 PM

George Clooney's grandpa..

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: SINSULL
Date: 09 Sep 11 - 07:05 PM

Captain,
One bit of strange advice: keep the photo in the Victrola. He is happy there.
SINS
PS Ask Jacqui. She may be able to explain. M

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: Janie
Date: 10 Sep 11 - 07:04 AM

A previous incarnation of Wild Bill Wichrowski?

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: Rapparee
Date: 10 Sep 11 - 11:50 AM

Frank Zappa!!

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: SINSULL
Date: 10 Sep 11 - 11:59 AM

Arturo Toscanini?

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: kendall
Date: 10 Sep 11 - 01:05 PM

Not even close, Sinsull. The dates don't match, and he looks nothing like the photo.

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 10 Sep 11 - 02:36 PM

It is Guiseppe Verdi.
Someone posted correctly above, give him/her the Golden Mudcat.

Compare with photo here:
Study

Also a photo at Wikipedia.

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 10 Sep 11 - 02:40 PM

Sorry. Squidoo

Composer study

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: Helen
Date: 10 Sep 11 - 05:16 PM

Ooh, the Golden Mudcat! I am so honoured. I'd like to thank Max and all Mudcatters for making this award possible, blah, blah, blah. :-D

Some of the pix of Verdi don't look like the mystery photo, but some do. The nose is similar, but I'm still in two minds about whether the face shape is right.

photos of Verdi

Helen

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: Rapparee
Date: 10 Sep 11 - 06:27 PM

Kendall -- it's not autographed by any chance, is it?

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: Helen
Date: 10 Sep 11 - 06:40 PM

On the link I posted to a collection of Verdi's photos, compare the 8th photo, i.e. second from left on second row from the top, to our mystery man. It's close, when you add a bit of extra flesh on the cheekbones, and make the beard white instead of black.

I think I'd put my money on it being Verdi. If that photo was common it would have been on the 'net, so maybe if it is validated, it might be a collector's item.


Helen

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: kendall
Date: 10 Sep 11 - 07:26 PM

You guys would make poor cops or eye witnesses. It is not Verdi.

Keep in mind that this man lived from 1820 to 1895. No way could he have composed before or after those dates.

Of course it's not autographed! Only the dates of his birth and death.

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: Rapparee
Date: 10 Sep 11 - 10:19 PM

Well, that would have made it a lot easier. Of course, the dates could also the incorrect or a note regarding someone else. But I do think I've seen that feller somewhere. As much as I'd like it to be a musician of some stripe, I still wonder if it might not be a late photo of F. Engels.

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: Barbara Shaw
Date: 10 Sep 11 - 10:38 PM

Looks a bit like Raymond Burr, maybe an ancestor of his. Also looks a lot like a musician I know named Jack Jolie, who lives in Maine and maybe Kendall thinks the photo looks familiar because he's run into Jack somewhere around Portland.

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: GUEST,Guest from Sanity
Date: 10 Sep 11 - 10:40 PM

100..Can you believe it?

GfS

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: wysiwyg
Date: 10 Sep 11 - 10:43 PM

It's Dick Greenhaus. A LOT of folks do not realize how long he has been on the planet!

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: Helen
Date: 11 Sep 11 - 12:37 AM

Kendall,

Did you tell us before that his birth & death dates were on the back of the photo? Or were you waiting for one of us to be smart enough to ask what was on the back of the photo? Proof: I'm not that smart! :-D

Try George F. Root, then.

Helen

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: kendall
Date: 11 Sep 11 - 11:16 AM

I did; to both.

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 11 Sep 11 - 01:18 PM

Friedrich Engels was born 1820, died 1895. One of those Marxist people. Have the investigators been asking about you? Should we keep you at arms length?

Johnny Walker was born 1820, but still going strong!

Q- is the date of back printed or in manuscript? If not printed, could have been added incorrectly at some time.

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: kendall
Date: 11 Sep 11 - 03:13 PM

Hand written.

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: kendall
Date: 11 Sep 11 - 03:17 PM

It's not Engels.
I'm wondering if it could be a famous author?

Mary, he will continue to live in the Victrola.

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: Allan C.
Date: 12 Sep 11 - 06:06 AM

I think there may be some reason the picture was included with the Victrola. Since there are few clues on the picture, I'm wondering if there are any on the Victrola, itself. Or, perhaps it is simply the Victrola that is the clue.

On the other hand, as I flipped through hundreds of such pictures in an antique store, a friend quipped, "Oh, look! Instant relatives! You could claim any of these and who would know?"

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: kendall
Date: 12 Sep 11 - 06:58 AM

He may well be the original owner, but what bugs me is he is so familiar.

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: SINSULL
Date: 12 Sep 11 - 08:40 AM

It's Captain Ahab out of uniform.

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: Lox
Date: 12 Sep 11 - 10:02 AM

So where did you get the box?

Where are you based (town, city)

Type those things in with the date and see what comes up.

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: Rapparee
Date: 12 Sep 11 - 10:18 AM

I think it's Kendall during his hippy youth.

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: topical tom
Date: 12 Sep 11 - 11:49 AM

It's obviously George Frederic Root ( or an older Uncle Dave Macon?).

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: kendall
Date: 12 Sep 11 - 12:01 PM

Not obvious to me. The dates don't quite match and the photos are not near the same.
I got the box from Sinsull, she knows the history of it.

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: TheSnail
Date: 12 Sep 11 - 12:22 PM

kendall

He may well be the original owner,

Not if he died in 1895. The Victor Talking Machine Company was founded in 1901 and the first Victrola marketed in 1906.
Read all about it - http://www.victor-victrola.com/index.html

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: GUEST,.gargoyle
Date: 12 Sep 11 - 01:06 PM

LONGFELLOW

Henry W. Longfellow

http://nzr.mvnu.edu/faculty/trearick/english/rearick/readings/authors/specific/longfellow_lrg.jpg

Sincerely,
Gargoyle

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: kendall
Date: 12 Sep 11 - 01:34 PM

There is a slight resemblance but the dates dont jibe

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 12 Sep 11 - 03:04 PM

If the dates are hand-written, forget them.

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: Rapparee
Date: 12 Sep 11 - 08:07 PM

It's my great-great-great uncle Wilhelm. We called him Willie because it annoyed him. That's his toilet paper he's holding: the picture was taken when he had a bad case of the Portland Quick-Step.

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: GUEST,TIA
Date: 13 Sep 11 - 10:01 AM

I did a digital overlay of the mystery man and several of the Verdi's. Much better match than similar test with Longfellow (but only one photo, so not statistically significant).

But all that may means is that mystery man looks a bit like Verdi.

The chances are vanishingly small that it is an actual famous person. A search on ebay for "antique photographs" yields 354 pages of results. Many of these have the description NUDE FRENCH BIG BUTT, but many seem to be similar style and vintage.

Still a great find and a fun mystery.

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: SINSULL
Date: 13 Sep 11 - 12:07 PM

Oh TIA. I wish you hadn't mentioned the big butt. Now they'll be hounding you for a link and that will trigger...

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 13 Sep 11 - 12:59 PM

Don't need a link. Most of us know how to search Ebay for fun things.....

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: GUEST,Kendall
Date: 14 Sep 11 - 07:58 AM

Sinsull could be right, first owner of the machine, but he looks so familiar!

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: pdq
Date: 14 Sep 11 - 11:22 AM

Giuseppe Verdi was agreat composer but he had a beak like a buzzard.

The Mystery Man ain't him.

Longfellow, as suggested by Gargoyle, is really a close match.

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: kendall
Date: 14 Sep 11 - 04:43 PM

Close, but no cigar.

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: Rapparee
Date: 14 Sep 11 - 05:13 PM

I think the guy was Kendall's best friend when Kendall was growing up.

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: Seamus Kennedy
Date: 14 Sep 11 - 05:35 PM

Iris actor Noel Purcell.

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: Rapparee
Date: 14 Sep 11 - 10:34 PM

Noel Purcell has acted the part of an iris? Now THAT'S good acting!

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: pdq
Date: 14 Sep 11 - 10:43 PM

Iris is in the eye of the beholder.

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: TIA
Date: 14 Sep 11 - 11:44 PM

He does look damn familiar. But don't we all?

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: Lox
Date: 15 Sep 11 - 07:19 AM

"the Portland Quick-Step"


Funny!!

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: kendall
Date: 15 Sep 11 - 08:49 AM

Iris you would stick to the subject.

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: gnu
Date: 15 Sep 11 - 07:15 PM

Fascinating, really. Intriguing. Excellent thread, albeit, unintended as such.

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: kendall
Date: 16 Sep 11 - 04:27 PM

I guess it's time to let it die.

Subject: RE: BS: Can anyone ID this man?
From: frogprince
Date: 16 Sep 11 - 05:18 PM

Look, let's get real here; we know what the law says, but this guy is obviously well over 21. Stop worrying about IDing him, let him buy the bottle.