An Album of Wonderful Photographs of Groups of Actors at Home & On Stage Mugging for the Camera, c 1900, probably Pennsylvania

The people in these photos knew how to have a good time and you can tell they enjoyed acting as much as they did posing for the camera. Whoever took the photos did a great job with early flash photography as most of them seem to have been taking indoors at night.

The men, women, and sometimes children in the images wear a variety of costumes, masks, face paint, and wigs. One recurring theme seems to be the "King of Hobes" [Hoboes?]. There are photos of people singing, with instruments, crossdressing, a mock wedding, of 'maids', and, as was common in this era, people wearing blackface.

The back of the album has some photos of local towns, including of a flood. All in all, there are some really incredible photos.

Since I purchased this in Pennsylvania and there is a sign in one of the photos for the Philadelphia and Ready Telegraph Co, I'm assuming the location is central PA.

The album binding is worn and some pages have split from it. That said, most of the photos are in fine condition. A few have come unglued on a corner or two. Most of the photos are are the same brown tone, although some in the back are printed in gray tones.