TWO (2) ALBUMS OF VERNACULAR PHOTOGRAPHS BY AN AFFLUENT AMERICAN FAMILY WHO FREQUENTED ATLANTIC CITY & OCEAN GROVE, NEW JERSEY, CIRCA 1911 [probably spanning two or three years]. de New Jersey / DuHamel Family - 1911

1911. Original photograph albums. Leather / Cloth. Very Good. These albums contain 396 fine, original images depicting members of the DuHamel family who built themselves a large stone mansion and spent their summers at Atlantic City and Ocean Grove, NJ beaches in the decade before World War I. Numerous views taken in A.C. include local landmarks, especially around the Virginia Avenue area, including the Sothern Hotel, The Majestic Inn, The Hotel Morton, Adams Baths, &c. as well as scenes taken on the beaches and boardwalks. No picture captions, although one has “Christmas 1911” written on the verso. The photographs are generally in fine condition, housed in two large-quarto photo- albums, one leatherbound, one clothbound, 10" x 12.5".

Album #1. Black cloth, containing 198 b&w 3.5" x 3.5" photographs, positioned on 25 two-sided gray leaves, each with four die-cut windows. Includes many photographs of several generations of family members, especially children, all dressed in period Edwardian style, often complete with elaborate hats, parasols, etc. In addition to views of horseback-riding and horse-drawn vehicles (carriage, sleigh) and their occupants, there are also photos of a man and woman wearing “dusters” and posing in front of their automobile, and a shot of two children’s faces peering out porthole-style back windows of the family car. Along with pictures taken in the family’s home and yard or on the porch, are numerous beach scenes, including: two women strolling the boardwalk under full-size umbrellas; family members, fully dressed, seated or standing on the sand; &c. A number of shots document a family visit to the falls (Niagara?), and a lake where they went rowing. ~~ Album #2. Blackpebble-grain leather, also containing 198 b&w 3.5" x 3.5" photographs on 25 gray leaves with die-cut windows, Includes more multi-generational photographs of family members, this time including a one of an African-American nanny holding a family baby, and also one of a woman who appears to be the family cook or housekeeper standing on the porch of the DuHamel homestead. The children are elaborately dressed in the Edwardian style, and these views include several children’s toys: a mini-riding “automobile”; a pull-toy horse-on-wheels; a lawn swing-set; and a rocking horse. There is also a photo of an “igloo” built on the lawn after a snow. A number of pictures depict various stages of the construction of the family’s large stone house, including masons at work, scaffolding, foundations being laid, workmen pulling in concert on a heavy rope, etc. Still other photographs include automobiles of the day. As in Album #1, many beach scenes are present. Album #2 closes somberly with photographs of a young child playing at the bases of several large cemetery monuments incised with the DuHamel name. [The 1920 US Census finds DuHamel family members in Atlantic County, New Jersey at the time, leaving room for a genealogist or historian to identify the people in these albums.]