An Examination of Five Occupational Photos

The common people in 19th Century America worked hard. Often, the way thy behaved or dressed was affected by their line of work. Tradesmen were proud of their hard work as well. That is why occupational photographs were popular with working-class Americans before the Civil War. Here is an examination of four of those photos from the Library of Congress. These images are all 1850's and they all show the common man's pride for his work.

This image shows a carpenter with his various tools. He is wearing a white work shirt with a large collar, which he wears down over a cravat or kerchief. Such work shirts were commonly worn by tradesmen in 19th Century America as a rugged, practical garment. These shirts were not worn with braces and commonly fit more loosely that regular shirts. This carpenter appears to be wearing hickory or jean cloth trowsers. A small chair sits beside him (possibly some of his work) and a plane and two chizels sxit on top of it. The carpenter wears a low-crowned straw hat with a wide band around it. He has a close-cropped beard of the style that was popular fo young and middle-aged men in the 1850's and 1860's. In his hands, he holds a hammer and a small cut nail. This man makes his profession very evident in his portrait by displaying his tools.

This daguerrotype shows a traveling salesman displaying his wares. He holds two palletes filled with books, pencils, hairbrushes, and other various items (pomade?). A small japanned conical object in the center of the lower pallette is possibly a small child's trumpet. The salesman wears a paletot coat and two straps over his shoulders for carrying his peddler's trunks. Under his coat, the salesman wears a shawl-collar vest (possibly silk) with covered buttons. Around his neck is a black cravat. His hair is parted on the right side and slicked backwards. It also appears that he is wearing a pocket watch (a small chain is visible to the left of his fourth button down). This man was probably a door to door peddler such as the one in this photograph:

This peddler is quite similar to the other one. He is very well dressed in a frock coat and has a cravat on. In this photograph, his trunks can be clearly seen with the japanning being worn off. Both salesmen are displaying their "tools of the trade", but there are some major differences between them and some other tradespeople of the time period. One thing that is very noticeable is that both salesmen are fairly well dressed, which probably means that they made a little bit better living than a common tradesman (they also needed to be well dressed for their job).

This image shows a surveyor and all of his equipment. Surveyors made good money in the 19th century for their work, partially because surveying required a great deal of education as opposed to some other occupations. Behind him is a transit on a tripod. He his holding a map and a set of calipers. He wears a dark wool sack coat and an off-white shawl collar vest underneath it. A simple black cravat is around his neck. Like other occupational photos, this man is displaying his tools with pride for his line of work.

Two teamsters and their oxen standing in front of a wooden fence or barn wall appear in this image. Both of the teamsters are wearing large smocks with pockets on the front. These garments are fairly unusual. Both are wearing oilcloth mechanic's caps and high riding boots. The one on the left holds a crop in his hand. The oxen are yoked and prepared to go. This image is fairly unusual for an occupational photo. It is large and taken outdoors. Most are taken inside and show only the torso of the subject. Obviously, these two teamsters wanted to show their oxen as well as themselves.

As different from one another as all of the trades and occupations in the 19th century were, one thing that everyone was familiar with was photography. Photography allowed tradesmen to show pride in their occupation. Today, they provide a valuable resource to researchers looking for the way a person with a specific way of life would have looked.

Comments

[Sandy]

Great post! I found the ones about the traveling salesmen to be especially interesting. Great photos, too!

[william]

Thanks. There are hundreds more just like those in the collection of the Library of Congress. Also, the gallery at www.daguerre.com is fascinating.