Cultural Images
Jeffers and Wardwell, "Amateur Photographers"
Two Jeffers and Wardwell circa 1890s Outdoor Cabinet Photographs of Shoreline Buildings In & Around Swampscott, Massachusetts
Both Views Appear to be of Swampscott, Including Fisherman's Beach Looking Towards the Shoreline and the Other Showing Buildings Above the Sea Wall
$50
Item Details
Swampscott, MA, Jeffers and Wardwell, photographers, circa 1890s
VG+
[PHOTOGRAPHS – CABINET VIEWS] [MASSACHUSETTS – SWAMPSCOTT] Jeffers and Wardwell, photographers. Two circa 1890s outdoor cabinet photographs of shoreline buildings in or around Swampscott, MA with the imprint on the reverse of each of Jeffers and Wardwell, Amateur Photographers. 68 Humphrey Street, Swampscott, Mass.
Overall dimension of each cabinet photo is 4.25 x 6.5 inches; images laid down on dark purple mounts with lightly deckled edges and the photographers’ imprint in faded gilt on the reverse. The imprint also has lines to be filled in by hand for image title, series and negative number. The handwritten title of the photo showing a bay with a dingy in the foreground is almost readable, perhaps “Fisherman’s Beach”? And, it may be Series C, No. 168. We cannot make out the title of the other photo showing buildings above a seawall, but it appears to be from Series C, No. 48. Although a little light in contrast, the photo images show good detail. VG+ condition. [16-1510/1511]
Several East Coast institutions have images by Jeffers and Wardwell, but they appear to be quite scarce. Institutional cataloging of Jeffers and Wardwell images usually give a circa date of the 1890s, a period when Swampscott was heavily visited by tourists. One reference online suggests that Jeffers was also a pharmacist with a drugstore on Humphrey Street in Swampscott. The Wardwell family is an old Swampscott family name. S. W. Wardwell built the Lincoln House hotel/resort on Phillips Point in the early 1800s to accommodate the increase in tourists. He and his brothers managed the hotel for many years. Drugstores have long been associated with photographers and photo processing and hotel owners were amenable to having their community being advertised through the medium of photography. The partnership between a Jeffers and a Wardwell as “Amateur Photographers” and publishers of Swampscott scenery and buildings seems very reasonable.
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