re: Pictures from days gone by....

A couple years ago I caught a plane in ATL and as I approached the last few gates on the concourse I started seeing dozens of large framed vintage photographs on the walls. I was so amazed by the quality of the images that I went from photo to photo closely examining each one, in my near-sightedness sometimes rudely leaning over seated passengers waiting to board their flights. (Damn, beginning to wax poetic like TulaneLSU).

They were taken in Georgia about 1895 to 1920 by a photographer named Cicero Simmons, who documented one-room schoolhouses, blacksmith shops, trains, baptisms, children and farm workers including entire families picking cotton and harvesting peanuts. The images were produced from one thousand glass plate negatives that someone discovered at an estate auction. He and another bidder competed until he realized that the other person only wanted the crates containing the glass. He had to learn a complex process to make the images, but the resolution was astounding to me considering the time period - 24" to 30" with no loss of resolution. The actual-size print of the "Peanut Girl" is one of the most fascinating vintage images I have seen. Regret that I can only find some thumbnails.