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An original 7x3.5" antique photo (NOT a modern reprint) from a set of photos from a Midwest family in 1908 that we acquired in a large lot. Likely one of a kind image.
Photo Overview
A charming 1908 snapshot of a two-story frame house in Marion, Indiana, identified in the handwritten caption as the home of Mrs. Nickle\'s father and mother. The image shows a modest Midwestern residence with a covered upper porch featuring decorative lattice work, a gabled entry, and a large shade tree dominating the foreground. The photograph is mounted on a black album page with the caption written in careful cursive script beside it.
This photo comes from a Midwest family collection acquired as a cohesive lot, making it a likely one-of-a-kind surviving image of this specific Marion, Indiana property and the Nickle family who lived there.
Historical Notes
Marion, Indiana in 1908 was a thriving Grant County seat and industrial center, home to glass factories, paper mills, and a growing middle class whose modest frame homes lined its residential streets. The Nickle family home depicted here represents the everyday domestic architecture of small-city Indiana at the turn of the century - a two-story clapboard house with decorative porch elements that was typical of the era\'s aspirational working and middle class. Marion would go on to become known historically as the hometown of James Dean, born there in 1931, and the city\'s residential neighborhoods of this era have largely been transformed or demolished over the succeeding century, making photographs like this one valuable records of the built environment that no longer survives.
Text Present
Front of photo (handwritten in white ink on black album border, right side, rotated):
"Mrs. Nickle\'s father\'s and mother\'s house Marion, Indiana"
Date written at lower right of album border: "1908"
Back of photo: Plain dark surface, no text visible.
Print analysis
This appears to be an original silver gelatin or early silver chloride contact print from 1908, mounted on a black album page. The photographic style, paper tone, and mounting method are entirely consistent with amateur photography of the 1908 period. This is a Type 1 original photograph, made at or very near the time the image was captured.
Condition
Please see photos for condition. In fair to good vintage condition.
