ORANGE MASSACHUSETTS FAMILY PHOTO ALBUM WITH BOY SCOUTS, GIRL SCOUTS, CAMP SETON, LAKE WYOLA, LAKE MATTAWA, BASEBALL & WORLD WAR I HOME FRONT, 1914–1917

Item #1678

Album measuring approximately 7.25" x 10", gray cloth boards stamped “Photographs” in gilt, containing about 235 original photographs mounted to black paper leaves. The family was from Orange, Massachusetts, and many photographs are captioned in white ink. Nothing appears to be missing, and the final few pages are unused.

A strong and well-captioned early-20th-century Massachusetts family and community album, with excellent youth, scouting, lake, camp, and town-life content. Identified locations include Orange, Lake Mattawa, Lake Wyola, Wendell, West Orange, Camp Seton, Long Pond or Laurel Lake, and 237 North Main Street. The album includes the Orange Boat Club Regatta, August 22, 1914; a Boy Scout outing at Camp Seton, Lake Wyola, August 8–15; Daisy Troop Girl Scouts at Lake Mattawa, October 1–3, 1915; Camp Seton at Lake Wyola, July 30–August 5, 1916; and a Boy Scout parade on July 4, 1916.

Particularly appealing are the large group photographs, including Boy Scouts at Camp Seton, Troop 2 of Orange, Massachusetts posed indoors beneath flags and bunting, Girl Scouts at camp, young women at Lake Mattawa, and a “surprise party” of girls and boys dated February 29, 1916. The album also includes boating, canoeing, swimming, camp cooking, woodland picnics, human pyramids, comic outdoor scenes, baseball and athletic portraits, a soda fountain/interior party scene, and rural lake and landscape views. One notable image shows a man reading a newspaper with the headline “GERMANY FORMALLY ASKS FOR PEACE WITH THE ALLIES,” giving the later portion of the album a World War I home-front context.

Many individuals are identified, including members of the Harrington, Evans, Putnam, Cheney, French, Duke, Welcome, Haydon, Bellows, White, Weymouth, and other families. The album has especially good appeal for collectors of Massachusetts local history, Orange and Franklin County material, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts history, early women’s outdoor recreation, youth culture, vernacular photography, and World War I-era home-front life.

Photographs generally good, with some fading and silvering as expected; a few images are light or faded. Mounted throughout. Album covers show rubbing, wear, and light fraying at corners and edges. Black paper leaves have typical edge wear, small chips, and occasional short tears, but the album appears complete.

Price: $795.00