mustaches

Love this image... and I can't quite put into words why exactly. It feels like it could have been posed yesterday for some overly presumptuous band promo-photo. The cliche props... everyone looking slightly away from the camera but in their own "lost" kind of way.

This photograph is feintly captioned "LANE COVE 1896" perhaps it may be 1895. The beer bottles have labels "The Royal Ale" and "Bernard's Edinburgh - India Pale Ale" enclosing a photograph of His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales, later to be His Majesty Edward VII. The chap on the left appears to have "LOO-E" written on the band of his hat. Using the zoom function at the Persistent URL, I daresay the man at the far right in this photograph is the same man at the far right in the boat here: www.flickr.com/photos/powerhouse_museum/3072377799/

Well done Lifeasdaddy, that zoom fn on the persistent URL is brilliant, here I was trying to decipher the print with a magnifying glass! www.archiveshub.ac.uk/apr02.shtml The original Looe of course is a fishing port in Cornwall, and given the location and slightly nautical headgear, could it be the name of their boat?

I did not even know there is an original Looe.

These glass plates are just so amazing. So sharp and beautiful. I love seeing these glass negatives in person.

nice hair

Every contemporary with a hand camera should bow before this icon because it was Stieglitz who made our work more than a hobby, but an art.

Elliott Cowdin, Norman Prince, William Thaw were among the American aviators who were part of the Lafayette Escadrille, an all-American squadron for the French air service: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lafayette_Escadrille Thaw: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Thaw_%28aviator%29 Prince (died 1916): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Prince

This is probably taken on their arrival on 12/23/15 in New York aboard the Holland-America liner Rotterdam for a short holiday leave. An account here: select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0B14FE3B5B1773...

Elliott C. Cowdin: ralph.smith.angelfire.com/Flying_Corps/Pilots/ElliottCowd... Art Siegel True, this photo is certainly taken at this occasion, see New-York tribune., December 24, 1915, Page 2 or Omaha daily bee., December 28, 1915, Image 1, with similar photos.

Apparently, the publicity generated by the visit of these 3 American fliers was a major catalyst in forming the Lafayette Escadrille (Escadrille Américaine) and the Lafayette Flying Corps in 1916. Here's an account of Cowdin's life with more information about the importance of the event pictured here:

"In December of 1915 Cowdin and fellow countrymen Norman Prince and William Thaw were granted a month's permission to America. They arrived in New York on 23 December aboard the SS Rotterdam. Their furlough, though intended as "a short rest", furthered the cause for an American squadron when the Government of France realized the interest the three American volunteers had created during their visit to the United States. The pilots became the focus of the eastern press who doggedly pursued them in spite of their reluctance to speak of their duties. Both sides of the European War seized upon the press coverage: the Allied supporters citing the flyers' example in a plea for America's intervention, while German sympathizers condemned their participation as a violation of U.S. neutrality and demanded their internment. Upon their return to France, the three Americans' desire to form an all-American squadron was enhanced as the French Government realized that just such an organization would be useful in galvanizing America's sympathy for their cause."
rdisa.pagesperso-orange.fr/html/Pages/Elliot%20Cowdin%20E...


See also:

Thanks to all of you for your excellent research. We'll straighten out the names in the caption and add some of this information to both records the next time we update.