splash

This is a very interesting photograph. How did the youth get to his position without getting his clothes unduly wet? What is he doing there in a suit, collar, necktie and bowler hat? His suit jacket is too large for him, he is holding it closed with overlapping front to disguise this fact. So, it was probably not his. The branch below his feet was probably the route he used to climb into position without crossing the surrounding streams. The branch has also probably been sawn the tree just above his head and the stump of same diameter is above and to the left of his head. The photographer and subject have put a good deal of work into creating this photograph. See discussion about the location of this photograph in the Tyrell Today group here: www.flickr.com/groups/684897@N24/discuss/72157605325032056/ See a present day comparison photograph of this location in the Tyrell Today group here: www.flickr.com/photos/powerhouse_museum_photography/26152...

Oh, and I just noticed that Henry King gives it a title, "MOSSMANS BAY FALLS" which matches the idiosyncratic spelling which Charles Bayliss used here: nla.gov.au/nla.pic-vn3297333 as opposed to the "Mosman" Bay Falls of the caption here on Flickr.

That's what I thought you were doing.

ADDED: I've just discovered by clicking through to your collection database via the persistent URL that in this isolated case the original spelling has not been retained there. "85/1285-3 Glass negative, full plate, 'Mosmans Bay Falls', Henry King, Sydney, Australia, c. 1880-1900" Nowhere currently in the rest of the online record text is the original spelling "Mossmans bay" retained. The reason I returned here to make another comment was to make a case for both spellings accompanying the image. The reason is it makes for deeper and more worthwhile results when searching Picture Australia for comparison and contemporary images. The result with "mossmans bay" is this: www.pictureaustralia.org/apps/pictureaustralia?term1=moss... (for a total 13 images) and the result with "mosman bay" is this: www.pictureaustralia.org/apps/pictureaustralia?term1=mosm... (for a total 155 images) Both very worthwhile, but very different results. The former helps me to find comparison images quickly. The latter, while encompassing the few images comparison images in which I'm interested, also inculdes more than 140 in which I am not. Apart from that indexing matter, historically it's Interesting to note that "Mossman's Bay" was obviously a commonly used term of the 1800's which is now not used. It also made its' way onto maps: nla.gov.au/nla.map-rm1278

Holala il est courageux!!!!

Bio of Frank "Bert" Harriman: www.hsgct.org/industry.htm

Alameda, California, is known as The Island City, in San Francisco Bay. Scandalous abbreviated bathing costumes (skirtless) were in the news back then. This lady was arrested for wearing one:

sexy outfits............

This was at The Cottage Baths at Neptune Beach, Alameda CA. It was established in 1917 so that makes this photo a touch latter then notated above. "Neptune Beach was an amusement park on the shore of San Francisco Bay in the city of Alameda, California. The park was served by the Southern Pacific Transportation Company and ferries from San Francisco. It operated from 1917 until it closed in 1939. Opened in 1917, Neptune Beach occupied a beach front zone now known as Crab Cove and was originally owned by the Strehlow family. Admission to the park was a dime. The park was described as a place for private picnics, with a clubhouse for dancing, and barbecue pits. The Cottage Baths were vacation cottages, available for rent. There were dances on Friday and Saturday night." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neptune_Beach_(California)

The bather wearing the ALAMEDA swimsuit is my Grandmother, Nell Schmidt, the first woman to swim across the bay from Alameda to San Francisco. She is now honored in the International Swimming Hall of Fame.

Thanks for identifying your grandmother in the photo! We'll add this information to the catalog record.