Treasure Chest Thursday - Tintype from 1875

Ever since I was a young child, I have always felt there is something magical about opening "treasure boxes." My mom had one, filled with all kinds of treasures, like a bottle of my grandmother's favorite perfume, a "hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil" carved statuette, coins from faraway places, and shark's teeth from Saudi Arabia.

My dad has one too, although his is a huge old beer stein instead of a box - I remember there was my grandfather's key chain, complete with old fobs, "years of service" pins from Calcite stone quarry, old coins, and a pocket watch.

Last time I was home visiting, I went to see my grandmother. She knew about all the research I was doing and had gotten out my great grandma Betty (Gram) Randall's box of old photos and other mementos she had held onto throughout her 90 years.

I opened the worn old box delicately, afraid to touch anything, though I was so excited I wanted to tear through it like a 5 year old opening a Christmas present.

One of the most magical items I found was a tintype, an early type of photography produced by creating a direct positive on a sheet of iron metal that is blackened by painting, laquering or enamelling and is used as a support for a collodion photographic emulsion. (wikipedia)

This type of photography peaked in popularity at the end of the Civil War so I knew I was looking at something very, very old. It turned out the photo was the wedding photo of my great great great grandparents, Tiffin A. Gross and Laura Gearhart of Springfield, Ohio. They were married on August 18, 1875 when she was 21 and he was a mere 16 years old.

In observing their body language, I was struck by how awkward and unsure the young pair seems to be. The distance between them, Tiffin's averted gaze, Laura's hands folded nervously on the edge of her new husband's chair while her muted smile suggests a little hesitance in her new role as a young wife. I am sure this is common of marriages of that period, when people had very little contact with each other before marriage. They were probably barely getting to know one another when this photo was taken, though they were soon to be or just married.

Tiffin and his father were rather notable undertakers in Springfield, so I had always been very intrigued by him and could not believe I was holding in my hand a tin photograph of him that was over 130 years old. There is something about holding an original, very old photograph that makes your ancestors tangible - so real you could almost reach out and touch them. There were many other interesting photos in the box, which I'll surely be sharing on future Thursdays, but this one was by far my favorite.