#PB37
Ca. 1912
Oblong Folio (ca. 27.5 x 36 cm or 10 ¾ x 14 in). 38 black paper leaves (22 blank). 99 gelatin silver photographs ca. 13 x 7.5 cm (5 ¼ x 3 in). Period black faux leather album with gilt-tooled title and compiler’s name. Covers and spine mildly rubbed on extremities, spine neatly repaired on hinges; several mounts with minor tears not affecting images; a few photos mildly faded or with mild silvering, but overall a very good album of interesting photos.
A collection of 99 original gelatin silver photographs compiled by one J.H. Fallon of his 1912 cruise touring Cuba, Panama, and Jamaica.
The album shows the construction of the Panama Canal and railroad; workers’ lodgings; typical Panamanian huts; the Panama Railroad Company’s Pier 4; and street scenes of Panama City, with signs for “The Normandie” that advertise “free moving pictures,” a barbershop, and “sanitary hot baths.” Of Cuba, it shows Parque Central in Havana with the monument to José Mart; the Mausoleum of the Firefighters in Colon Cemetery; docked boats in a harbour; and one street scene with a sign reading “White Rock, la mejor acua [the best water].” Three photos are street scenes of Kingston, Jamaica—two feature a tramcar to Hope Botanical Gardens.
Other photographs in the album show men, possibly including the compiler, posing with young sugarcane; ships in harbours; tropical views of rivers, mountainsides, and gardens; and snapshots from on board a cruise ship.
Overall, an interesting collection of original, amateur photographs showing Panama, Cuba, and Jamaica in the early 20th century.
