Ca. 209 loose original photographs, including 208 gelatin silver photos, with most images ca. 8,3x10,9 cm (3 ¼ x 4 ¼ in) and nine smaller ones ca. 6,5x8,8 cm (2 ½ x 3 ½ in), and one cyanotype ca. 8,1x10,7 cm (3 ¼ x 4 ¼ in); with a 1927 Newfoundland Company Railway & Steamship System Timetable & Map ca. 45,4x67,3 cm (18 x 26 ½ in) folded into twelve compartments; one 1927 SS Farnorth First Class ticket ca. 10,2x15,1 cm (4 x 6 in); two 1927 SS Kyle First class tickets ca. 6,5x7,9 cm (2 ½ x 3 in); and two real photo postcards ca. 8,8x13,7 cm (3 ½ x 5 ½ in), including one with period ink inscription on the verso. Most photos with period pencil captions on the verso. About seven photos curled at the edges, one photo with fold marks and a small hole, two small tickets rubbed, the Newfoundland Co. brochure with small holes at the edges and age-toned, but otherwise a very good collection.

Historically interesting collection of lively vernacular photographs taken by Whitney Morse Frye (ca. 1891-1961), director of Frye’s Measure Mill (Wilton, New Hampshire), during his voyage from Boston to Newfoundland and Labrador in the summer of 1927. Frye departed from Massachusetts on board the SS Farnorth on July 2, arriving in St. John’s, Newfoundland, by July 10. From the capital, he boarded the coastal boat SS Kyle to journey north toward Labrador. His itinerary along the Labrador coast included stops at major ports and settlements, including Battle Harbour, Spotted Islands, Cartwright, Rigolet, and Indian Harbour. On August 9, Frye traveled further north via the SS Kyle to the Moravian mission station at Hopedale, visiting St. Anthony, Corner Brook, Placentia, etc.

Whitney Frye was an engineer and manufacturer educated at Phillips Exeter Academy, Dartmouth College, and the Lowell Textile Institute. In 1909, at the age of twenty, he assumed control of a woodenware factory in Wilton, New Hampshire, which later became known as Frye’s Measure Mill. Over more than fifty years as its director, he modernized production, expanded the mill’s traditional output of grain measures, and devised an innovative hydroelectric system that generated power for both the factory and his residence. Today, the site survives as the Daniel Cragin Mill, and was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

The collection contains ca. 209 excellent photographs, including at least forty identified photos of Newfoundland Island. Sixteen early views of the capital, St. John’s, show general views, the port and dense coastline with clearly visible signs of local businesses (“Farquhar & Co,” “Queen’s Hotel,” “N & Smth,” “The Standard Manufacturing Co.,” etc), and local landmarks (Cabot Tower, old powder house, remains of a hospital, etc.). An interesting photo from St. John’s features a local girl drawing water from a lion-head hydrant. The image is accompanied by a note on the verso explaining that much of the city’s water supply in the early 20th century was obtained from such sources. Other identified photographs depict Placentia (aerial views, street scenes, and a local church), Brigus (a fishing stage and wharf), Corner Brook (including an aerial view and the railway line to Port aux Basques), St. Anthony (general views, street scenes, a dormitory, and the new hospital), and various locations across Newfoundland, including the west coast, harbors, and bays.

Over fifty-five well-executed photos show Labrador, with at least thirteen early photographs of the Hopedale Moravian Mission. At the time, the Mission served as a critical medical, educational, and spiritual hub for the Inuit and local settler populations. The images portray the sparse coastline, wooden Esquimaix houses, and the interior of the Mission. Especially interesting are the lively vernacular photographs of Inuits in traditional attire posing for photographs, showing off the fish catch, holding children, preparing food, standing by wooden komatik, etc. Other identified photos mostly show Indian Harbor summer fishing station (general views, Mission building, cemetery, etc.), Rigolet (Hudson Bay Co., deck), Cartwright (harbor with SS Kyle and SS Bayrupert), Spotted Islands (general view, Mission boat), Hudson Bay Co., cemetery, monument of John Cartwright), Battle Harbor (coast, missioners descending from a boat), and Labrador City (coast).

About twenty-five candid photographs (including close-up portraits) depict Newfoundland and Labrador natives in traditional clothes posing by their huts, in boats, preparing food, as well as local fishermen coming ashore, sailing with their catch, or smiling for group photographs. Four additional photographs portray the compiler’s travel companions, including several portraits and a group photograph of passengers aboard the SS Kyle.

The other photographs from the collection mostly show Halifax (general views with signs of local businesses “Used Car Bargains,” “Canadian Chocolate,” citadel, pier 21, public garden) shortly before the 1927 hurricane; Cape Harrison, Hamilton River (today Churchill), Kenemich River, SS Bayrupert before and after its wreckage, Muskrat Fall, SS Farnorth, and other topographical views.

The collection is supplemented by a 1927 Newfoundland Company Railway & Steamship System Timetable & Map, SS Farnorth First Class ticket for 1927, SS Kyle tickets for 1927, and two period real photo postcards, including one inscribed on the verso by the compiler.

Overall, historically interesting collection of lively vernacular photographs taken during a voyage from Boston to Newfoundland and Labrador in the summer of 1927.