Monday, January 27, 2020

A Crowd Gathered in Milan in the 1890s (Mystery Photo)



In the late 1890s, amateur photographers from Milan, F.T. Cooke and K.P. Ruggles, took photographs of a crowd gathering to hear someone speak in front of an electric railway car. There was no information accompanying the original picture as to the people in the scene, or the reason for the gathering. The man speaking at the time was moving when the picture was taken, so his face is blurred. Several other men are sitting nearby on the speakers' platform.


As was the custom of the time, almost all the people were wearing hats. The ladies’ dresses were floor length. The streetcar was part of the Sandusky, Milan & Norwalk Electric Railway line that was in operation at that time. Frank T. Cooke moved from Milan to Oberlin, where he became an agent for the Eastman Kodak Company. Mr. Cooke worked as a photo finisher at the A.G. Comings and Son bookstore for several years. If anyone has more details about this scene from Milan, please leave a message in the comments section of this post.

Edit: If you look closely particularly at the second image you could see portraits of men, draped in bunting, suggesting that this might be a political rally of some sort. William McKinley ran for Governor in 1891 and President in 1896, but the visible portraits do not show his face. Could he be the blurred-faced man speaking? We don't know, but have some doubts.
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5 comments:

  1. Tina ShowalterWednesday, January 29, 2020 at 12:27:00 AM EST

    Could it have been Garret Hobart, Mckinley's running mate and future VP?https://images.app.goo.gl/uFfFk68L1tMSkNqW8

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  2. Tina ShowalterWednesday, January 29, 2020 at 12:34:00 AM EST

    If you take a look on the far left of the photo, Hobart is on the poster hanging there. One of the men on the platform is wearing a political ribbon on his shirt as well, such as when Presidential candidates were in town.

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  3. Sandusky Library Archives Research CenterWednesday, January 29, 2020 at 2:41:00 PM EST

    I think you are correct about the picture of Hobart, but it is hard to say anything certain about the blurred man speaking, unfortunately.

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  4. AnonymousWednesday, January 29, 2020 at 5:36:00 PM EST

    The September 12, 1896 has an article about large gatherings of the McKinley and Hobart Clubs in both Sandusky and Milan. There were parades, musical numbers, and speakers all in support of McKinley and Hobart for the upcoming Presidential election.

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  5. AnonymousThursday, February 20, 2020 at 8:11:00 PM EST

    Definitely political. There is so much bunting and flags flying everywhere.

    ReplyDelete