Curiosity in early 20th c. hand-coloured photographs by “Harris” has been rising in modern several years, in particular in Harris’s Florida scenes. Nevertheless I will wager that most collectors don’t even know Harris’s very first title, permit on your own everything about his qualifications.
We experienced no details on Harris ourselves until many many years ago when we talked about Harris in a preceding write-up and requested viewers to source us with any acknowledged data. As a final result we received an short article on Harris postcards, and an short article that experienced been published on Harris by the St. Augustine Historical Society in 1991, both of those of which lose significant mild on the hand-colored images career of William James Harris.
William James Harris (1868-1940) was born on October 12, 1868 in Herefordshire, England. His family members emigrated to America in 1870, settling in the Wilkes Barre, PA area. Regarded in his youth as both of those “Will” and “Willie“, by age 20 he apprenticed less than a area photographer. Within just a person year he was ready to start off his initial pictures small business whilst dwelling with his mom and dad and operating his initial studio inside of their residence.
In 1890, the 22 calendar year old Harris moved with his spouse and children to W. Pittston, PA where, although he continued working a studio in his parents household, he also began his career as a touring photographer. For the duration of the early 1890’s, he put in appreciable time photographing coal miners and mining operations in jap Pennsylvania’s coal regions. Quickly thereafter he began using the railroads to transport him, and his images machines, to the mountains, lakes, metropolitan areas, and where ever else he resolved to choose his digital camera. Cupboard images offered by Harris all-around this time outlined his address as West Pittston, PA Tunkhannock, PA Pittston, PA Penn Yan, NY Binghamton, NY and Keuka, NY
In 1893 Harris traveled to the World’s Columbia Exposition in Chicago. Whilst there his began the 1st of several subsequent advertising feats. 1 of the focal points of the 1893 Columbia Exposition was the very first-ever introduction of George Ferris’s fantastic “Ferris Wheel“. And it was Harris who was the 1st to photograph it. He envisioned that by climbing on a roof close to the exact peak as the Ferris Wheel’s heart shaft, he would be in a position to deliver a look at whereby the curves of the wheel were being not distorted vertically by standpoint. This photograph was so outstanding that Harris donated 2000 of them to the Ferris Wheel Business, each of which included his identify and handle, which aided to make an early name for the younger photographer.
In 1895 he married Maude Dunn, a marriage that was quick-lived for the reason that she died suddenly and unexpectedly in 1897.
Soon after Maude’s loss of life, Harris and some mates opened a tourist business in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains, providing photographs of Buck Hill Falls, the Delaware H2o Gap, and other area attractions to tourists and local people. While working from the “Harris Gallery” his services also bundled cupboard playing cards and tin-style images,. This transportable studio after once again served as an exceptional marketing feat due to the fact it enabled him to both of those promote his business enterprise, and course of action his photographic do the job, anywhere he went.
Around 1901, Harris married a next time, earning Marion E. Briant the next Mrs. Harris. Together they had two youngsters, a daughter (Ruth) and a son (Carver). This relationship lasted until about 1920. After the divorce, Marion Harris returned to her Dover, NJ household with Ruth, leaving Carver with his father.
Soon thereafter, Harris married Ella Anderson, his third and last relationship.
Lake Hopatcong: It was in 1898 that Harris moved to a site that would enjoy a very important role in his life…Lake Hopatcong, NJ. Situated in northern New Jersey, it truly is 9 miles of shoreline and coves make it New Jersey’s largest lake and at the convert of the century, Lake Hopatcong experienced turn out to be a summer mecca for the loaded and popular. Conveniently situated to close by New York town, Lake Hopatcong made available an simple summertime getaway from the city warmth and quite a few summer time “cottages“, which in a lot of occasions were being a lot more like mansions, began springing up all-around the lake. Harris rapidly regarded the have to have for his photographic providers listed here in the course of the summer time months.
Attractive sunsets turned the Harris trademark whilst doing work on Lake Hopatcong and he was farsighted ample to established himself up on a aspect of the lake that was regarded as having the finest sunsets. And getting the excellent promoter that he was, Harris commenced promotion his studio as offering the finest sunset photos on the lake. Soon travellers began flocking to his studio for their own and family members images on Lake Hopatcong.
In a further go of public relations genius, Harris designed his have own “Floating Studio” in the summer season of 1899. Replacing his land-centered transportable studio, this floating studio was actually a houseboat specifically outfitted as a photographic studio. Termed the “Harris Photo Float“, this 16’x50′ floating studio was able of touring all around the lake, and even experienced a distinctive porch for his well-known sunset pictures. Despite the fact that other photographers have been also doing work about the lake, Harris’ floating studio and his gift for promotional outcome gave him a competitive edge above the other photographers and he managed a sizeable part of the lake’s pictures business. However, in 1903 Harris’ floating studio sprang a knothole leak and sank, taking with it a lot of Harris’ photographic equipment.
But he swiftly recovered from this catastrophe and went on to keep on a just about 40-calendar year romantic relationship with Lake Hopatcong. Harris ongoing his summer months visits to the lake until eventually as late as 1939, when he was in his 60’s and his photographic occupation began winding down.
St. Augustine, Florida: In 1898 Harris moved to St. Augustine, Florida where by he opened the “Acme Look at Firm“. Harris’s Florida photographic providers bundled the sale of cameras and tools, free of charge photographic guidance to newbie photographers, the use of his darkroom, as properly as professional photographic products and services to neighborhood residents or checking out travellers. He also misplaced no time in photographing the stunning sights in St. Augustine and the encompassing Florida countryside.
Harris quickly fell in appreciate with St. Augustine and to a more substantial extent, practically all of Florida. Amongst 1898 and 1940 Harris started a photographic profession that most of us would aspire to realize these days…summers together the shorelines of beautiful Lake Hopatcong, NJ… and winters in warm and sunny St. Augustine, FL.
St. Augustine supplied a range of photographic subjects that appealed to Florida’s rising tourist trade which includes the Fountain of Youth, the Oldest Property in The us, Ft. Marion, City Gates, and The Previous Slave Marketplace, among the some others.
In 1912 Harris started a extended, and at times controversial, connection with the St. Augustine Historic Modern society. Serving as its small business supervisor and head curator, Harris was instrumental both equally in recruiting new customers to the Historic Society as well as selling equally the record and heritage of St. Augustine. Although on his enjoy, selected associates commenced to dispute some of the Historic Society’s unsubstantiated statements…was the “Oldest Home in The united states” in fact as outdated as claimed?. Was the “Old Slave Sector” definitely a “Slave Market” or was it just a “Public Generate Market place“.. The “…well, they could have been…” responses by specified place company persons satisfied resistance from other historical purists, and some variations in St. Augustine’s historical claims resulted.
No matter of the controversy, Harris’s association with the St. Augustine Historic Society lasted until finally his demise in 1940 and all the whilst, Harris ongoing to market his St. Augustine postcard and images enterprise.
Harris Postcards: It was in 1893 while checking out the Columbia Exposition that Harris saw a glimpse of the future coming development…postcards. By 1898 Congress passed a regulation authorizing the manufacture and use of “Non-public Mailing Playing cards” and what started out as a trickle quickly exploded into a massive company. And Harris was in a ideal position to earn his share of the company. The phone was not nonetheless commonplace and postcards before long grew to become a key suggests of everyday interaction. In 1901 Harris was providing a grouping of 30 Lake Hopatcong sights that were being capable of remaining inserted into a letter, so converting them into postcards was a comparatively uncomplicated endeavor. Speedily converting a lot of his current stock into postcards and introducing new views each and every calendar year, Harris shortly experienced practically hundreds of Lake Hopatcong postcard sights and grew to become identified all over Lake Hopatcong as “Harris, the Postcard Person“. Any person wishing to deliver a individual message about their particular trip or vacation on Lake Hopatcong generally did it applying a Harris postcard. In 1909 by yourself Harris promises to have marketed over 200,000 Lake Hopatcong postcards and projected even more for 1910.
As his postcard small business grew, he expanded into the souvenir and novelty discipline, marketing paperweights, cups, extravagant holders, and other assorted wooden and birch bark novelties, all with the identify “Lake Hopatcong” on them. While these types of a memento business was common in St. Augustine and other sites, Harris was 1 of the first to start off these types of a business at Lake Hopatcong.
As the postcard craze started to wind down close to 1915, Harris experienced been viewing from a length the achievement of Wallace Nutting in Massachusetts and soon made a decision to enter the area of hand-coloured images himself. With his background, it was a normal.
Hand-Coloured Photographs: Harris’s earliest endeavor with hand-coloured images came when he 1st hand-tinted his Lake Hopatcong postcards. Following doing the job in black & white for many a long time, commencing around 1905 Harris assumed that the included shade could lead to elevated profits. But he also shortly learned that the added expenditure of hand-coloring his postcards led to a bigger unit price tag, and finally to reduce profits. In the long run Harris went the route of so numerous other postcard photographers of owning his postcards developed in color on massive-operate colour printing presses.
As aspect of his New Jersey summer time-Florida winter cycles, Harris began taken new pictures with the intention of hand-coloring them for re-sale. His finest marketing photographs shortly arrived to be from the New York Adirondack Area (specifically Ausable Chasm) and Florida (specially The Singing Tower), though his northeastern pictures arrived from all through a four-point out location and his Florida pictures arrived from through the whole Miami-St. Augustine stretch.
In advance of prolonged, “Harris Photos” commenced to swap “Harris the Postcard Male” as his most important supply of money. According to his son Carver…”what income he experienced, he created from colored photos“. And seemingly he made more than enough money to obtain homes in Florida and New Jersey, an imposing vehicle, a dwelling-automobile, and various launches and speedboats (which enabled him to get about Lake Hopatcong a lot quicker than ever).
Like Wallace Nutting images, Harris photographs ended up normally hand-coloured photos, tipped on to a linen-kind matboard, and signed with the “Harris” identify lower right, and title reduce still left, commonly signed in pencil. Most Harris photos had been matted, even though a honest amount ended up “close-framed” and signed instantly on the photo without having any matting. And fairly normally you will still uncover an original “Harris” label either on the matboard again or on the backing paper.
But Harris pics carry quite a few delicate distinctions in between Nutting and some of the important Nutting-Like photographers:
• Most Harris pictures were oblong views, with the length generally being extra than two times the width (or vice versa).
• Harris only marketed Exterior (outdoor) views. He never ever marketed Colonial Interior scenes.
• You will only see the name “Harris” signed on the picture, hardly ever “W.J.‘ or any other variation of his very first or middle names. There is also in no way any mention of Harris’s initially or center identify on any of his photograph labels.
• Even though the “Harris” identify is commonly created parallel less than the photograph, often you will see the “Harris” title penned at a 45 diploma angle.
• Though additional unusual, it is not uncommon for the Harris name to be lower left and the title to be lower suitable.
• Most Harris signatures are signed in pencil
And possibly most unique from Nutting, several Harris photographs are hand-colored “photogravures” rather than hand-coloured images. Whilst his earliest scenes had been created on photographic paper, some of his afterwards and finest-offering views have been reproduced in larger sized black & white portions using the photogravure printing approach, and then separately hand-colored. While Nutting experienced practically 100 colorists at his peak, Harris never ever had a lot more than 5 persons coloring his pics at any presented time.
A person intriguing story about Harris images relates to several of his pics that feature a egret standing in the Florida h2o. Apparently for the sake of simplicity, Harris carried a “stuffed” egret as element of his photographic products, presumably due to the fact it was less difficult to shoot a even now fowl for outcome relatively than a live, uncontrollable fowl. He was also identified to carry a stuffed alligator for impact as effectively.
Not surprisingly, Harris was typically his have very best salesman and his photographic expeditions also turned gross sales journeys as properly. Anytime he went into the countryside to shoot new pictures, he normally stopped at many art and present stores along the way to get hold of new wholesale and retail orders for his picture small business. It was believed that a lot more than 70 stores on both coasts of Florida on your own carried Harris’s hand-colored photos. Many accommodations used Harris images on their partitions to promote the beauties of early 20th c. Florida, and it is believed that Harris would normally require more than 25,000 photos per year just to fulfill the demand from customers of his Florida profits retailers.
And as the Florida year would end Harris would pack automobile, head again north, and commence the cycle all about once more at New Jersey’s Lake Hopatcong.
The Last Decades: William James Harris died on August 2, 1940 after struggling via a extensive sickness and was buried in his adopted town of St. Augustine. Whilst not as nicely known as Wallace Nutting or some of Nutting’s other contemporaries, Harris did accomplish a substantial amount of fame. He enjoyed a fair money results in his decided on photographic subject, he loved the travel and operate amongst the northeast in the summer season months and Florida in the winter season months, he experienced a varied relatives life, he produced a potent bond with his adopted city of St. Augustine, FL, and his photographic will work absolutely aided to popularize Florida more than any other photographer of his time.
And now far more than at any time, collectors of hand-coloured images are actively trying to get the beautiful hand-colored pictures of William James Harris.
