Hat Trick

[Military Images]

A trio of young ladies in cold weather clothing surrounds their prisoner, a Union first sergeant. His captors are all smiles, especially the woman in the middle, who dons his hat. Oh, the spoils of war!

Carte de visite by A. Hickcox of Binghamton, N.Y. The late Mike McAfee Collection.

This image was first published in the Summer 2018 issue of Military Images magazine.

 

[lelliott19]

Great image! Thanks for sharing the story! What is known about Hickox of Binghamton, NY? I think I've mentioned that I'm fascinated by the studio props. Did photographers all buy the same drapery from a catalog? Or were those made locally? I guess what I'm asking is you see draperies in a lot of images that look similar, have similar patterns, and have similar cording and tassels. Is it possible to drill these down and do comparisons to determine if an image was produced by a certain photographer and maybe even during a particular period of that photographer's career? Or am I grasping at straws here?

 

[mofederal]

Nice image. I like the winter clothing. If you know the time period, year, photographic studio location, it is possible to know who took the photos. There are comprehensive lists of many known photographs, but they can be a pain to go through. One problem is if he had an assistant photographer, who could have taken the image. Some photographers used assistants to take an image, and some did not.

 

[Ole Miss]

Is wearing his hat sorta, kinda like wearing his High School Ring?
Regards
David

 

[lupaglupa]

I'm thinking that's his younger sister who reminds him on a regular basis not to take himself seriously

 

[JPChurch]

Great pic Ron. The women shown are quite attractive. I often wonder what the photographer had to say to those in such settings prior to capturing the image. These participants all seemed to have sat still long enough and maintain their composer during what had to have been an amusing situation.

 

[RochesterBill]

What fascinates me is how close all four subjects are to actually smiling. A couple of them are dangerously close.

You so seldom see photos from that era with smiles. There are reasons for this, I know, but its fun to see every now and then. Makes them seem more human somehow.

 

[Peace Society]

Mom and sisters? Having fun.

 

[Dave DuBrucq]

Great image and someone is actually smiling! Thanks for sharing this with us.

 

[treebie2000]

Haven't seen many like this!
I'm guessing Mom on the left, Sis on the right, and sweetheart wearing his hat; while he wears his heart on his sleeve.
Thanks for sharing this great image.

 

[Peace Society]

I thought sweetheart too, but the shapes of the faces seem to indicate family.

 

[Mrs. V]

That is a seriously fun image. Did anyone else notice the veils on the hats? It was one way that you could travel in a carriage somewhat incognito..and it was correct to veil your face when you were in the first stage of mourning. These folks look to happy for that!

Thanks for posting this!

 

[toot]

some women back then weren't half bad looking. matter of fact pretty darn good looking!

 

[Wanderer in Blue]

A trio of young ladies in cold weather clothing surrounds their prisoner, a Union first sergeant. His captors are all smiles, especially the woman in the middle, who dons his hat. Oh, the spoils of war!

Carte de visite by A. Hickcox of Binghamton, N.Y. The late Mike McAfee Collection.

This image was first published in the Summer 2018 issue of Military Images magazine.

View attachment 388453

Awesome photo! And humorous caption.

 

[toot]

there is a book on the subject of women wearing military clothing, I beleave it is called, SHE IS WEARING MY MILITARY UNIFORM. a great book.

 

[toot]

I guess that she was promised?