The Winterthur Library

The Winterthur Library

The Joseph Downs Collection of Manuscripts and Printed Ephemera

Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, Winterthur, DE 19735

302-888-4600 or 800-448-3883

OVERVIEW OF THE COLLECTION

Creator: McBurney family

Title: Photographs

Dates: 1873-ca.1917

Call No.: Col. 531

Acc. No.: 80x265

Quantity: 85 items

Location: 16 B 2

BIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENT

The McBurney family possibly resided near Barnstable, Massachusetts, at the turn of the 20th century. They apparently had one daughter and two sons.

SCOPE AND CONTENT

Collection contains photographs gathered together by the McBurney family from approximately 1873-1917; some have been dated. Most of the photos appear to have been taken in the summer, many on the beach, and others outside a home which might have been located in a summer community. The beachgoers wear a variety of bathing costumes, but also sometimes appear in street clothes. Several photos of men in kilts and men and boys in funny policemen outfits were probably taken at an Independence Day parade. Other summer scenes depict a baseball team (sitting on a bench, not out in the field), an outing at which the Red Cross had set up a tent (a band is to one side of the tent), young men with a butterfly net, soldiers sitting on pier pilings, and children with kites. In addition, the photos show people in an automobile, a house and garage which have been damaged, and gravestones of the Percival family. Most of the photos are of unidentified people. Buildings are featured in some photos, including the Barnstable Inn and the Barnstable post office. The collection includes photographic postcards, five cartes-de-visite, three tintypes, and other photoprints. Many items were apparently pasted in an album and then removed; some are still mounted on black construction paper.

ORGANIZATION

For the most part, the photos are in accession number order. Tintypes and cartes-de-visite photos are in folder 1. Folder 2 contains photos of a parade, a baseball team, and some other group photos. Folder 6 contains formal photos in folders. Cemetery pictures are in folder 7.

LANGUAGE OF MATERIALS

The materials are in English.

RESTRICTIONS ON ACCESS

Collection is open to the public. Copyright restrictions may apply.

PROVENANCE

Gift of Benno Forman.

ACCESS POINTS

People:

Burney family.

Percival family.

Topics:

American Red Cross.

Arnold’s Café.

Barnstable Inn (Barnstable, Mass.)

Family - Photographs.

Portraits - Photographs.

Sepulchral monuments - Photographs.

Baseball.

Automobiles – Pictorial works.

Seashore.

Seaside resorts.

Fourth of July celebrations.

Soldiers – Pictorial works.

Kites – Pictorial works.

Dwellings – Maintenance and repair.

Bathing suits – Pictorial works.

Outdoor recreation.

Massachusetts - Pictorial works.

Photographic postcards.

Photographic prints.

Cartes-de-visite.

Photographs.

Tintypes.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION

Location: 16 B 2

Box 1:

Folder 1: tintypes (acc. .1-.2a-b); and cartes-de-visite (acc. .3-.7)

.1 unknown child; young boy, wearing a dress (tintype)

CAUTION: flaking

.2a-b unknown young man (2 copies; tintypes)

.3 unknown man, on back: “lost his life at Atlantic City, July 1877”;

Carte-de-visite photo taken by B. DeMorat, Philadelphia

.4 unknown woman;

Carte-de-visite photo taken by B. DeMorat, Philadelphia

.5 S. McBurney, taken Dec. 1873;

Carte-de-visite photo taken by Potter, Mansfield, Ohio

.6 uknown man;

Carte-de-visite photo taken by Barber’s Studio, Providence, RI

.7 uknown man (possibly same man as in .5, S. McBurney);

Carte-de-visite photo taken by Broadbent & Taylor, Philadelphia

Folder 2: group photos; Independence Day parade

.15 baseball team and fans in the stands right behind them; the caps have the letter P on them

.16 group of 9 uniformed men (possibly policemen, firemen, or life boat men), with badges, and ranks on caps (Chief, Captain, Lieutenant), standing and seated in front of a building

.17 group at a summer outing, dated 1907; the central figures are male Red Cross workers under a tent, to the left is a band (seated), to the right are men and boys standing and sitting; no women visible

.70a older man wearing a kilt and carrying what appears to be a pompom

.70b group of men lined up as for a parade, all in kilts (but no bagpipes), probably Independence Day parade – many flags flying; probably taken at a summer resort

.71 group of men and boys in “Keystone Kops” type outfits, most wearing fake whiskers, and one with a fake nose, possibly dressed for a parade; dated July 4, 1904

.72 group of men and boys dressed in funny costumes, possibly for an Independence Day celebration (flags in background), probably taken at a summer resort

.73 group of distinguished-looking men on a platform, with bunting in the background, possibly Independence Day celebration

[label in .84 possibly belongs with this photo]

Folder 3:

.8 unidentified man

.9 older couple standing next to tennis net; park benches in background

[man appears to be the same as in .47]

.10 older couple walking down a road, backs to camera

.11 three young men, one with butterfly net

.12 two women and a man with a bicycle

.13 group of men and women in field, one holding a butterfly net

.14 three men in army uniforms sitting on pier pilings

.18 baby sitting on a chair

.19 woman and child in garden

.20 same child as in .19, smelling flower

.21 group of small children

.22 girl with two boys, with house and sheds in background

.23 boy and girl

.24 girl on beach with sand pail and shovel; group of other people in background

.25 two girls on beach, one with sand pail, other with shovel; other beach goers in the background

.26 woman and child

.27 young boy dressed in formal evening clothes and dance shoes (possibly a costume)

.28 same boy, now wearing a hat with his outfit

.29 photo postcard: young girl in very full skirt and slippers with bows

.30 photo postcard: woman with boy (partially cut off) and young girl, hydrangea bush behind them

.31 photo postcard: boy and girl standing next to steps to house

Folder 4:

.32 girl with two younger boys, both of whom hold kites

.33 girl sitting on a pier

.34a-b two identical strips of photos of a young girl in different poses

.35 photo of a woman; taken at Lewis Studio, Philadelphia

.36 man, woman, little girl on the beach, but not in beach clothes

.37 woman in bathing costume standing on a boardwalk laid over a beach; scene of town behind her

.38 two young men in bathing costumers, sitting on the beach; tents and town behind them

.39 group of young men and women, with one child, in bathing costume, at the beach

.40 young man and woman in bathing costume, sitting on beach, tent in background

.41 family (man, woman, two girls) standing on beach in bathing costumes

.42 photo postcard (but cut down): seated woman knitting, taking to woman and girls in bathing costumes (knitter is not wearing a bathing outfit)

.43 two woman and girl on beach; girl plays in sand; other beachgoers in background

.44 group of bathers on the beach; camera focused on three children and young woman, other bathers in the background; the four central figures also appear in .45

.45 group of bathers, men, women, children, standing on the beach (one man not in bathing costume) (see also .44)

.46 two girls seated on beach; in background: Arnold’s Café for Dinners, with ad for Wrigley’s Spearmint Gum; a tent and bathers also in background

.47 family group under the trees; homes visible in background; possibly taken at a summer resort; the woman and girl are also in .53, taken at the same location

[man appears to be the same as in .9]

.48 young man and woman standing outside

.49 older couple standing outside

.50 woman on a country road

.51-.52 an older man and woman in a garden (two copies)

.53 family group under the trees; homes visible in background; possibly taken at a summer resort; the woman and girl are also in .47, taken at the same location

Folder 5:

.54 girl, older man and woman, and middle-aged woman standing on a street

.55-.56 man standing and sitting outside a house

.57 man standing next to tennis net, park bench in background

.58 man standing on street (close-up of man; some figures in background)

.59 unidentified man, newspaper photo mounted on cardboard

.60 two men, with stone building in background (man on left also appears in .85)

.62-.63 older man in light colored suit with bold tie

.74 group of people in a car

.75 man in a car, probably same car as in .74

.76 two cars with a collapsed wall on one side of them, and two roofs on the ground on the other side

.77 same two cars, taken from different angle, with collapsed wall in front of them; labeled McBurney, 1913

.78 photo post card, labeled Municipal Hospital, Phila.

.79 U.S Post Office, Barnstable

.80 Barnstable Inn

.81-.82 two views of a damaged house – part of roof torn off; group of people standing on porch in .81; boy or man in yard in .82

.83 photo post card: fenced yards of homes, with towels hanging out to dry and a dog waiting at the door outside one home

.84 label: “part of Board Managers, 1902; Gilbert Harris Heinrich Clark Miles Cloud Wall Shertle(?) Hughes Coulter Simmington Baker McBurney Gallagher”

[could possibly have been to label .73]

.85 two men sitting on steps of a building, labeled on back: June 12, 1915, Methodist Hop.

[man on right also appears in .60]

Folder 6:

.61a-b formal portrait of a man, signed by photographer (2 copies)

Folder 7: cemetery photos

.64a-b-.69 photos of grave markers for members of the Percival family, plus the tombstone of Myra E. Loomis