Beatrice Tonnesen’s favorite photographic subjects were beautiful women and scenes from family life. The latest additions to my collection feature a number of images from both categories. I’ll be posting some great “new” family-themed prints, as well as several newly found images of the toddler in Tonnesen’s “Sunny Jim” series this fall.

But, first, I’m presenting five calendar prints of beautiful women that originated as photos taken between about 1914 and 1928. In order of their appearance in the accompanying slideshow, they are:

1. Unnamed lady wearing a dress that was one of Tonnesen’s early favorites on an unmarked 1921 calendar.
2. “Anne,” appearing on a 1922 calendar marked only “Nr. 322 Hand-Colored.”Anne sits on Tonnesen’s swing, wearing Tonnesen’s dress.
3. “Sweet Alice,” a model who appeared often in advertising during the late teens and early ’20s, as well as in a number of Tonnesen’s images, and who wears one of Tonnesen’s dresses on a 1923 calendar, published by R.C. Co. NY. A purported biography of Alice appears on the calendar backing underneath the print. However, it must be fictional, as it describes her as a socialite who was not a professional model.
4. “Dimples,” on an unmarked calendar back. It is a companion piece to an image in the collection of the Winneconne Historical Society. The model is believed to be Eva Grady (1899-1934).
5. Untitled, on an unmarked 1932 calendar. This is part of a series of photos taken by Tonnesen at the end of her career in Chicago. Others in the series appear in Album 9 of the Image Catalogue that can be accessed at the top of our home page. I believe R.A. Fox’s print “Meditation” originated from a photo in this same series.

Copyright 2014. Lois Emerson

Back in March of 2012, we posted images of three glass negative plates produced around 1900 in the Tonnesen Sisters studio and provided to us by Lee Grady, archivist of the McCormick-International Harvester Collection at the Wisconsin Historical Society. Now, we have found an example of the full color print that resulted from one of the glass negatives. Interestingly, the printed image is the reverse of the negative image! Here is the newly found color image (of the young boy with the bearded man), along with the entire original post from 2012.

[Click the image to the right for a larger version.]

Following is from the March 27, 2012 post titled: “BT Photos Used in McCormick-International Harvester Ads“;

Recently, Lee Grady, Archivist for the McCormick-International Harvester Collection at the Wisconsin Historical Society wrote us with information concerning some glass negatives, or glass plates in the historical society's collection. From roughly 1900 through 1930, the company produced a series of calendars and posters promoting a wide range of farm implements. He had discovered that two of the negatives were marked “Tonnesen Sisters” and, though the company often shot its own photos for advertising purposes, there were others that were unmarked and unidentified.

The collection contains about 500,000 photo-based images, about 12,000 of which are in the form of glass plate negatives. So it was impossible to look at everything. But Grady selected about a dozen Tonnesen “maybes” and sent them to us. As of now, after examining the clothing and the props, we have identified only one more, for a total of three, but we will keep searching!

The slideshow at right displays the images of Tonnesen's work found in the McCormick-International Harvester Archive, Wisconsin Historical Society (All rights reserved). Here is what we know about each of these images:

1. “Pigs in Clover” by the Tonnesen Sisters. The model, often seen in Tonnesen's work ca. 1900, wears a dress that seems to have been one of Tonnesen's favorites. It appears in “The Hay Seed,” shown elsewhere on this blog, probably the most popular of her early photos.
2. An original photo from this glass negative is owned by the Oshkosh Public Museum. The Tonnesen Sisters signature appears in the hay at bottom left. On the back is written: “International Harvester Calendar Design $75. Dorothy”. The name “Dorothy” is one of several noted on the backs of various photos during that time. I think it may refer to the person who handled the details of the transaction. It appears that IHC bought the negative for $75!
3. This is the finished, colored 1902 poster that started as the photo described above.
4. I am virtually certain this image was created by the Tonnesen Sisters, based on the fact that the child is wearing the same shirt and overalls, and probably the same hat, as the child in Image #2. I also think that this child and the child in #2 are one and the same.

These, and thousands of other images, including company and family photos, as well as vintage artwork can be viewed, and in most cases purchased, at Wisconsin Historical Society.

Copyright 2014 Lois Emerson