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1920s Prohibition Rum Gun Runner Wrecked Boat Shipwreck Glass Negative OOAK
Original, one-of-a-kind (OOAK) institutional-grade camera-original antique gelatin silver press field glass negative captured circa 1920s–1930s: a dramatic visual document of Prohibition-era maritime crime and interdiction: a heavily damaged armed contraband vessel identified in contemporary newsroom morgue records as a "rum + gun runner," tied up at a railroad wharf with severe bow collision damage and guarded by a uniformed officer.
Preserved in its original vintage tan kraft darkroom morgue filing envelope bearing contemporary newsroom manuscript:
Historical & Archival Significance:
During the Prohibition era (1920–1933), the Atlantic coastline became an active battleground between federal interdiction cutters and armed rum-running syndicates operating off "Rum Row." Converted trawlers, steam tenders, and high-speed rum-runners frequently engaged in nocturnal pursuits, intentional rammings, and running unlit through coastal channels to evade capture, often resulting in violent collisions.
Captured directly in-camera on heavy press glass plate by a news photographer, this exposure provides a grim, detailed study of maritime contraband history:
Structural Collision Damage: Extraordinary focal clarity on the ship's port bow, revealing a massive rupture in the riveted steel plating where the hull was crushed and torn open down to the waterline, exposing heavy interior structural ribs and bent ironwork.
The Vessel: Detailed rendering of the steel hull, hawse pipes, forward deck machinery, foremast rigging, and tall midships steam exhaust funnel.
Armed Guard / Law Enforcement: A sentry or customs/police officer in a full-length service trench coat and military-style peaked cap stands on the wharf directly opposite the crushed bow plate, watching over the seized vessel.
Industrial Waterfront Setting: Shows the vessel tied alongside a working railroad pier with heavy wooden freight boxcars sitting on the tracks just feet from the water.
Tonal Fidelity: Rich continuous-tone silver gelatin density resolving jagged sheared metal edges, waterline reflections, wooden wharf planks, and textures on the officer's uniform.
Specifications:
Format: Heavy antique silver gelatin press glass negative, exposed directly in-camera circa 1920s–1930s.
Archive Ephemera: Accompanied by the original period tan kraft darkroom morgue filing envelope.
Please Note: This listing is for the physical antique glass negative and its original paper archive envelope only. Positive photographic images shown in this listing are modern inverted digital scans provided solely as a visual reference to illustrate image detail. No physical paper prints or modern reproductions are included.
Condition:
Very Good to Excellent antique condition. The heavy glass plate is structurally sound, stable, and completely intact with no cracks, breaks, fractures, or chips through the glass body. The silver gelatin emulsion is remarkably clean, sharp, and firmly adhered, retaining crisp definition across the torn hull steel, sentry, ship's rigging, and dockside rail cars. Authentic unexposed handling borders remain preserved along the outer glass rebate margins. Complete with its original period kraft morgue filing envelope.
The glass plate negative measures 4 x 5In.
If you collect glass negatives, please check out our collection in our store. We are currently listing thousands of original glass photo negatives from this DJD collection through the remainder of the year. Follow our store, and feel free to reach out about any questions about the negatives in this collection.
Ships with extreme care in archival materials to ensure safe transit. Feel free to reach out with any requests or questions).
Combined shipping is available (with other glass negatives)
