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1931 Ringling Circus Horses Hoods Milk Boston Rail Yard Glass Negative OOAK
Incredible original antique gelatin silver glass plate camera negative taken on April 1, 1931, documenting the mass railroad unloading of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus horses at the New Haven Railroad freight yards in South Boston.
Preserved directly within the historic press morgue of the Boston Herald-Traveler, this original camera field exposure captures the breathtaking scale of a major railroad circus arrival in Boston during the Great Depression.
The Original Morgue Sleeve Inscription:
Historical & Visual Content:
On April 1, 1931, the circus train rolled into the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad yards bordering Southampton Street to unload stock for their Boston engagements. Leslie Jones positioned his camera on an elevated train car roof or staging platform to capture the vast expanse of the freight yard:
The Circus Herd: Dozens of powerful, gleaming ring and draft horses lined up in long ranks across the cobblestone and dirt team yard, each wearing matching heavy woven striped winter horse blankets. Handlers and grooms in overcoats and caps steady the animals beside the train cars.
Historic Boston Advertising: Siding tracks run alongside the herd, featuring a parked wooden freight/refrigerator car emblazoned with a large painted commercial billboard for Boston\'s own \"HOOD\'S MILK\", complete with the dairy company\'s classic early trademark emblem.
Industrial Boston Topography: The long perspective stretches down the South Boston rail corridor toward the South End and Roxbury lines, showcasing multi-track sidings, overhead telegraph wires, industrial brick buildings, and distant factory data-path-to-node=\"20\">
Format: Antique silver gelatin glass plate original camera negative.
Archive Ephemera Included: Accompanied by the original vintage newspaper darkroom kraft filing sleeve inscribed \"Circus Days / Horses / April 1931\".
Please Note: This listing is for the single (1) antique physical glass plate negative and its original inscribed filing envelope only. Any positive photographic images shown in this listing are modern inverted digital scans provided solely as a visual reference to demonstrate how the negative prints. No physical paper photograph, modern print, or reproduction print is included.
Condition:
Very Good antique condition. The heavy glass plate is structurally intact with no cracks, fractures, or perimeter breaks. The gelatin silver emulsion is dense, rich, and remarkably sharp, preserving pinpoint focus across the woven texture of the horse blankets, the cobblestones, the lettering on the Hood\'s Milk boxcar, and the receding skyline. Authentic period newsroom handling wear is strictly confined to the extreme outer rebate edges well away from the image frame. Accompanied by its original period newsroom sleeve.
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)
