The Clear-eyed Helicon

 

To play a helicon,
the first wrap-around tuba,
a musician must make a serious commitment.
Such a large instrument requires
a good ear and a lot of breath control
since all its notes will be
the foundation of any band's music.

Likewise being a father,
and a husband, too, 
demands steadfast dedication
and conscientious practice. 
Raising a child requires a lot of patience
and at least one good eye
to keep a kid on the right path.

.

I think this no-nonsense fellow
knew something about personal discipline
as his photos are unusual examples
of a musician posed with the loves of his life,
his instrument and his family. 

These two small portraits came to my collection
united in their original tattered paper envelope
but separated from their family photo album
so I do not know their names, location, or date.
And unfortunately the photographer
left no mark either so I have to guess
that they are posed somewhere in America
in the late 1860s or 1870s.

The photos are tintypes, also called a ferrotype or melanotype,
which was a photographic process that used a thin sheet of metal
that was not actually made of tin but of iron (i.e. ferro).
It was coated with a collodion emulsion of silver halide  

that when exposed to light in a camera
produced a positive image
directly onto the metal plate. 
The resulting image is reversed
left to right like a mirror reflection.
This is evident in these two photos
because the valves of a helicon
are played with the right hand,
not the left as in the image.

Using digital software I can flip
the man's portrait to show his true likeness.

Now not only is his helicon in the correct position
but so is his right walleye too.
He appears to be in a photographer's studio
as his chair is in front of a painted interior backdrop
with a rumpled linoleum floor.
But it might have been taken outdoors
perhaps set up in the front yard of his home.

The man's family portrait with his wife and son
 was clearly taken outside as they are seated on a grassy lawn
and other neighboring houses are visible.  

Another useful clue for a tintype's orientation
is to see how buttons are arranged on a male garment.
A man's or boy's shirt or jacket almost always
has buttons inserted into holes on the left side
putting the seam edge on the right.

Here with the image reversed both father and son

now have their buttons done up correctly.
However mother's tight bodice buttons are also arranged
like her husband's with buttonholes on the left.
This is likely a dressmaker's convenience
that demonstrates how fashion
does not have hard and fast rules.

There's not much more to tell about this bandsman and his family
as what we see is only a brief moment in their lives.
It's likely that he earned a living at some other trade or business
as playing a tuba or helicon has never been a good way to make money.
His military style uniform is rather stylish
and suggests he was a member of a band
associated with a state militia.
But that was not like a regular army band
and would only be semi-professional work
performing for local parades and civic events.

Whatever his regular occupation
this helicon player seems to have done pretty well
to keep his son with nice shoes
and his wife in elegant dresses and hats.

This is my contribution to Sepia Saturday

where where the only rule
(a suggestion really)
is to leave only footprints behind.