Regarding the post I wrote a few days ago, now that Grammy's wedding portrait is safely scanned, I decided to take the old frame apart one more time to put the old daguerreotype back in front place.
From what I've learned, this might be a true antique daguerreotype, because of the way the image flashes between positive and negative when you turn it. No matter what, it's too beautiful and mysterious to hide away.
Perhaps an art conservator could remove some of the metal tarnish, but I don't think it detracts much, since most of his face is still quite clear. The little frame itself is a marvel of delicate engineering, with the way the pieces fit together so precisely. A real challenge for my clumsy fingers, and I've vowed not to open it again.
Great-grandad lived in Haycock Township in Bucks County Pennsylvania, where he made and sold boots and shoes. Dad said his father took him there once when he was a boy to look at the old family store. Great-grandad was also a local personality who played the violin at community dances and gatherings! I've never seen it, but his old fiddle is apparently still in the family-- one of my Pennsylvania cousins, a blue grass musician, has it to this day. A wonderful thought.
Family treasures link us together in a deep and personal way, but so many things are lost over the years. Other things, like this little frame, miraculously make the journey from one generation to the next. Think of that long journey, from 19th century Haycock Township to 2014 Seattle? And we might have never found great-grand dad's image, if I hadn't pulled the frame apart for scanning.
But when all is said and done, it's really the stories behind the treasure that give it meaning and can never be lost, as long as we keep telling them to our children.
Thanks, Dad!
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