Buggy, Cabin, Sense of Drama, Striking Antique Gelatin Silver Print antique french miniature portrait with three of the cards

with three of the cards showing railway signals to be read at a distance of 20 feet--as these were commonly used for testing the vision of train conductors/railway workers

What I especially love is that pierced into the wood at one end are two old tin litho tobacco tags

but I found them so juicy and beautiful I had to have them--and deeply enjoyed playing around with them in order to take photos

Maybe not a masterpiece

with a fold line down the center

Buggy, Cabin, Sense of Drama, Striking Antique Gelatin Silver Print antique french miniature portrait with three of the cardsTo my eye a super striking and evocative antique photograph, which feels a lot like a film still, and definitely as if capturing a scene from a much longer novel: what are the stories of these four (five), and the picture taker too, and what has brought them together here? Heading west I might guess, standing for the moment in what feels quite like the dry middle of nowhere. 4 x 4 15 16 and in good antique condition, very late 19th very early 20th c.