Comments on: Tintype Witches (almost), 1875

By: Melanie Kirchhoff

Melanie Kirchhoff — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 00:07:09 +0000

I love this photo… my mother collects witch artwork… I would LOVE to give her a print of this tintype…

By: Anna

Anna — Sun, 22 Jul 2012 17:30:21 +0000

I don’t think the bird is actually dead.If you look closely you will see that the two women in the middle are holding its head and feet pretty hard so it wouldn’t fly. If it was dead the grip wouldn’t be so firm.

By: Stefan

Stefan — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 18:30:26 +0000

What an amazing photo, I like it a lot! Got another curious one showing a witch’s air traffic trouble whilst Walpurgisnacht but I donnot know how resp. where to send it to you. The photo shows a statue of a sexy witch riding a broomstick. It was sculptured by a man called Prof. E. Herter and I think this statue was made in early 20th century. I didn’t find it in you amazing witch fund I enjoy a lot.

By: redwitch1

redwitch1 — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 02:25:49 +0000

Sadly, I think you could be right Morgan. Looking at the photo again with this in mind I note that only the two central figures are wearing jewelry, their hair is also more highly dressed, and their hats are small and decorative (and presumably more expensive) whereas the figures on the ends wear large (and cheap) straw hats. It is still an odd image, but at least it makes some sense now. Thanks!

It sounds like a great history class—the sort of thing I’d love to do. Obviously, from this distance, that isn’t an option, but I wonder: did you use any textbooks or were you given any references that I could follow up?

Dantalion: I got it off eBay a while back.

Chas: indeed, though I have another vintage cleaner-not-a-witch photo which I might just post.

Scott: I wondered that, but I am not familiar enough with the US owls … like aliabas I thought the beak more like a small eagle, but again, I am not familiar enough with the US eagles.

And Twixraider, I do like the film, and watched it just in case, but Kiki is thirteen, so not suitable for here!

By: guidelines for writers

guidelines for writers — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 18:26:06 +0000

@Morgan: Sounds fun, reading photos…. I read faces… but the girl standing on extreme left doesnt sound like a servant to me..
@SCOTT: yes, i also think its an owl… or may be a smaller species of eagles

The picture is great… tells a whole lot of story…

By: SCOTTtheBADGER

SCOTTtheBADGER — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 09:02:28 +0000

Looks like an owl from here.

By: Morgan Drake Eckstein

Morgan Drake Eckstein — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 04:41:29 +0000

The dead bird is to show that the middle two women are from a wealthly family. The women on the end, with the broom and dustpan, are their servants.

Last semester, I took an immigration and ethnicity in the United States history class. We spent a class session on learning to “read” photos like this one.

Thanks for sharing this photo—I love it.

By: Chas Clifton Clifton

Chas Clifton Clifton — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 20:12:13 +0000

You always hear about the witch’s broom but rarely about the witch’s dustpan.

By: twixraider

twixraider — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 18:56:03 +0000

Not sexy, but sweet:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiki%27s_Delivery_Service_%28novel%29

I’m sure o’ll find some cosplay pics… happy digging!

By: Dantalion

Dantalion — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 13:19:30 +0000

What a gorgeous photograph! Where did it come from?