Winkin' and Blinkin'

[STS Lincolnite]

(10-06-2015 11:50 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  

(10-05-2015 08:54 PM)STS Lincolnite Wrote:  A few thoughts on that photo. With all do respect to Mr. Ostendorf, I have always been skeptical of the date of February 1865 for the photo with the mod hairdo. Is this date based only on the claim that he may have been sporting this hairdo to try and keep his hair out of the plaster when a life mask was created? I believe Mills made the life mask on February 11, 1865.

Scott, I thought I would add that, in another thread (over a year ago), Donna McCreary pointed out that a photo of Mary Lincoln which Lloyd Ostendorf said was taken c.1869 was actually taken in 1862 or 1863. The date of this photo of the President is not off by that much, but I think we can seriously wonder if the February 1865 date is correct.

I remember Donna's post and I agree with you Roger. Ostendorf also incorrectly reported the cracked plate photo as being from April 1865. For all the fantastic work he did, he like all of us is/was not infallible. I feel this photo was probably taken at some time in 1864, late 1863 at the earliest.