Edstrom, Edwin Charles Jr. (1869-1945)
/Charles McMillan’s Portrait Photograph of Edwin Charles Edstrom Jr.
THE PHOTOGRAPHER/ PHOTOGRAPHIC STUDIO:
Photographer: Charles McMillan
Photographic Studio: Charles McMillan opened his photography studio in 1891 at the corner of Sacramento and Virginia Streets in Vallejo. He was also reported to have a studio in Vallejo at 314 Georgia Street. Carl Mautz, Biographies of Western Photographers, 2018 edition, p. 150.
THE SITTER:
Name: Edwin Charles Edstrom Jr.
Description: In this cabinet card Edwin Edstrom appears as a young man dressed in a corduroy jacket and a white shirt with a banded collar. His jacket has small lapels and is buttoned up to just below the point of his necktie’s large knot. His dark necktie is printed with white lines of diagonal dots and adorned with a star and cresent tiepin.
Biographical Note: Edwin Charles Edstrom Jr. was born in California on January 10, 1869. By 1895 he was living in Petaluma and working as a merchant in the California Market located on Western Avenue. Later the same year, it was reported that the California Market was turned over to the Petaluma Labor Exchange and was being conducted as a Labor Exchange depository. C. H. Wurdig was reported to be the manager and E. C. Edstrom was reported to be the assistant manager. Between 1897 and 1901, he participated in several Santa Cruz real estate transactions with his brother, Arthur Edstrom. From 1904 to 1905 he worked as a confectioner in Vallejo, California. He died on January 15, 1945 in Fairfield, Solano County, California.
Family Affiliation: Edwin Charles Edstrom Jr. was the elder son of Eliza Kent Edstrom and Edwin Charles Edstrom Sr., and brother of Arthur Edstrom. Edwin never married and had no children.
Bibliography: Petaluma Daily Morning Courier, July 2, 1895, p. 3; Aug. 16, 1895, p. 3; Feb. 26, 1896, p. 6. Evening Sentinel, (Santa Cruz, California) April 1, 1897, p. 3; June 27, 1901, p.3. Santa Cruz Surf, April 3, 1897, p. 2; April 5, 1897, p. 3.
THE PHOTOGRAPH:
Format / Size: cabinet card, approximately 10.75 x 16.25 cm
Medium: albumen photographic print mounted on cardstock
Description, front: This is a three quarter view, head-and-shoulder portrait of a young man mounted on a dark card. The photographer’s imprint is printed in gold along the bottom.
Description, back: Handwritten in cursive in black ink is, “Ed. Edstrom”.
Date: This portrait must date to 1891 or sometime soon thereafter; Charles McMillan set up his photography studio in Vallejo, California in 1891, and the sitter portrayed is a young man born in 1869. This portrait may have been taken at the same time as the portrait in this collection of the sitter’s brother, Arthur.
Condition: There is slight foxing throughout this portrait
Owner: Petaluma Historical Library & Museum, 1983-32-09
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