Here’s a mystery image from CSNY with only a date. The barge name may be a clue; a writer from Massachusetts named Elizabeth Stuart Phelps had gained some acclaim from her writing by that date. Was the gathering under the shades and umbrellas on the barge in her honor? Was it a political gathering? What…
Here’s a mystery image from CSNY with only a date. The barge name may be a clue; a writer from Massachusetts named Elizabeth Stuart Phelps had gained some acclaim from her writing by that date. Was the gathering under the shades and umbrellas on the barge in her honor? Was it a political gathering? What are the folks and horse in the foreground standing on?
Here are some details.
Anyone have ideas about the location? Am I missing some relevant fact about that date?
Mystery clues & details…
DATE … The multiple US flags on display hint at a patriotic celebration. On August 1, 1876, the recent US Centennial plus the official entry of Colorado into the Union on that very day are both plausible reasons for a big lunchtime party, even on a Tuesday.
..OO CARRIAGE FACTORY … At first I thought the ”OO” on the rooftop sign might be the last two letters of “Waterloo”, possibly placing the scene in that town on the Seneca-Cayuga Canal, but the shape of the partially visible previous letter seems to rule that out and I couldn’t come up with any canalside carriage makers of which the name ended with EOO, FOO or TOO.
LIZZIE S. PHELPS … boat is likely named for popular feminist novelist Elizabeth Stuart Phelps
FOREGROUND … weeds indicate the spectators are ashore or on a quay, not a barge or boat
NOONTIME … boat is on the north side of the waterway, umbrellas and awnings shade the sun
HAGAN’S MAGNOLIA … billboard for Hagan’s Magnolia Balm, a skin ointment and sunscreen
Great sleuthing. Thank you, Lee.
Dispatches from the Samuel Center 
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