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Norwegian Student Takes Secret Street Photos In The 1890s

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Re: Norwegian Student Takes Secret Street Photos In The 1890s

#41
post #17
post #12

Whenever I see pictures from the pre-WW1-era I marvel at the shoes people wore back then. From the outside they appear comfortable, sturdy, and elegant. I wonder which would be more comfortable to wear -- hand-made, customized shoes from a 1900's-inspired, experienced shoemaker, or modern, mass-produced sneakers (which are pretty comfortable to begin with).

I don't know how the 1900 shoes but I much prefer good leather shoes over sneakers.

Same here. Must have a good leather sole as well. Finding that is hard. But I had a pair of shoes from a Spanish (Spain) brand whos name escapes me - but best shoes I have ever had. I had them re-soled twice as I loved them so much.

Also, watching vids of bespoke shoemaking is satisfying

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Fs3EJmuzAoA

Edit: I recall the shoe company:

Mezlan.com - they don’t make the shoe I had any longer, but the quality of their shoes is top notch for the price.

Re: Norwegian Student Takes Secret Street Photos In The 1890s

#42
post #23

Original page, with more pictures, including a (modern) picture of the camera itself - https://www.boredpanda.com/spy-camera-secret-street-photogra...

Not that "secretly" taken: one of the subjects is indicating the camera, and most subjects are also looking straight at it. More like "unauthorizedly" taken.

It looks to arouse the same response you might get from Google Glass.

When approached by a young man with a camera lens sticking out of his jacket, younger subjects seem to be amused; some of the older subjects are not.

Re: Norwegian Student Takes Secret Street Photos In The 1890s

#43

Original page, with more pictures, including a (modern) picture of the camera itself - https://www.boredpanda.com/spy-camera-secret-street-photogra...

For anyone else who's interested, the original source appears to be the Norsk Folkemuseum: https://digitaltmuseum.no/search/?q=NF.01065&aq=owner%3F%3A%...

That's the closest thing I could find to a gallery of just the photos, without social media stuff.

Re: Norwegian Student Takes Secret Street Photos In The 1890s

#45
post #12

Whenever I see pictures from the pre-WW1-era I marvel at the shoes people wore back then. From the outside they appear comfortable, sturdy, and elegant. I wonder which would be more comfortable to wear -- hand-made, customized shoes from a 1900's-inspired, experienced shoemaker, or modern, mass-produced sneakers (which are pretty comfortable to begin with).

Yes, and the clothes. Okay, I know by many statistical measures we're wealthier now. But those clothes would cost a fortune now. Do they have fewer outfits? Are we only seeing the elite?

I wonder about that myself. Those are some elaborate outfits. Manufacturing the full outfit with first world labour by hand using natural fibres would cost 1000s of dollars in today's market.

One guy had a beaver pelt top hat. I read somewhere that at one time they cost as much as a Porsche in today's dollars, though you can only make a crude analogy between our money and theirs.

Re: Norwegian Student Takes Secret Street Photos In The 1890s

#46
post #12

Whenever I see pictures from the pre-WW1-era I marvel at the shoes people wore back then. From the outside they appear comfortable, sturdy, and elegant. I wonder which would be more comfortable to wear -- hand-made, customized shoes from a 1900's-inspired, experienced shoemaker, or modern, mass-produced sneakers (which are pretty comfortable to begin with).

Yes, and the clothes. Okay, I know by many statistical measures we're wealthier now. But those clothes would cost a fortune now. Do they have fewer outfits? Are we only seeing the elite?

We dress worse now than we did than because clothing is cheap and mass produced. If you look at a typical middle class family from 1880, much more of their paycheck would go towards clothing, and they would have far fewer options in what to wear.

Re: Norwegian Student Takes Secret Street Photos In The 1890s

#47
post #12

Whenever I see pictures from the pre-WW1-era I marvel at the shoes people wore back then. From the outside they appear comfortable, sturdy, and elegant. I wonder which would be more comfortable to wear -- hand-made, customized shoes from a 1900's-inspired, experienced shoemaker, or modern, mass-produced sneakers (which are pretty comfortable to begin with).

Yes, and the clothes. Okay, I know by many statistical measures we're wealthier now. But those clothes would cost a fortune now. Do they have fewer outfits? Are we only seeing the elite?

My grandfather was a tailor, and ended up employing a 100 people or so. Tailor made clothing was the norm, rather than the exception for anybody of moderate means and just about everybody that could afford it had a sewing machine or knew how to use one. Sewing machines were common wedding gifts, and were the equivalent in money of a small car today. Fabrics were of far better quality than the ones we have today and repairing stuff rather than throwing it away was normal. Fashion was as much a thing back then as it is now.

Re: Norwegian Student Takes Secret Street Photos In The 1890s

#48

Here's a little more on the camera: https://www.mercurynews.com/2012/08/16/alexiadis-vest-pocket... The photographer would wear the 6-inch diameter chrome camera under his vest. The lens would poke out a buttonhole, and the shutter could be tripped by pulling a cord. The camera could shoot six images on a circular dry plate; the photographer would advance the plate by patting his chest to activate a lever. [...] The…

Kinda odd that in 2018, these types of buttonhole cameras aren't super easy to find. I mean they have them on spy gear websites, and we all have phones, and there was Google Glass, but nothing super cool that's an obvious choice.

Re: Norwegian Student Takes Secret Street Photos In The 1890s

#50

Here's a little more on the camera: https://www.mercurynews.com/2012/08/16/alexiadis-vest-pocket... The photographer would wear the 6-inch diameter chrome camera under his vest. The lens would poke out a buttonhole, and the shutter could be tripped by pulling a cord. The camera could shoot six images on a circular dry plate; the photographer would advance the plate by patting his chest to activate a lever. [...] The…

Kinda odd that in 2018, these types of buttonhole cameras aren't super easy to find. I mean they have them on spy gear websites, and we all have phones, and there was Google Glass, but nothing super cool that's an obvious choice.

The Narrative Clip is similar - the Clip 2 sells for about $200, which isn't too far off from the adjusted price. It's not branded as a spy camera, but looks pretty discreet.
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