Snapshots of the Past

[Doorway with broken pediment surmounted by pineapple, probably Salem, Mass.] – Vintage Print

[Doorway with broken pediment surmounted by pineapple, probably Salem, Mass.], [ca. 1910] — historic photograph
[Doorway with broken pediment surmounted by pineapple, probably Salem, Mass.], [ca. 1910]. Historic photograph from the Detroit Publishing Company collection.

(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)

Description

A window into the past: [Doorway with broken pediment surmounted by pineapple, probably Salem, Mass.], preserved in this historic photograph. Sourced directly from the Library of Congress, it represents an authentic piece of documented history.

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[Doorway with broken pediment surmounted by pineapple, probably Salem, Mass.]

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The pineapple perched atop a broken pediment is the detail that sets this doorway apart. Pineapples were a colonial-era emblem of hospitality, and the carved finial on this Salem, Massachusetts, entrance shows how builders carried that motif into the doorways of old New England houses. Salem's seaports traded in sugar and spices from the Caribbean, which helps explain why the fruit appeared so often in local architecture. The Detroit Publishing Company, which made this glass negative around 1910, was documenting such scenes for its catalog of American views, and the plate preserves a clear record of the doorway's carved detail.

Created / published[ca. 1910]
Medium1 negative : glass ; 8.5 x 6.5 in.
GenreDry plate negatives.
NotesTitle devised by cataloger. 7" on door. "No. 29" on negative. Detroit Publishing Co. no. 039463. Gift; State Historical Society of Colorado; 1949."
SubjectsDwellings. Doors & doorways.United States--Massachusetts--Salem.
SourceLibrary of Congress, Detroit Publishing Company Collection
Original scan768 × 980 px
ReferenceAMZ-SOTP-DET-69124

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