This photograph shows up in both the stack of old photos I was given by my grandparents and in the glass negatives which had belonged to the family photographer Uncle Joe DeKorn (1881-1962). My grandfather couldn’t identify it. I wonder if it’s related to the photo in our collection of Dutch Arnold, the famous Kalamazoo saloon keeper.
Are there clues in this photo which anyone can identify? The only thing I can be pretty sure of is that it was taken in Michigan and, most likely, in Kalamazoo.
The Family Kalamazoo 
That Gothic-ish window stands out. Sort like a church window. The men are dressed up. Are their slacks matching? There isn’t a sign of a crowd, but I will take a wild guess that it’s a celebration at a church. A wedding — with the matching slacks? Ushers at the wedding of a friend? They seem to be toasting something. Would there be alcohol at church? Some churches allow drinking. Or are those striped railroad pants? The men have on nice scarves and hats and topcoats. It must be cold. But they have on regular shoes, not boots.
Those are great observations. It would never be drinking at church because they attended the Reformed church, I’m sure. What about a bar in a hotel??
This is a truly wonderful photo!!! Saloon or not…:)
Haha, thank you. If I knew how to really “read” old photos, I think it might yield a lot. Like their clothes, for one thing.
OH now, this is just terrific!!
Thanks, I love this pic. But what a mystery!
To me, it feels like a studio picture. The Gothic window looks painted rather than real and is probably a backdrop. The table looks like a typical prop. Here in the Netherlands, I would date this picture to 1910-1925 but the US was decades ahead in terms of photography so my guess would be late 19th century.
Yvette, so funny you mentioned studio picture. Originally I only knew I had the photograph, and I assumed it was a studio portrait, although I thought the subject very very strange for the time period. But then I discovered the glass negative in with Uncle Joe’s glass negatives, so it was a photograph he took himself. No reason the setting couldn’t still be a studio, but that makes even another level of weirdness, I think. Why would he, who was not a professional photographer be taking a staged photo in a studio? Re the date, I think you could be right or maybe around 1900. So many mysteries :)!
Yes, I guess this could be a hotel bar. One man is holding a bottle of something. Wine? Could be beer, I guess. And they are toasting. Hats are on. Would men take hats off inside a building? Not these two for whatever reason. Still cold? No ladies present? The carpet is thin (almost blanket thin) over a striped floor. Could be painted stripes. Their table it a kind of fancy stand that might support a vase. The men are sitting on the end of a bench that looks rustic, made of thin flexible branches — or metal to look like that? The decor doesn’t seem to “match.” Is the man on the right wearing striped overalls under his coat? Maybe they just got off work where they would wear striped overalls and are having a drink. The coats look a little fancier than that, however. The shoes look a bit beat up.
More great details! The more I think about these clues and the mysteries, the more obsessive I feel about wanting to know the answers hahaha.
mmmhhh… sorry to be late to respond. Fascinating photo. Looks like a studio photo to me with a (poorly) painted backdrop and it seems like a “prop” they’re leaning on. Couldn’t work out what the man, on the right, was holding but then it seems that they’re both holding a glass and “clinking” them together in celebration.
The hats, and the coats, seem far too grand for the rest of their clothing and am remembering that in the UK, at about this time, the clothing was often not that of “the sitters” but simply another prop especially if the person was not particularly wealthy
Seems to me that they may be a couple of work colleagues/ partners who are having a photo taken to commemorate a business success/ breakthrough… but??? I could be totally wrong … 🙂