Making an authentic "Prairie" edition of Playboy proved to be harder than they expected

First, off to the photo location via Conestoga wagon.

Then models had to hold their poses for five minutes, any longer and they would be overexposed and you wouldn't want that.

Defiant Hearts -- Melody Morgan

Comments

[Jain Daire]

He's wearing jeans! He must be a time traveller!

[The Wife]

I dunno -- I think this might be possible. http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/bluejeans.htm They had covered wagons at the time, and jeans were around. The camera seems a little off, but I *think* that if we date it to about 1875, it's sort of okay. Unless his jeans have a zipper! Then he's out of luck. :-P

[Jain Daire]

Aw, no fun. Time travel is much more interesting than, "Oh, it was a historical fact that people were wearing jeans during that era".... you mean for once they got it right?!

[The Wife]

I'm sorry. :( But I'm married to "Professor Walter" as much as "Uncle Walter", and he's REALLY big on historical accuracy. So... yeah, they probably did get it right this time. If it makes you feel any better, I do think the camera is incorrect. The pictures I've seen from that time frame show them much smaller. I'll set the Professor to seeing what it would look like then.

[Professor Walter]

The camera appears to be a dry plate type. The first dry plate cameras were introduced in 1855. Based on the styling this is most likely a gelatine dry plate camera which was introduced by Richard Leach Maddox in 1871. These cameras were the first "easily" portable and could be as small as a hand held unit, however professional photographers experimented with physical formats often creating units that looked like this one. This particular camera would have been a later one (1880-1900) since it appears to have a mechanical shutter.

[The Wife]

Sadly I can't find the book to confirm what year it is set in (I'll keep poking around). But in the meantime... It looks like people were still using covered wagons regularly up until the popularity of cars (which weren't mass produced until 1910, I think). Jeans were made in 1873. The camera is from around 1880. As long as the book is set between 1880 and about 1910, looks like it's legit. Not too bad for a romance novel cover. lol

[Deanatroi]

The photographer looks too cartoony, but I'm impressed with your research. Yes, covered wagons continued to be used during the early 1900's. It's interesting - just an aside - I went to a Lee and Grant exhibit in Houston a couple years ago and they had photos of the Civil War. When I asked about them, the guide mentioned that a lot of the pictures were posed due to the long exposure time required. But also if you remember, a lot of burlesque type photos existed in those times also. (burlesque being nudies).