WW1 photo on cloth ???????

[Newbie]

Hey guys,digging in my Mom's garage attic and found a framed WW1 photo. My GGF was in the 314th Inf ,fought in France. I do not think pic is him.......anyway,pic is on cloth. How common was this? Posting pics tom.

[drmessimer]

Newbie: My guess is that what you have is a silkscreen print on fabric. Simon Manchester invented Silkscreening in 1907 and a few years later John Pilsworth in San Francisco developed multicolor silkscreening, so printing a photo-like picture on fabric was possible in WWI. The actual process of transfering a photograph to fabric was first demonstrated in 1947 when Life Magazine ran a story on the process. The story ran in December 1947 and featured Norma Richter wearing a dress decorated with full-size photos of her face. The answer to your question, "How common was this?" is that silkscreening was fairly common but actual photographs were non-existant. If you have time, could you post a good photograph of what you have? I would really enjoy seeing that. Dwight

[Newbie]

Dwight, sorry it is taking so long to up load pics !!!!!!I will post tom for sure.

[Newbie]

finally, here are the pics, lol .....

[drmessimer]

Newbie: That is a an interesting example and well preserved. It is a silkscreen image possibly made by "burning" the image into the screen, which is a sort of photographic transfer process. It was not the sort of thing people did at home and required considerable skill and experience to do correctly. I'm not conversant with exactly how it was done a Century ago, but it envolved using a photosensitive emulsion that was allowed to dry after which the image was placed on the emulsion surface under glass and exposed to light. It's probably similar to modern, easier methods used today which depend on digital images. Dwight

[Newbie]

so, is this a period, legit photo?

[drmessimer]

Newbie: It looks that way to me. If it isn't, someone with exceptional skill went to a lot of work to produce something that sure looks like it came from the early 20th Century. The frame has certainly been around a while. I think it's 100% genuine. Dwight

[Newbie]

As i said before, i found this with a bunch of other family pictures in my moms attic of her garage. My great grandfather served in WW1 in the 314th infantry regiment in France. I showed the pic to my Dad and Aunts....Dad says he thinks it is Grandfather...while his sisters, my aunts think it isn't, lol ...either way, i believe it is a family member on my Father's side and a cool piece of family history !!!!

[GIZMO8Z]

Very cool, Josh!

[Newbie]

Thanks Joe !!!!!