Gender Play and Military Family Life in a World War I Era Minnesota Photo Album,of 190 Photographs, include women in men suits and military garments, while men pose in dresses, skirts, and frilled hats - 1917-1922

W W. I Cross-Dressing Photo Album

Photograph

World War I era photo album depicting gender play, military uniformed women, men in feminine dress, and Midwestern family life, circa 1917 to 1922, recording how wartime uniforms and early twentieth century leisure photography opened space for performative departures from prescribed dress. Roughly nine images show young adults crossing gendered clothing conventions: women appear in men suits, men’s hats, and military garments, while men pose in dresses, skirts, and frilled hats. The album places those images among soldiers, couples, children, automobiles, domestic yards, porch scenes, and excursions, making the gender play part of ordinary social life rather than a separate theatrical or commercial setting. A probable Minnesota connection appears in an outdoor scene with several people seated before a sign reading “Minnesota,” while an image of “Christensen Auto Co.” points to the same regional, small town commercial environment visible throughout the album.

Photo album of 190 silver gelatin photographs, various size, most approximately 3 x 4" to 3 x 5", album size is 10 x 7 inches, likely Minnesota or the Upper Midwest, circa 1917 to 1922. The photographs show Cross dressing men and women, young men in World War I uniforms posing with women, children, and family groups; couples standing in yards and before clapboard houses; children in winter coats and formal dress; men and women seated in early automobiles; groups gathered outside schools, shops, porches, and rural roads; and several outdoor scenes of soldiers assembled beside cars or on wooden platforms. The most distinctive group shows public and semi public gender experimentation: two women in masculine coats and hats standing together; women in men’s suits and military style garments; even men wearing dresses, skirts, and ornate hats; and mixed groups posing with ease while borrowing the codes of male military dress and female formal wear. Other images show a storefront sign reading “Christensen Auto Co.,” a historical marker for the “C.S.A.,” farm and garden scenes, snowbound street views, domestic interiors, and family portraits across several generations.

The album preserve repeated, deliberate, and socially situated images of gendered clothing being tested, exchanged, and displayed within a military family circle. Album covers worn and frayed with photographs generally intact; some minor fading, surface wear, and occasional creasing. Overall good to very good condition. A concentrated record of wartime domestic photography in which military service, Midwestern family life, and repeated gender nonconforming dress appear inside the same everyday social world.

Item #23545

Price: $2,800.00