Product Details

An evocative vintage photograph album containing 49 original photographs documenting family life, travel, landscapes, and outings in and around Alpine and West Texas. The handwritten captions preserved throughout the album provide valuable geographical and personal context, making this much more than an unidentified collection of old photographs. Several photographs are specifically identified with Alpine, Texas, including Kokernot Park and the Sul Ross area. Other handwritten captions identify “Balanced Rocks west of Alpine” and scenes associated with the Rio Grande, creating a visual record of travel through the rugged landscape of the greater West Texas region. The 49 photographs include family and group portraits, automobiles, outdoor excursions, dramatic rock formations, desert and mountain scenery, parks, and candid moments. Several individuals are identified in handwritten captions, including family members and acquaintances, helping preserve some of the album's original history and provenance. Particularly striking images show people posed on and around the large balanced-rock formations west of Alpine. The album itself is noteworthy, with a tooled leather cover featuring a running Western horse, decorative borders, leather tie binding, and a complementary Western landscape design on the reverse. The photographs are mounted on dark album pages using period-style photo corners, with many accompanied by handwritten identification slips. Based on the photographs, clothing, automobiles, and overall presentation, the album appears to date from approximately the early 20th century, though no exact date has been confirmed from the material shown. Condition: The album shows age-related wear consistent with an original period piece, including rubbing, scuffs, edge and corner wear to the leather, and wear/creasing to some interior album pages. The leather ties and binding show age and use. Photographs exhibit varying degrees of age toning and normal vintage wear. Please examine all photographs carefully for the most accurate representation of condition. A fascinating surviving photographic record of Alpine, the Sul Ross area, Kokernot Park, West Texas landscapes, the Rio Grande region, and the people who traveled through them, preserved together in its original Western-themed leather album. Your album will be carefully packaged to ensure it arrives safely. Please review all photographs, as they are considered part of the description.