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Crimea circa 1890 in color(ed) photographs

A view of the church in Baidar from the tunnel. Crimea, Ukraine circa 1890-1900. Image: Detroit Publishing Company via the Library of Congress
A view of the church in Baidar from the tunnel. Crimea, Ukraine circa 1890-1900. Image: Detroit Publishing Company via the Library of Congress

The US Library of Congress hosts a number of unique colorized postcards from modern-day Ukraine made by the Detroit Photographic Company, a photographic publishing firm launched in the late 1890s by Detroit businessman and publisher William A. Livingstone, Jr., and photographer and photo-publisher Edwin H. Husher. They obtained the exclusive rights to use the Swiss “Photochrom” process for converting black-and-white photographs into color images and printing them by photolithography.

This process permitted the mass production of color postcards, prints, and albums for sale to the American market. The company existed until 1932, as the declining sale of photographs and postcards during World War I, and the introduction of new and cheaper printing methods used by competing firms brought them out of business. More information about the collection can be found here.

The colorizing method applied to monochrome photographs allows us to get a good feeling of how it was to actually live in Crimea in those days!

For a glimpse of Kyiv and Odesa circa 1890 in the postcards of the Detroit Photographic Company, see here:

The city of Yalta, a view from the Boulevard, Crimea, Ukraine circa 1890-1900. Image: Detroit Publishing Company via the Library of Congress
The city of Yalta, a view from the Boulevard, Crimea, Ukraine circa 1890-1900. Image: Detroit Publishing Company via the Library of Congress
The city of Yalta, a view from the road to Gurzuf, Crimea, Ukraine circa 1890-1900. Image: Detroit Publishing Company via the Library of Congress
The city of Yalta, a view from the road to Gurzuf, Crimea, Ukraine circa 1890-1900. Image: Detroit Publishing Company via the Library of Congress
Yalta Harbor, Crimea, Ukraine circa 1890-1900. Image: Detroit Publishing Company via the Library of Congress
Yalta Harbor, Crimea, Ukraine circa 1890-1900. Image: Detroit Publishing Company via the Library of Congress
The former royal palace of the Crimean Tatar Khanate in Bakhchysarai, Crimea, Ukraine circa 1890-1900. Image: Detroit Publishing Company via the Library of Congress
The former royal palace of the Crimean Tatar Khanate in Bakhchysarai, Crimea, Ukraine circa 1890-1900. Image: Detroit Publishing Company via the Library of Congress
A view of the harem part at the former royal palace of the Crimean Tatar Khanate in Bakhchysarai, Crimea, Ukraine circa 1890-1900. Image: Detroit Publishing Company via the Library of Congress
A view of the harem part at the former royal palace of the Crimean Tatar Khanate in Bakhchysarai, Crimea, Ukraine circa 1890-1900. Image: Detroit Publishing Company via the Library of Congress
A view of the Southern (aka Man-of-War) Harbor in Sevastopol, Crimea, Ukraine circa 1890-1900. Image: Detroit Publishing Company via the Library of Congress
A view of the Southern (aka Man-of-War) Harbor in Sevastopol, Crimea, Ukraine circa 1890-1900. Image: Detroit Publishing Company via the Library of Congress
A view of the church in Baidar from the tunnel. Crimea, Ukraine circa 1890-1900. Image: Detroit Publishing Company via the Library of Congress
A view of the church in Baidar from the tunnel. Crimea, Ukraine circa 1890-1900. Image: Detroit Publishing Company via the Library of Congress
A view of the church in Baidar, Crimea, Ukraine circa 1890-1900. Image: Detroit Publishing Company via the Library of Congress
A view of the church in Baidar, Crimea, Ukraine circa 1890-1900. Image: Detroit Publishing Company via the Library of Congress
A view of the town of Gurzuf from the road to Yalta in Crimea, Ukraine circa 1890-1900. Image: Detroit Publishing Company via the Library of Congress
A view of the town of Gurzuf from the road to Yalta in Crimea, Ukraine circa 1890-1900. Image: Detroit Publishing Company via the Library of Congress
A view from the park in Gurzuf in Crimea, Ukraine circa 1890-1900. Image: Detroit Publishing Company via the Library of Congress
A view from the park in Gurzuf in Crimea, Ukraine circa 1890-1900. Image: Detroit Publishing Company via the Library of Congress
A beach view in Gurzuf, Crimea, Ukraine circa 1890-1900. Image: Detroit Publishing Company via the Library of Congress
A beach view in Gurzuf, Crimea, Ukraine circa 1890-1900. Image: Detroit Publishing Company via the Library of Congress
The Russian imperial palace in Alupka, Crimea, Ukraine circa 1890-1900. Image: Detroit Publishing Company via the Library of Congress
The Russian imperial palace in Alupka, Crimea, Ukraine circa 1890-1900. Image: Detroit Publishing Company via the Library of Congress

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