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 THE DAGUERREOTYPE: AN ARCHIVE OF SOURCE TEXTS, GRAPHICS, AND EPHEMERA


  The research archive of Gary W. Ewer regarding the history of the daguerreotype

Things are quiet in the newspapers, so for today's "DagNews" I am offering the following short paragraph taken from "A Manual of Business and Guide to Success, or, How to Do Business: A Pocket Manual of Practical Affairs, and Guide to Success in Life..." New York: Fowler and Wells, 1857: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Under the chapter heading "Professional and Miscellaneous Pursuits,": V.--THE DAGUERREOTYPE BUSINESS. The business of taking daguerreotypes, photographs, ambrotypes, and the thousand-and-one other "types" and "graphs," is now a very extensive one, employing many thousands of persons in the United States. It is not con- sidered a healthful pursuit, and is, at present, over-crowd- ed. The best artists, in this branch, in our large cities, sometimes do a very large business, and accumulate for- tunes, but the majority, we fear, barely gain a subsistence. -----------------------------------------------more------------------- Desmond McMillan sent me this note regarding the name "DagNews." >> Hello Gary >> I might mention that the title "DagNews" could have a different >> meaning here in Australia :). Here a dag is a generally slang for a >> person who has no taste, no style and no idea that they are one. I >> think the closest US translation is Nurd. Hence it is a bit like >> saying NurdNews. " Dag" comes from the sheep shearing days. A dag >> was a bit that came out of the other end of a sheep that got stuck in >> the wool. >> Des McMillan >> Melbourne Australia >> dj.mcmillan@trl.oz.au ----------------------------------------------------------------- jun2-95

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