Photo Help!!

[Headhunter23]

Recently picked up this photo. It was framed. It looks like a group of men in front of either a Gallows or a Ranch Entrance. Under the wooden structure it looks like a platform with some sort of barrier rope/pen in front of it. The back has Jerry Giuler Russell written on it. Google turned up nothing on any of that. Do what do yall think? Gallows or Entrance? Thanks!!

 

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[GaRebel1861]

Tough looking crowd!

 

[U.B.]

What state did you find it in? That might help me find the name in a genealogy search.

 

[Breezie]

It looks like a gallows to me because it's too narrow to be a town entrance.


Breezie

 

[Mackaydon]

Can we see the name on the back side?
(His middle name makes no sense to me).
Don.......

 

[NOLA_Ken]

I don't think it's either, I think it's a gantry at the edge of a dock... There's a couple reasons I thought this : it looks to be mostly made of round tubing, which seems a bit much for a gallows. The red arrow I added here shows what looks to be wood poles with a rope lashed around them like a piling I'd expect to see along a river dock back then, the blue arrow is pointing to what looks like a concrete post with a cable or rope attached to the right side to keep people from walking off the edge, you can see it continuing past the guy standing at the left just above his knee. It reminds me of pictures of old fishing boat docks from Louisiana. I'm just guessing but from the way they're dressed I'd thing 1920's or 30's maybe?

 

[invent4hir]

The photo is incomplete as the wooden structure on the left and man on the far right are cut off. The vertical pole looks too thin to support a hangman's noose - even with the diagonal braces. I know little about fashion, but looking at the suits and hats makes me think early 20th century. Even if that is wrong, narrowing down the correct time frame based on clothing may help id.

 

[DCMatt]

I'm with NOLA Ken - not a gallows. Maybe a loading dock...

Even the old guys are wearing fedora style hats, most in three-piece suits with single breasted jackets, and nobody has a bow-tie, so I'm guessing late 1920's to late 1930's (Depression era).

Everyone is wearing a dark suit and it's a mix of different ages. 16 men including the guy standing and the guy half cut off on the right (what is he holding?).

Only half of them have hats. What's up with that? Before JFK's inauguration ALMOST EVERY man wore a hat when he went outside. Seems like a business/office group and the boss (standing) said, "Go outside and pose for a photograph."

I came up empty on the name as well. If we had a location, that might help...

 

[Squirrel322]

I agree with the dock theory. What stands out to me is the framing of the photo. The group is cut off at the knee and there is a huge empty space behind them. Perhaps the photographer was attempting to frame up a seascape or lake view behind them but it simply didn’t get captured in the image. Both an short focal range and or shutter settings could account for the lack of a distant background being captured.

 

[Anduril]

I agree - looks like it could be a dock (riverboat?) or maybe a trackside passenger landing for a train?
You can make out the chain on the leftmost stanchion (there's a $10 word you hardly ever get to use!).
And if you follow the chain to the far right, it's either attaching to another stanchion, or it's just a crease in the paper?

On the supposed wooden structure, there are two little protuberances (another $10 word) that I initially though might be for telegraph wires, but I quickly dismissed the thought.
That said, I wonder what they are? Are they just part of the hardware to support the diagonal members?
Looks weird if that's what they are? Not sure I've seen hardware like that before?

Oh, and I also agree on early 20th century.
The TYPE of photograph (other than just being a black & white print) might narrow it down to within a half-dozen years either way.

 

[Headhunter23]

Thank you all for your responses. Dock never crossed my mind but it sure does look like it.

 

[fyrffytr1]

I'm with NOLA Ken - not a gallows. Maybe a loading dock...

Even the old guys are wearing fedora style hats, most in three-piece suits with single breasted jackets, and nobody has a bow-tie, so I'm guessing late 1920's to late 1930's (Depression era).

Everyone is wearing a dark suit and it's a mix of different ages. 16 men including the guy standing and the guy half cut off on the right (what is he holding?).

Only half of them have hats. What's up with that? Before JFK's inauguration ALMOST EVERY man wore a hat when he went outside. Seems like a business/office group and the boss (standing) said, "Go outside and pose for a photograph."

I came up empty on the name as well. If we had a location, that might help...

I think he is holding an animal, maybe a dog. Not that that helps in any way.

 

[Terry In Florida]

Ask me I think they are some type of law enforcement, probably is during prohibition. Maybe U.S. Marshals or FBI? Might not even be close but they are all in suits, 16 men, no women in the picture, important enough to warrant a picture. Probably next to a river. I was also thinking that they could be next to a rope ferry that crosses a river, maybe even on it. Maybe the concrete looking thing is an anchor for the ferry?

I tried to do something with the picture but I don't know if I made it easier or harder to see everything, lol...