Souvenir Photographs of "A Trip to Cuba", 1907
approximately 213 photographs in 1 album
Souvenir Photographs of “A Trip to Cuba” is a privately published photograph album that contains approximately 213 photographs taken during a 26-member excursion to Cuba in 1907 conducted by the South West Land Company of Cuba.
The album (35 x 27 cm) is bound in grey buckram and with the title "Cuban Trip '07" gilt stamped on the front. The name "Fred W. Adams" is also gilt stamped on the front while "Fred Adams Norman Adams Jan. 1907" can be found inscribed on a loose page tucked inside the front cover.
A printed title page is included indicating that the album's images were created during an expedition to Cuba "conducted under the auspices of The South West Land Co. of Cuba." in 1907 while also listing the traveling party's personnel and itinerary. Departing from Youngstown, Ohio, on January 4th, 1907, the group traveled to Washington, D.C., by train before departing for Havana via Tampa. Professional photographer R. W. Johnson of Pittsburgh is listed as the group's official photographer who produced the album's images.
The album begins with images taken in Washington, D.C., of the U.S. Capitol as well as a group portrait of the 26-member group piled into a D.C. sightseeing vehicle. In the latter image two pencil marks indicate the position of the album's former owner Fred Whittlesey Adams and his 13 year old son Norman (their presence is noted by pencil mark in several photographs). Subsequent images include a series depicting the party's travel by sea aboard the steamer Newhaven, views of Havana Harbor, street scenes and architectural profiles, Havana Cathedral, a cockfight, exterior and interior scenes from around Morro Castle, group portraits of Cuban agricultural laborers, views of Caibarién, images of produce being prepared for shipping, a group portrait of a family showing the mother allowing her infant to feed from a goat udder, views of the traveling party touring rural farmsteads and plantations, and a portrait of an Afro-Cuban carpenter.