New York and Cuba Mail Steamship Company Album

c. 1885.  An album of 144 gelatin silver prints (between 5”x7” and 7” x 9”; one-third are 3” x 4”).  Ninety photographs are of Cuba and 54 photographs are of Mexico.

The Cuba photographs section begins with a map of the country and two New York and Cuba Mail Steamship Company route maps detailing the company’s New York to Cuba to Mexico connections. Some of the Cuba photographs are numbered and contain captions.  The photographer is not named. Images of Havana dominate the section, including many of the high profile sites popular with 19th-century photographers such as the Morro Castle, the Prado, the Havana harbor, and the Teatro Tacon. The album also contains unique photographs of Havana street scenes, many centered on markets, street peddlers, and other examples of everyday life. A final section of Cuba photographs depicts sugar and tobacco growing regions of the countryside. In addition to views of those two important agricultural activities there are images of rural vernacular architecture.

The Mexico photographs section begins with a map of Mexico. The images in this section focus on Mexico City, with urban and rural scenes from other cities from across the country. Included are photographs of Chapultepec, the Alameda, and the Metropolitan Cathedral, but also many other unique urban vistas from elevated vantage points. Street scenes include photographs of children at play, women washing, street peddlers and modes of transports of the period. Five of the photos in the Mexico series are signed by Abel Briquet, a commercial photographer active in Mexico during the latter part of the 19th century. Other photographs in this Mexico series may be attributed to Briquet as well.