Along the river

Here are some Rotographs from Great Barrington, Massachusetts, in the environs of one of my favorite bodies of water, the little Housatonic River that flows through western Massachusetts and Connecticut, past some of the prettiest scenery in New England, before emptying out into Long Island Sound. These are from an unlettered series, although the numbers on the back (65251, 65254, 65264, and 65271) fit more or less into the numbering range of Rotograph's flashier "G" series views of the same area, if you substitute a G for the initial 6.


The Green River, above, is a tributary.

The image below actually merits a footnote in the history of photography: "Brookside" was the estate of William H. Walker, an early photographic inventor and Kodak executive who is credited with helping develop the film roll-holding system that replaced the earlier glass plates, paving the way for the explosion in amateur photography made possible by Kodak's box cameras. Eventually, Walker and Kodak founder George Eastman seem to have had a falling out, but not before the former's fortune had been made.


Some of the gardens at Brookside were designed by the noted landscape architect Ferruccio Vitale. The estate is now operated as a camp by the Union for Reform Judaism.

Great Barrington

After having spent considerable time dipping our toes in the waters along the Massachusetts seashore, we move to one of the chief towns of the Berkshires in the western part of the state. The monument above, which refers to a 1774 protest by some 1,500 citizens against the so-called Intolerable Acts, is said to still stand outside the Great Barrington Town Hall, below.


According to Gary Leveille's Around Great Barrington (Arcadia Publishing, 2011), the Berkshire Inn, above, "was considered one of the most impressive structures in all of Berkshire County." Originally built in 1892 and subsequently expanded, it was demolished in the aftermath of a 1965 fire. The treatment of the trees in particular in this postcard seems more painterly than photographic, and the architecture of the partially obscured wing at right seems almost Japanese in inspiration.

The postcards above are good examples of Rotograph's high-quality printing, even if the view of the Berkshire Inn is a bit awkwardly framed. The same can't be said for the unfortunate image below, with its crude, arbitrary blotches of rust. It was published by Rotograph as well, but perhaps this was a budget line.