"Clothes make the man. Naked people have little...influence on society." Mark Twain
Sarah Cooper had a spell of writer's block yesterday. Thank God! (You'll have to read her boog to understand this; the best blog posts are serendipitous.) Sarah sent me looking for Sam Clemens, whose pen name was Mark Twain.
Twain certainly suffered from the same malady that afflicted Sarah. and just like Sarah, he worked through it. That's his quote at the beginning of my post. He's a favorite of mine
The quote made me wonder what sort of people Twain would have had in mind. What did they look like, these influential members of society in the last quarter of the 1800's, when Mark Twain was painting my mental pictures with his words?
I went looking on the internet. Do the same, and you'll find pages and pages on Google for "clothes make the man." It works just as well for the last half of the quote, but you really don't want to do that!
Trust me.
The gentlemen on the left and the ladies on the right were people of means. Influential men and women. After all, they could afford the luxury of having their photograph made.
Photographers "made" photographs in the 1890s, they didn't "take" them. It was a big deal. It required preparation and time on the part of everyone involved.
Back to our "instant ancestors," though. Why do you suppose they had these photos made? Who did they expect would see them, and for what purpose? Was the woman on the far right bored with the prospect, whatever it was, that caused the obvious anticipation--look at the face--of her friend? Why are the men all sporting cigars?
All of us seek to influence those around us. As REALTORS, if we do it well, our real estate business prospers. We want to make a positive impression. Clothes are a means to that end. I particularly like the shirt collar and button cover worn by the man to the right pf the photograph above. And he's wearing boots!
Please comment and include photos of friends, clients or associates whose sartorial splendor (for better or for worse) makes them hard to forget.
I'm Mike in Tucson, your preferred Tucson, AZ mortgage lender.
