In the 1st series, I did a picture spanning the years 1890-1910. In this second series,
I wanted to split that up into 2 decades because fashions (especially women’s) in the 1890’s
are very distinct from the 1st decade of the 20th century.
In all of my bar pics I’ve always been as historically accurate as I am able when it comes
to the costumes and settings, except for one minor point: I realize men in the 19th century
removed their hats when they entered a house or establishment. I just have some of them
wearing hats to show examples of what styles were popular at that time.
Although some of the fashions are English in origin, most of them are American, including
the naval officers in the right middle-ground and the bird on the bar, which is called an
American Bittern.
I had a lot of fun doing this one and I think it came out pretty well. Because of the time
of year I was working on this one, I decided to make it a Christmas party.
The Santa Claus is based on the classic Thomas Nast cartoon. He just farted, hence the reaction
of the people behind him.
The two men in bowler hats above the kids: The guy on the right is trying to swindle a potential
investor. He’s saying “These newfangled gas engines are just a fad. Steam powered cars, now
that’s the wave of the future.”
The couple above the bird on the bar, that’s me holding the mistletoe. As for the flags, I
just needed something to fill in that big, dark, empty area of the suit.
The guy in the right foreground is Scrooge.
The guy directly behind Santa and the guy above the 2 kids on the right are brothers.
