GOLD RUSH ACTRESS LOTTA CRABTREE AMAZING 1870 NAPOLEON SARONY CDV

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GOLD RUSH ACTRESS LOTTA CRABTREE AMAZING 1870 NAPOLEON SARONY CDV:
$79.99

She was the darling of Gold Rush California, a protege of Lola Montez, and as an adult became America\'s finest 19th century comedienne, famed for her charismatic vivaciousness and her risque for the time double entendres. A magnificent original Napoleon Sarony carte de visite photograph circa 1870 of Lotta Crabtree. Light wear otherwise good. A stunningly beautiful pose of this great actress. See Lotta Crabtree\'s extraordinary biography below.

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From Wikipedia

Lotta Mignon Crabtree (November 7, 1847 - September 25, 1924) was an Americanactress, entertainer and comedian. She was also a significant philanthropist.

Born Charlotte Mignon Crabtree in New York City to British immigrants, Lotta Crabtree would go on to become one of the wealthiest and most beloved American entertainers of the late 19th century. From her beginnings as a 6-year-old until her retirement at the age of 45, she entertained and was named \"The Nation\'s Darling\".

Her father, John Ashworth Crabtree, a book seller, left for San Francisco in 1851 to join those seeking fortune in the California Gold Rush. Lotta and her mother followed two years later, joining John in the boomtown of Grass Valley. While in Grass Valley, the Crabtrees ran a boarding house. Lotta soon attracted the attention of a neighbor, the dancer and actress Lola Montez, who encouraged Lotta\'s enthusiasm for the performance.

Early life

The Crabtrees moved again and set up another boarding house, this time in Rabbit Creek, forty miles north of Grass Valley. Soon after, Lotta made her first professional appearance at a tavern owned by Matt Taylor. She began touring throughoutÂCalifornia, andÂNevada, making a name for herself as a dancer, singer, and banjo player in the mining camps. In 1856, the family moved back to San Francisco. By 1859, she had become \"Miss Lotta, the San Francisco Favorite\".

Lotta\'s mother served as her manager and collected all of Lotta\'s earnings inÂgold, carrying it in a large leather bag. When this became too heavy, it was transferred to a steamer trunk.

Lotta Crabtree, 1868 (Library of Congress)[edit]Later career

Having made a name in California, in 1863 Lotta left to tour the east coast where she began acting inplaysÂsuch asÂThe Old Curiosity Shop,ÂUncle Tom\'s Cabin and Little Nell and the Marchioness. With her petite size, she became a favorite for her portrayals of children. The late 1860s would see the \"Lotta Polka\" and \"Lotta Gallup\" as quite the rage in America. At age 20 she was a national star. By 1875, Lotta was touring the nation with her own theatrical company. Lotta achieved the height of her success in the 1870s and 1880s.

The 1880s saw her perennially as the highest paid actress in America, earning sums of up to $5,000 per week. Mary Ann was still managing Lotta\'s affairs: booking plays, finding locations, and organizing troupes of actors. When the steamer trunk became too heavy, she invested Lotta\'s earnings in local real estate, race horses and bonds. As well as investing, some of the money was used to support local charities and build fountains Lotta\'s Fountain, the most famous of these fountains, still stands at the intersection of Market and Kearny Streets in San Francisco, and is the site of meetings every April 18 marking the anniversary of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.

Lotta traveled abroad with Mary Ann and her brothers, where she learned French, visited museums and began painting. After her tour abroad, Lotta returned to San Francisco where she played at the California Theatre, reprising her role in Little Nell and the Marchioness by John Bowen. Having missed her while she was away, the city responded warmly to her return and treated her like their very own star.[1]

In 1885, Lotta\'s mother had an 18 room summer cottage built in the Breslin Park section of Mount Arlington on the shores of Lake Hopatcong, New Jersey, which was called Attol Tryst. The house, designed by noted architect Frank Furness, stands today and in recent years has been beautifully restored. Lotta gave parties, drove horses, and pursued her was forced to retire as a result of a fall in Wilmington, Delaware in May 1889. After recovering in Lake Hopatcong, she attempted a comeback in 1891 and decided to retire permanently from the stage. She later resisted calls for a farewell tour. At age 45, it was the perfect time to retire - she was the richest actress in America, the theatre was changing and she got out at the top. She made one final appearance in 1915 for \"Lotta Crabtree Day\" in San Francisco at the Panama-Pacific Exposition.

While Lotta apparently had her share of romance, her travel, lifestyle and mother made a long-term relationship difficult and Lotta never married.

Following retirement, Lotta traveled, painted (including studying at Paris in 1912) and was active in charitable work.

Late in her life, Lotta moved to Massachusetts and was owner of acreage in the southern part of the Squantum section of Quincy, immediately south of Boston, Massachusetts. It is said to have been purchased for the benefit and health of her brother (Ashworth) and for their horses. Most of the land was sold as house lots in the 1930s and \'40s. Children who walked to school through Lotta\'s land in those days often passed by two small markers of local granite set into the ground, engraved \"Ruby Royal\" and \"Sonoma Girl\" - two of the Crabtrees\' horses. Local street names include Ashworth Road, Livesey Road, Sonoma Road, and the shoreline Crabtree Road. Ashworth was a family surname, as was Livesey. A large cylindrical stone tower constructed nearby likely had a farm-related storage purpose. Further information may be available through the Quincy (Massachusetts) Historical Society.

Lotta spent the last 15 years of her life at the Brewster Hotel which she had purchased in Boston. She died September 25, 1924 at age 76. In her obituary, The New York Times called her the \"eternal child\". She was described by critics as mischievous, unpredictable, impulsive, rattlebrained, teasing, piquant, rollicking, cheerful and devilish. Lotta Crabtree was interred at theÂWoodlawn Cemetery in Bronx, NY.

Lotta left an estate of some $4 million in a charitable trust for such causes as veterans, aging actors and animals. The estate ran into complications when a number of people unsuccessfully contested the will. The trust still exists today.

Napoleon Sarony(March 9, 1821 – November 9, 1896)[1]was anAmericanlithographerandphotographer. He was a highly popular and greatportraitphotographer, most known for his portraits of the stars of late-19th-century Americantheater. His son,Otto Sarony, continued the family business as an accomplished theater and film star photographer.

Life

Sarony was born inQuebecin 1821 and moved toNew York Cityaround 1836. He worked as an illustrator forCurrier and Ivesbefore joining withJames Majorand starting his own lithography business, Sarony & Major, in 1843. In 1845, James Major was replaced by Henry B. Major in Sarony & Major and it continued operating under that name until 1853. From 1853 to 1857, the firm was known as Sarony and Company, and from 1857 to 1867, as Sarony, Major & Knapp. Sarony left the firm in 1867 and established a photography studio at 37Union Square, during a time when celebrity portraiture was a popular fad.[2][3]Photographers would pay their famous subjects to sit for them, and then retain full rights to sell the pictures. Sarony reportedly paid famed stage actressSarah Bernhardt$1,500 to pose for his camera, the equivalent of more than $20,000 today.[3]In 1894 he published his portfolio of prints titled, \"Sarony\'s Living Pictures.\"

Associations

Included among the thousands of people that came into Sarony\'s world were many distinguished people, such as American Civil War General, William T. Sherman, and American authorsSamuel Clemens(Mark Twain),Lew WallaceandOscar Wilde.

William T. Sherman

In 1888, Sarony photographedWilliam T. Sherman, three years before he died in 1891. Sarony\'s photograph would be used as a model for the engraving of thefirst Sherman Postage stamp.[4]

Samuel Clemens; the Lotos, Salmagundi and Tile Clubs

Sarony took numerous photographs ofSamuel Clemens(Mark Twain).[3]Clemens and Sarony were in the same social circles and shared many mutual acquaintances. They both belonged to theLotos Clubin New York City. Sarony helped in the founding of theSalmagundi Club, an association of artists, and was also a member of the Tile Club, whose members included well-known authors and journalists. In 1883, English authorWilkie Collinsdedicated his anti-vivisectionbookHeart and Scienceto Sarony. In 1884, Sarony was a participant in an April Fool\'s joke played on Clemens whenGeorge Washington Cablearranged for 150 of Clemens\'s friends to write to him simultaneously, requesting his autograph. As part of the joke, no stamps or envelopes were to be provided for a reply.

Oscar Wilde

One of Sarony\'s portraits of writer Oscar Wilde became the subject of aU.S. Supreme Courtcase,Burrow-Giles Lithographic Co. v. Sarony111 U.S. 53 (1884), in which the Court upheld the extension ofcopyrightprotection to photographs. Sarony sued Burrow-Giles after it used unauthorized lithographs ofOscar Wilde No. 18in an advertisement, and won a judgment for $610 (the modern equivalent of just over $12,000) that was affirmed onappealby theSecond Circuit Court of Appealsand the Supreme Court. Sarony later photographed the Supreme Court itself, to celebrate the centennial of the federal judiciary in 1890.[3][5]

Family

Sarony was married twice. His first wife died in 1858; his second, Louie, reportedly shared his tendency towards eccentricity and preference for outlandish dress. She rented elaborate costumes that she wore during her daily afternoon walk throughWashington Square, wearing them once before returning them.

His brother,Oliver François Xavier Sarony, was also a portrait photographer, working primarily in England, and who died in 1879. Napoleon\'s son Otto (1859–1903) continued the family name for a few years until his own early death in 1903.

Sarony was buried inGreen-Wood CemeteryinBrooklyn.[3]