Vacation Album of Bunchberry Lodge in the Adirondacks [New York, Connecticut]

Photo album depicting family and friends vacationing at lodges in New York and home life in Connecticut. Approximately 520 silver gel photos. About half of the pages are dated; no captions. Two-thirds of the pages have photos on recto only. Photos are tipped in and measure between 2” x 3” and 7” x 9 ½” with most measuring about 3 ½” x 4”. Dates range from 1899-1904. “Richard Wightman” is in gilt lettering on the front album cover. Full leather album covers measure 10 ½” x 12 ½”. Album covers have heavy soiling and moderate chipping; about 10 leaves are detached from the binding; some photos are detached from leaves and only a handful of photos are missing; photos have light silvering and a few are out of focus. Overall good. The family pictured in this album, likely the Wightman family, was possibly from Greenwich, Connecticut with some images of large homes and fancy neighborhoods. One page has images of women biking; a road sign in one of these photos reads “To Glenville - To Pemberwick,” both neighborhoods in Greenwich, Connecticut. The family vacationed at Bunchberry Lodge in Dannemora, New York. The Lodge was on Chazy Lake in the picturesque Adirondacks. Most of the photos depict the family’s time at the Lodge or on their way to the lodge, and the album shows multiple visits over the years. The photos are quite entertaining and show the family swimming, somersaulting into the lake, boating, playing the piano, dressing up in Native American costume, relaxing in hammocks and hanging out on the porch.The fashions of the late 19th and early 20th century are well represented. There are also a couple photos of young folks with “W’ emblazoned on their sweaters (possibly for Wightman?). Little could be deduced about the family but this cataloguer found a Dannemora historian’s blog that contains snapshots of this album. Unfortunately the family isn’t named. The only photo with pertinent info is that of a man driving a horse and cart along a dirt road in the country; the local historian believes this to be Wilfred King, a long-time resident of Dannemora. Other images from the Dannemora area include a dam spillway, driftwood around the dam and a sawmill. There are also quite a few images that depict cabins and houses along the way to Dannemora and some hardy-looking country folk. A fun album that harkens back to city folk summering at lodges in the Adirondacks with some great photos of upstate New York and late 19th century fashions. .