“Agfa Box 1910-1914”

Agfa Box

This is a box by the brand Agfa. The box contains 41 medium-format negatives: 5 on glass (9×12 cm) and 36 on celluloid (varying in size). The box provides no further clues to its origin, apart from the fact that it is bilingual itself: German and French. Something was written on it in pencil, but it has become illegible. So the sleuthing can begin!

The photos suggest it is most likely a Belgian family. The two photos with uniforms resemble the Belgian Civic Guard from before the First World War. The car has a Belgian license plate, and there are photos from Antwerp and Ghent. But the family also loved to travel, as Windsor Castle (UK), Lucerne and Strasbourg are also pictured.

The time frame can also be narrowed down quite precisely: the car dates from 1910–1914, and the Belgian Civic Guard was disbanded during the First World War. The photos therefore date from 1910–1914.

Confirmed locations:

  • Lucerne, Switzerland. From the lake.
  • Eton College, Windsor, Berkshire, England
  • Windsor Castle, Windsor, England
  • Nagel & Esders clothing store, Lieven Bauwensplein, Ghent
  • Het Steen, Steenplein in Antwerp
  • Maison des Tanneurs, Strasbourg

If you know more about these photos, please feel free to contact me. I am especially interested in the family’s name.

Details

  • Belgian Civil Guard

    Belgian Civil Guard

    Based on the uniform, headgear (shako), and leather “belly pouch,” this is most likely a member of the Belgian Civil Guard (Garde Civique), photographed sometime between ca. 1910–1914.

  • Minerva Landaulet

    Expensive car

    A car appears in several photos. It was certainly a rare possession at the time, but it was also quite a luxury car. The car has a Belgian registration and resembles a Minerva Landaulet GG from around 1910-1913 (source).

  • Suworow-Denkmal

    A Russian in Switzerland

    This is the Suvorov Memorial near Andermatt, Switzerland. This monument commemorates the soldiers of the Russian Imperial Army who fell in 1799 during the War of the Second Coalition in the Battle of Gotthard Pass and Schöllenen Gorge, under the command of Field Marshal Suvorov.

Agfa Box - Woman in Belgian Civic Guard uniform Agfa Box - Woman in front of a hedge Agfa Box - Family lying in the garden Agfa Box - Woman posing in the garden Agfa Box - Man and woman with a dog sitting in the garden Agfa Box - Man and woman sitting in the garden Agfa Box - Family photo in the garden Agfa Box - Woman in an old street Agfa Box - Family posing on a bridge Agfa Box - Man in Belgian Civic Guard uniform Agfa Box - Man and woman in front of Windsor Castle Agfa Box - Street scene, Belgium, 1910 Agfa Box - Playing croquet, 1910 Agfa Box - Mountain landscape Agfa Box - Maison des Tanneurs, Strasbourg Agfa Box - Minerva Landaulet GG Agfa Box - Hospital Agfa Box - Man and woman posing, man with top hat Agfa Box - Family posing by Minerva Landaulet GG Agfa Box - Suvorov Monument Agfa Box - Eton College, Windsor Agfa Box - Two women posing in a mountain landscape Agfa Box - Minerva Landaulet GG Agfa Box - Lieven Bauwensplein, Ghent, 1910 Agfa Box - Man and woman in front of a house, 1910 Agfa Box - Het Steen in Antwerp Agfa Box - Woman posing in Belgian Civic Guard uniform