I printed this from a very old glass negative. I think the women and children are there to do more than wave and say welcome home. They’ll be transporting the fish to market and home to eat. Where do you think this is?
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Fred Bodin is a photographer who owns a gallery on Main Street in downtown Gloucester, MA. The gallery features Fred's land and seascapes, as well as historic images printed from the old negatives.
View all posts by Fredrik Bodin
17 thoughts on “Return of the Fishing Fleet, circa 1880”
Dutch for sure, whether a botter, a Lemmeraak, or something else. Note the leeboards and retractable boom, also the costumes. At least one of the women is wearing wooden clogs. These boats had a broad flat bottom and could be brought right up on the beach to unload. Nowadays you can find them fitted out as cruising yachts. here used to be one moored in Buck Harbor in Maine.
Martha Hale Harvey could have been to the Dutch Frisian Islands, where this may have been taken sometime in the late 19th century. But I wonder if she took this; perhaps she acquired it on a trip to the Netherlands. It certainly looks like a beat-up negative, which hers usually were not.
Wow! That’s a good one, Fred. But a tough one to place. I look at old fishing pictures every day and I hesitate to even guess. I’m with Paul on this one, I think it was posed, perhaps for an old movie but, I have no idea of the local
Awful high in the water to be returning. Not much excitement, not even a wave to or from loved ones waiting a long time. I’m with Jeff about the location as a guess and the pole wouldn’t have been there at that time I don’t believe.
Good Morning Gloucester 
Love this photograph Fred!
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I would say Pavilion beach but I don’t see the greasy pole – LOL
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Really great picture, thanks for sharing!
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Pavilion Beach . . . .?
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Netherlands, Boat looks like a Boter with leeboards.
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Here is a link with a picture of a Dutch Botter:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/NETHERLANDS-BOTTER-27-Handmade-Wooden-Dutch-Fishing-Boat-Model-/261268456604?pt=Model_Kit_US&hash=item3cd4d0449c
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Wait until you see tomorrow’s post!
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Looks like a posed Photo of their time. Postcard?
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No, this is from an original negative made by Martha Harvey. She sold prints in Gloucester and her husband made paintings from them.
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Almost looks like it could be a photo for a Winslow Homer.
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Niles Beach?
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Dutch for sure, whether a botter, a Lemmeraak, or something else. Note the leeboards and retractable boom, also the costumes. At least one of the women is wearing wooden clogs. These boats had a broad flat bottom and could be brought right up on the beach to unload. Nowadays you can find them fitted out as cruising yachts. here used to be one moored in Buck Harbor in Maine.
LikeLike
Martha Hale Harvey could have been to the Dutch Frisian Islands, where this may have been taken sometime in the late 19th century. But I wonder if she took this; perhaps she acquired it on a trip to the Netherlands. It certainly looks like a beat-up negative, which hers usually were not.
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Wow! That’s a good one, Fred. But a tough one to place. I look at old fishing pictures every day and I hesitate to even guess. I’m with Paul on this one, I think it was posed, perhaps for an old movie but, I have no idea of the local
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A classic for sure…Plymouth Mass?
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With the clogs maybe New York, as it was New Amsterdam then!
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Awful high in the water to be returning. Not much excitement, not even a wave to or from loved ones waiting a long time. I’m with Jeff about the location as a guess and the pole wouldn’t have been there at that time I don’t believe.
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