Buffalo: Ginther, [circa 1890].
Price: $500.00
Unbound. Collodion print. Images measures 4" x 5½" and is mounted on a 4¼" x 6½" card with photographer's name and address printed below the image. Fine. Penciled name of "Marjorie Gillmore" on verso in contemporary hand. The image shows a well-dressed and coifed woman sitting in a chair with a punching bag and boxing gloves at her feet. Women's boxing was practiced in England beginning in the early 18th Century, and the first advertised American women's boxing match was held in New York in 1876. Women's boxing enjoyed a brief vogue near the turn of the century as some woman's rights supporters encouraged it as exercise. Women's boxing was a display sport at the Olympic Games in St. Louis in 1904 (which was combined with the World's Fair), but it failed to be added to the permanent roster of approved sports. After that it mostly faded from view until its relatively recent revival. It is uncommon to find early images of women with boxing paraphernalia. Undated but presumably someone with better knowledge of women's fashion might be able to make a more informed guess.
Item #409248