An antique panoramic photo yields fascinating 1920s worker portraits.
My friend Deb showed me this old rolled-up photo she found among her late mother's belongings. I was fascinated, poring over it with a magnifying glass. I imagined scanning it to enlarge the image so I could properly view all these wonderful faces. I figure although the young boy on the far right (if he was 13 in 1928) is possibly alive today at 95, it's pretty safe to assume everyone here has passed on. This is the Merchants Rubber Company, started by Jacob Kaufman (you know the name from Kaufman Footwear, such as the famous Sorel boots).
This shot was taken by the Toronto Panoramic Photography Company on Lansdowne Avenue. Wiki says, "Following the invention of flexible film in 1888, panoramic photography was revolutionised. Dozens of cameras were marketed, many with brand names heavily indicative of their time. Cameras such as the Cylindrograph, Wonder Panoramic, Pantascopic and Cyclo-Pan, are some examples of panoramic cameras."
See the portraits on the Ancestors of Kitchener, Ontario Blog
