r/whatisit • u/Hangry-24-7 • 1d ago

New, what is it? Uncle holding something

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Picture of my wife’s uncle as a boy 7 or 8 yrs old. Grew up on a farm in western NY. This picture dates back to around 1947 or 1948. What is the boy holding? Is it a toy? Or some sort of farm tool?

Update — yes this photo was enhanced using ai to take the graininess out of the original picture. My wife is giving a copy of the image to her cousin for an 80th birthday gift along with other photos.

The AI bashing on this post is unbelievable! How come nobody is bashing the fact that I used a scanner to create a jpeg of the image as opposed to creating a duplicate from a photo negative in a dark room and sending out 250 copies thru the postal service?

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u/BeneficialLeave7359 19h ago

Not really. The original drawing is done on a translucent media which is put on top of a piece of UV sensitive paper, that is yellow to start. This combo is the then run under a UV light source which “burns off” the yellow parts that weren’t masked off by the lines and writing on the original. The blueprint paper alone is then run through an ammonia vapor bath which then fixes the lines and turns them blue.

Source: I’m an old as fuck draftsman

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u/Past_Negotiation8290 7h ago

You’re referring to diazo blueprints which started being used in large numbers in the 1940s. The make blue lines or black or brown lines on a white background. Developed with ammonia and water vapor. The OG blueprints were actually cyanotypes invented in the 1820s.

Cyanotype prints have white lines on a blue background and need to get fully submerged in water like other photographic prints, so making large numbers was time consuming and messy.

However back to the original post, though that does look like a storage tube for drawings, the emblem on the side doesn’t look correct. Someone else suggested it is a telescope and has one just like it. I tend to agree.

Even older blue print shop owner here.

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u/buckfordfitchenstein 8h ago

Fuckin ell. That was my first job a very long time ago

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u/buckfordfitchenstein 8h ago

The ammonia! Phew

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u/Marco_McFly 18h ago

Interesting, I didn’t know that yet. Thank you for sharing this! Always appreciate new information.