I have recently become enamored with antique cabinet card style photographs of old-timey store fronts and interiors. I have found many already on eBay and I am on the hunt for more. This is the first in a series that features some of these photographs. I hope you enjoy them!

This photo shows a group of about 16 men, four horses, and a dog in front of the “A. Walker Co.” There are no other markings on the back that would help identify the location. The photo appears similar to others from between 1880 and 1900.

Here it is with the mount cropped off so you can see some of the details more clearly.

And here are some of my favorite details with even more magnification.

I was especially drawn to some of these details of the men. Two pairs of them are engage in tender fraternal type embraces. The man with the white shirt on the right appears to be holding a cigar as well.

On the far left you can see a sign that reads “Post Office” and on the bottom left there is a dog.

Without much to go on I did a quick newspaper search for the “A. Walker Co.” and “A. Walker Company” and focussed on hits prior to 1900.

Though quite speculative this photo MAY be the A. Walker Company of Santa Fe, New Mexico. According to this newspaper advertisement, they “Deal in Everything that is Good to Eat”.

Here is the first mention of the A. Walker Company that I found from 1896. Could this be referring to store in the photo"?

These articles appear to detail the eventual closing and sale of the A. Walker Co. (which became the F. S. Davis Company).

And finally, there is an article published in 1949, as a 50 year retrospective, that talked about Christmas holiday decorations at the store in 1899 (I also found the original article published 50 years earlier).

Could, “the two show windows decorated very prettily and in and original manner", described the very same windows that we see in the photo. I would sure like to think so!

What do you think?

To see the small but growing Gallery of Old Time Stores check below!

Related Posts: 1890s