Let me start by saying that it's difficult to trace the actions of an individual, even a businessman, from the distance of over 100 years. A lot of this is guesswork, based on reviewing postcards, some old advertising and weighing the opinions of other researchers. If you disagree and can create a better reconstruction, please let me know.
1904: Enlisted in the Navy.
1910: The federal census shows him as a Chief Electrician aboard the USS Virginia, based at Hampton Roads, VA.
1911: He began taking pictures in earnest. In January, his ship was in Guantanamo Bay.
1910: The federal census shows him as a Chief Electrician aboard the USS Virginia, based at Hampton Roads, VA.
1911: He began taking pictures in earnest. In January, his ship was in Guantanamo Bay.
Around the end of March, he was present for the shelling of the USS San Marcos (ex Texas) off the Virginia coast.
In May, he was photographing ships -- his own and others -- enduring bad weather around Cape Hatteras, NC. This is probably the deck of the Virginia; later printings show it titled as "A Foc'stle Flood":
Information about when Moser was where comes from the catalog of copyright registrations. I'm presuming he would copyright his works fairly quickly when he decided the picture was interesting enough to sell, subject to the difficulties of mailing photographs from his ship.
Norbert Moser's earliest attempt at selling his photos would have been onboard the Virginia. I imagine him posting photos on a bulletin board, or in the ship's store, with requests taken and printed up as soon as possible. He stamped these photos at the bottom, "Copyright 1911 N. G. Moser" in dark red ink. He likely received an enthusiastic response from his shipmates, most of whom wouldn't have their own cameras yet.
(Kodak was producing basic pocket-sized cameras at what looks like fantastic prices today, but photography was not a cheap activity.)
Moser's earliest photos were often of other ships in the fleet driving through high waves. You can almost see him, one arm wrapped around the nearest rail as his own ship rolled and dove through the water, camera focus set on infinity so he wouldn't have to adjust it (presuming he could -- I have no idea how basic his own early camera was). They were impressive shots of ships appearing swamped by the tremendous waves. Sailors could send these to their land-bound relatives and point out, "This is what we had to live with."
They must have sold well -- or he included them in more of his sets -- as they are the most common you can find on eBay.
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| http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2013646987/ |
When he went into larger production (not certain as to date), he appears to have switched to marking the negative:
The images have a script-written 1911 copyright, but don't have a title.
The same basic card stock appears to have been used for these prints.
The same basic card stock appears to have been used for these prints.
The back of the card may or may not have Photo Post Card by N. G. Moser, 207 Thames St., Newport, R. I.
The back may or may not be upside down too.
In his first attempt as a publisher, Moser may not have paid too much attention to consistency. Or perhaps he jobbed out the actual printing.
There is sometimes a hint of the early script-written copyright remaining on later printings, usually with the year scratched out:
The back may or may not be upside down too.
In his first attempt as a publisher, Moser may not have paid too much attention to consistency. Or perhaps he jobbed out the actual printing.
There is sometimes a hint of the early script-written copyright remaining on later printings, usually with the year scratched out:
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