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1917. Washington, D.C. "Edgar Rickard, executive assistant, U.S. Food Administration." Harris & Ewing Collection glass negative. View full size.
Reportedly a lot of fun and a genuine man of action. His daughter did model fur coats at Saks between marriages. Maybe the clothes bug came from him....
My first impression agrees with the earlier comment. It looks like a doll in a miniature office diorama. Stiff, somewhat shiny and various out of focus elements in the foreground and background. I wouldn't be surprised if one of the charts on the wall rotated around to reveal a televideo screen announcing "Thunderbirds are go!"
Edgar Rickard (1874-1951) was a capable engineer and government official who was a lifelong confidant of Herbert Hoover.
http://www.trumanlibrary.org/hoover/rickard.htm
Here, at age 43, strong eyebrows frame his challenging gaze. Much more than the ancestral metrosexual I took him for at first glance.
I suspect the ladies had vapors over this one.
Honestly, he looks like he would be right at home modeling button-down shirts or hoodies on a stand along the main aisle at Sears.
U.S. Food Administration? Hmmmm, two telephones, notepad, envelopes, an open safe; hey, this guy is making book! (Note: The pistol is in the right-hand drawer)
Wish he were running the FDA today. I doubt if he would have put up with the lack of oversight which has caused our peanut problem today.
Besides, I think he's delish!
Do I see a hint of Dr. Smith of "Lost in Space" in those eyes?
I don't think so. Very distinctive face, should have been in films. As I said in another comment, we need to consider the context in which these older photos were taken when we're trying to read posture and facial expressions. It's obvious this guy had a certain elegance, but I'd imagine most people back then would automatically go into a rather stiff getting-your-photo-taken stance, particularly in a more formal setting such as an office and when the camera was a big tripod-mounted affair, as opposed to a box Brownie at a picnic. But you can't control everything, and here I note the raised eyebrow and ever-so-slight hint of a wry grin. All in all, a face that seems to reveal much more than the superficially rigid posture.
I love the shirt and the collar. The hair and the tie, not so much.
When I first saw this photo in the Shorpy e-mail, I thought it was a manikin. It looks the same full size. Even the hands look rigid, poking out of a perfectly arranged shirt. I wonder if his personality was equally stiff.
I just come here for fashion tips, actually.
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