Accession Number

2012.014

Description

A black and white photograph of Edna Wallace Hopper smiling and wearing a brimmed hat, a string of pearls of graduated sizes around her neck and also a long bejeweled necklace with a locket containing the image of a middle-aged woman, Edna wearing lightly-coloured gloves and holding her coat lapel with her left hand.

Narrative

Ms. Hopper was the stepdaughter of Alexander Dunsmuir. 

Her biographer Jim Alessio writes in his book The Eternal Flapper: The Many Lives of Edna Wallace Hopper (Bloomington, IN: Author House, 2009) that Edna often wore a diamond necklace with a locket attached that contained a photograph of her mother, Jospehine (Mrs. Alexander Dunsmuir). Alessio repeated this assertion in telephone conversations with Craigdarroch Curator Bruce Davies. In this photograph, Edna is wearing the locket with the photograph of her mother clearly visible.

Ms. Hopper's business acumen enabled her to rise to highest levels in business. She was a highly-skilled self-promoter, an attribute that this photograph effectively communicates. 
 

History of Use

This photograph was used in New York City for promotional puposes in 1925. It was used there again in December 1959 when Edna died and likely published in obituaries in a number of syndicated publications. The print was eventually acquired by an EBay seller from whom it was purchased by The Castle Society in 2012.

Date

1925

Dimensions

8.5 x 6.5 cm

Photograph Type

Gelatin silver process

Medium

Photographic

Support

Paper, Photographic paper

Inscription

On the verso:

by hand, Edna Wallace Hopper, Actress
by stamp, September 9, 1925

by hand; 8:45 3/4 col. by 2"  Edna #3 Pg one

by stamp; Photo COPYRIGHTED Keystone View Co. Inc. of NY 91-97 7th Avenue,  N.Y.C. [four or five more indistinct words]

by stamp, typewriter and by hand; DEC 15 1959 P/a WILL SHE NEVER GROW OLD? WE HOPE NOT Edna Wallace Hopper, noted stage star, returns home on the SS Momeric. This "flapper" is 51 years old. Would you think so. We don't. More power to her ability to stay young. (c) Keystone View Co.) K Died 12-14-59 525

Country of Origin

United States of America