The Missing Culture

I thought this picture of a porter and his donkey would be a nice post to close the month. As humanity we owe a lot to animals, we have taken so much and given back so little. Many, like dogs, horses and donkeys, have been used as service animals, especially in the army. During those days the tradition was such that after the animal retired, it was sent to one of the public pastures where food was plenty. The animal would be marked (usually its ear) with the sultan's signature. The signature meant it had a free ride; it could go any garden, literally anywhere and could do whatever it fancied. If the owner of a place nearby had required compensation because of the animal, he would have gone to a kadi (read as judge) and reported it. The damages would be paid from the treasury. Deliberately hurting a marked animal meant death. This donkey's faith is unknown to me but it surely had a tough life. Estimated value: $ 30

Here is a not so common old Istanbul picture. The winter of 1929 is still told by those who lived long enough to see the 21st century. It was terribly cold. If you polled the nation today, most would mistakenly report the event that Bosporus Strait had frozen then. Actually the reason was the glaciers from Black Sea that blocked it and made crossing it on foot possible. Dated 1 March 1929. Estimated value: $ 35

I thought it would be nice to continue with the pictures of the past century that I had come across. Here, we see the Italian Post Office in Izmir Harbor, soon after the turn of the century. The photograph is a copy and artificially colored. I was unable to get the the exact date but I would take a guess and say it is from 1918, just after World War I. Estimated Value: $ 60

Digital photography has killed many things, one being your imagination. Color photography killed the secrecy. What else left? Black and white photos always had a secret, a secret only for your eyes; a secret that would trigger your imagination and take you somewhere else, a personal destination of your own, that only you were invited. Take a look at this bromide picture by Breger Freres, Paris, and let your imagination carry you away after it discloses your personal secret. Estimated value: $ 100

Here is a small treat for enthusiasts of naval history. Pictured is a photograph of Benedetto Brin, Regina Margherita class, anchored in Istanbul in 1912. Designed by Benedetto Brin for the Italian Navy, the class consisted of two battleships, the other one being Regina Margherita. They were both fast ships (20 knots) but never proved themselves in battle. Brin, after being launched in 1905, was sunk in Brindisi harbor by enemy sabotage in 1915. Estimated value: $ 80