From collection Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Company Collection
Damariscotta Lake, Jefferson, ME.
A high view overlooking a part of Damariscotta Lake with small wooded islands and peninsulas. Here and there a farm and some open fields are visible among the forested land. This image was originally made by one of the the Cunningham brothers, Frank and Bert, who had a studio in nearby Washington, Maine, "...brothers (who) formed a creative and business partnership for a while around the turn of the century, traversing a familiar sweep of a few hundred miles of countryside by horse and buggy to capture whatever scenes of daily life-- work, home, clebration, recreation-- appealed to their customers. Their glass plates,which sometimes began as unique, commissioned images, were often used subsequently to print postcards and cabinet cards for a wider market. At this time, photography remained a fairly technical skill; photographs were still enticing and special objects to most people." [source: PMM Cunningham Brothers Collection, pmm.org] This scenic image is one of the Cunningham's that was made into a postcard by the Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Company during a time when city dwellers were beginning to look to the unspoiled regions of northern New England for temporary respite from urban life.