1924 Boston Quincy Market Faneuil Hall Delivery Trucks Horse Glass Negative OOAK For Sale

1924 Boston Quincy Market Faneuil Hall Delivery Trucks Horse Glass Negative OOAK

Spectacular, one-of-a-kind (OOAK) camera-original antique 4x5 gelatin silver glass plate negative captured in 1924 by legendary Boston Herald-Traveler staff photojournalist Leslie Jones, documenting a bustling traffic jam of early commercial delivery trucks, horse-drawn produce wagons, and vendors along North Market Street directly beside Quincy Market and Faneuil Hall in Boston's historic Market District.

Shot from an elevated upper-story window, this extraordinary commercial documentary image captures the transitional era of urban freight delivery:

• The Commercial Fleet & Traffic Gridlock:

  • A dense corridor packed bumper-to-hitch with early 1920s hard-rubber-tired and pneumatic-tired commercial panel trucks, open express delivery beds, and canvas-topped delivery vans (including early Ford Model T, Mack, White, and Autocar delivery commercial chassis).

  • Working draft horses standing harnessed to multi-tier wooden produce wagons stacked high with slatted egg crates, vegetable hampers, and fruit boxes.

• Historic Market Architecture & Business Signage:

  • Shows the classical granite and brick facade of Quincy Market (Faneuil Hall Marketplace) with its arched window pediments, second-story dormers, and street-level vendor shed awnings.

  • Legible period mercantile stall signage, including the storefront of:

    "STALLS 93–95 / WINN-RICKER & CO." (historic Boston wholesale commission produce merchants), along with outdoor loading docks piled deep with stacked wooden crates and goods.

The negative exhibits benchmark first-generation optical sharpness, incredible focal depth, and balanced silver tonal contrast:

• Pin-sharp focal clarity capturing individual crate stencils, wagon spoke wheels, horse harness tack, and market stall roof slats.

• Brilliant shadow detail across the cobblestones and undercarriage mechanisms.

• Pure camera-original gelatin silver exposure free from modern digital reproduction artifacts.

Format: Heavy antique silver gelatin glass plate negative, measuring approximately 4x5 inches, exposed directly in Leslie Jones's press camera in 1924.

Archive Sleeve Included: Accompanied by the original period tan kraft darkroom filing sleeve bearing contemporary newsroom calligraphy in vintage ink:

"Boston / Market District / 1924" with added lower collector/editorial note: "Very Nice".

Please Note: This listing is for the single (1) original antique glass plate negative and its original period paper archive sleeve only. Any positive photographic images shown in this listing are modern inverted digital scans provided solely as a visual representation to show what a finished photograph prints like. No physical paper photograph, modern print, or paper reproduction is included with this purchase.

Condition: Very Good to Excellent antique condition. The heavy glass plate is structurally sound, stable, and completely intact with no cracks, fractures, or perimeter breaks. The silver gelatin emulsion is remarkably clean, crisp, and well preserved across the entire bustling market corridor, buildings, trucks, and horses. Displays standard authentic perimeter handling marks and edge silver mirroring along the extreme outer borders consistent with an authentic 1924 working newspaper press negative. Accompanied by the original annotated kraft archive sleeve.

The glass plate negative measures 4 x 5In.
If you collect glass negatives, please check out our collection in our store. We are currently listing thousands of original glass photo negatives from this DJD collection through the remainder of the year. Follow our store, and feel free to reach out about any questions about the negatives in this collection.
Ships with extreme care in archival materials to ensure safe transit. Feel free to reach out with any requests or questions).
Combined shipping is available (with other glass negatives)