HISTORIC BONER NO. 18 Robert Cornelius, American chemist and pioneer in photography
The Evidence:
For five dollars, you could have commissioned Cornelius to capture your likeness in one of his two daguerreotype studios in Philadelphia. I’m not sure how much $5 was worth back in the 1840’s—though Google tells me an 1840 Liberty Seated dollar could run upwards of a grand these days—but common sense tells me that that is a small price to pay for being in the same room as that face/hair. The reduced exposure time of one minute left so much more time to the imagination, right, right?
And I don't know where that shot at the work ethic of my fellow Americans came from, though I have been watching a lot of Married...With Children lately...
Next Time: Another lady, though I don't yet know whom (don't want to disappoint the straight guys and produce another "Anne Hathaway's more boring cousin"...)
