Two barbers stand at their stations in a well-appointed small-town shop captured on a boudoir card, dated by inscription to 1919 in Rome, Idaho. The image is a gelatin silver print mounted on a plain buff card stock with no photographer's imprint visible on the reverse. A February calendar advertising J. A. Armstrong Department Store is clearly legible on the right wall, corroborating the 1919 date and anchoring the location within a specific commercial community.
The left barber wears a dark vest over a dress shirt and stands with both hands resting on the back of a tufted leather barber chair, while the right barber in a white shirt and bow tie holds a folded towel at his side. A large back-bar mirror reflects the shop's depth, pendant electric globe lights hang from the ceiling, rows of bottles and cups line the work shelf, a wall-mounted sink appears at the far left, and a cylindrical water heater stands at the far right.
Rome, Idaho is a small community in Owyhee County, and photographs documenting its commercial life from this era are rare. The J. A. Armstrong Department Store calendar visible in the image represents a locally documented business from the period, making this interior view a notable piece of regional commercial history.
The reverse bears the pencil inscription "1919 Rome - Idaho" and a price notation of "95" in the upper right corner.
From the collection of James Lee Soffer
Available payment options