Porter C. Thayer Photographs
Collection Overview
This archive contains 1300 photographs made by Porter C. Thayer, scanned from silver gelatin prints, held in the collection of the Brooks Memorial Library. The prints were made in 1980 from the 5x7 glass plates negatives created by Porter Thayer. These images are also available on microfilm at the Brattleboro library.
Porter Thayer was born Porter Charlie Thayer on January 6, 1882 on Main Street in Williamsville, Vermont. He grew up in the red house called the Tillotson Place in the Parish section of Newfane, Vermont.
He photographed Windham County, Vermont, beginning in 1906 through around 1920. Like most Vermont men of his generation he was a farmer, specifically an apple orchardist, managing his 50 acre apple orchard on Baker Brook Farm in Newfane. He turned to his apple business after ending his photographic career.
The postcard craze that most likely reached Vermont by about 1905, was perhaps the impetus for Porter Thayer starting up a photographic business. His diaries tell that he sold 1,197 postal cards during a six-month period at the height of his career. The cards were for sale as souvenirs to summer tourists at small general stores, local inns, boarding houses and hotels. Local folks purchased his photographs as well, especially around the Christmas season, to send to distant relatives. A Brattleboro, Vermont directory of 1909 lists Porter as advertising that he would come to anyone’s home and make images for a reasonable fee. Around 1911 he recorded that he had 720 customers. Eventually he photographed in all the towns within a 25 mile radius of his home in Newfane.
Porter Thayer perfectly fits the archetype of the town photographer. He traveled the narrow dirt roads in his buggy, behind his faithful mare Lady, who accompanied him daily. He could apparently take extended naps while Lady brought him safely home, as she always knew the way. He used two cameras: a 5 x 7 and a 6.5 x 8.5 view camera and made glass dry-plate negatives. He traveled with stacks of postcards to be delivered at stores along the way to his days work.
Working continually through seasons and years, Porter Thayer left an archive that is a cultural treasure for southeastern Vermont. The quality of his work shows that he was able to combine business needs with aesthetic ones. During the time period Porter worked, Vermont was extremely poor and rural, yet held a close-knit population that shared the labors of life. Farmers helped one another to survive in a subsistence and barter economy. For women, men, and children, life meant constant work. Thayer’s images describe the work and the tools involved. His landscape images reveal this working landscape, which today is mostly hidden by trees. The fruits of his labor as a photographer have grown in importance, as both the landscape and culture of Vermont has shifted into modern spheres of living.
Written by Jessica Weitz and Forrest Holzapfel, 2010.
Time Period Covered: 1906 - 1920
Published: October 11, 2010,
Rights: The William Thayer Family and heirs hold copyright to the Porter Thayer Photographs collection. Material in the collection may not be used without permission. For permission requests, contact Bill Thayer at billthayer08@gmail.com
Browse Options
Creator(s)
Place(s)
- Newfane (Vt.) [4]
- Williamsville (Vt.) [3]
- Marlboro (Vt.) [2]
- Brookline (Vt.) [1]
- Dover (Vt. : Town) [1]
- Halifax (Vt. : Town) [1]
- Jamaica (Vt.) [1]
- Westminster (Vt.) [1]
Format(s)
- image [22]
Genre(s)
- black-and-white photographs [22]
- photographs [22]
- group portraits [11]
Topic(s)
- Family [22]
- Children [11]
- Portrait photography [11]
- Dwellings [10]
- Animals [5]
- Hunting [1]
- Logging [1]
- Swine [1]
- Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie)1882-1972 [1]
- Transportation [1]
- Webster family [1]
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Browsing by:
Topic: ("Family")
Title: Deacon Wellman, with son Arthur and grandson, in front of stacked wood, Williamsville, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 19--
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: Earl Taylor and Family with Horse Team, Pig, and Dog, Marlboro, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 19--
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: Family in automobile next to their house in Windham County,Vermont
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 19--
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: Family in front of their homestead, Westminster, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 19--
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: Family portrait in front of a barn with a porcupine skin
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 19--
Resource type: group portraits
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: Family portrait in front of their dwelling with cat and dogs, Williamsville, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 19--
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: Farmhouse with people in front, either the Phillips, Cook or Pratt house
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1911
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Believed to be same household as images bmlthayerT198 and T200.
Title: Fred Holland's family on their porch in East Dover
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1913
Resource type: group portraits
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: Group portrait at a family picnic in front of a house in Vermont
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1909
Resource type: group portraits
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: House with family outside, Brookline, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1910
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: Minister's Family on Porch, Jamaica, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 1911
Resource type: group portraits
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
See images bmlthayer T220, T237, T261, T266, T284 also.
Title: Mr and Mrs Ballou with two kids and a dog, Brookside, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 19--
Resource type: group portraits
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 19--
Resource type: group portraits
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Four generations of a family. Marion Fairbanks is baby.
Title: Portrait of Ruth Thayer and three older women
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 19--
Resource type: group portraits
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: Six Women in front of the Davidson House, Newfane, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 19--
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: Thayer family picnic
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 19--
Resource type: group portraits
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Porter standing in the background; Ruth in back, second from left; Webster in back, third from left.
Title: Thayer family portrait, Newfane, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 19--
Resource type: group portraits
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Porter is sitting in the second row of chairs, on the far right.
Title: Unidentified couple in front of their dwelling
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 19--
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: Unidentified family portrait outside, Marlboro, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 19--
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: Unidentified family portrait with two dogs in Windham County,Vermont
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 19--
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Title: Unidentified group portrait in Vermont
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 19--
Resource type: group portraits
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
Possibly a family?
Title: Webster family portrait with cannon, Newfane, Vt.
Creator: Thayer, Porter C. (Porter Charlie), 1882-1972
Date: 19--
Resource type: group portraits
Resource type: photographs
Resource type: black-and-white photographs
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