Panama Pacific International Exposition 

Blog post #13

Many of us who have taken apart a framed Davidson picture have seen this small  1 1/4“ x 3“ label.  

The label was sometimes glued to the back of a picture or sometimes to the back of a matt but most people don’t know what the label represents. If you look closely, you can see that the label has two emblems. One depicts David Davidson studio with a “DD” in the center.  The other emblem shows a pavilion with the words “International Exposition San Francisco”.  The label represents awards won by David Davidson at the exposition. 

The year was 1915. The Panama Canal had just been completed in 1914 and San Francisco was not yet 10 years in its recovery from the earthquake that decimated the city in 1906.   In February 1915, the Panama Pacific international exposition, a world fair, was opened in San Francisco, California.  

The fairs stated purpose was to celebrate the completion of the Panama Canal, but it was widely seen in the city as an opportunity to showcase the city’s recovery from the earthquake.   The fair showcased new technology.  If you can imagine the year being 1915, the new technology in the world was cars, planes and telephones.  

Awards and metals were given out for numerous categories including fine arts, photography and hand colored photography. Davidson offered samples of his work for consideration in the competition.  

My pursuit of the details as to who was Davidson‘s competition and what were the hand colored photos that were presented required a lot of digging.  What I was very surprised to find was my name and this blog noted as a resource to find information on Davidson.  As it turns out none of the specific works of any of the contestants were photographed or saved for posterity. I was so looking forward to finding out what specific pictures Davidson presented. What I did find out was that the contestants all offered a grouping of their work that represented different styles and categories.  

The exposition’s top prize in the field of hand colored photography was offered to a local artist; Willard Warden 1868-1946. 

Warden’s work was very localized to the San Francisco area. He specialized in art photos of seascapes and landscapes of Northern California and San Francisco, sometimes colored by hand with watercolor and oils.  Being a local artist he understood the city wanting to use the exposition to showcase the city’s recovery from the earthquake. His entry in the competition was a grouping of hand colored photos of the devastation and recovery of the 1906 earthquake.  

Until now I have never heard of Willard Warden. He was a self taught photographer.  The height of his career was the 1915 exposition.  Being from the West Coast that long ago, Warden did not have the influence of the great photographers of New England so what did his work look like? If someone wanted to pursue a new name in the field of hand colored photography, Willard Warden might be a very interesting choice. 

David Davidson‘s hand colored grouping of photos won him the bronze medal award at the Panama Pacific International Exposition in 1915.  The actual award is part of the Davidson family collection.

The family was good enough to send me a photo of the award, which still finds dedicated wall space after 110 years.  That small label that Davidson attached to the back of his pictures will occasionally show itself, reminding us of his accomplishment all those years ago.

Polishing Silver?

A story for another day…