Nov 21, 2024 - Sale 2687

Sale 2687 - Lot 243

Unsold
Estimate: $ 2,500 - $ 3,500
(WEST--NEVADA.) P.E. Larson, photographer. Such is Life in the Far West: Early Morning Call in a Gambling Hall. Silver print, 7½ x 9¾ inches, captioned and numbered #4485 in the negative, mounted on heavy mat board; board roughly trimmed to the edge of the photo, otherwise minimal wear and spotting. Goldfield, NV, circa 1906
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Additional Details

Gold was discovered in Goldfield (about halfway between Las Vegas and Reno) in 1902. By 1906, the population had peaked at about 20,000; it presently sits at about 225. This image shows about a dozen men who have spent the night sleeping in a gambling hall, with the odds of six horse races posted in chalk on the wall.

Per Edward Larss (1863-1941) emigrated from Sweden, had a successful career as a gold-rush photographer in the Yukon, anglicized his name to P.E. Larson, and relocated to Goldfield, NV in February 1905 to replicate his earlier success.

"Drunken men lie sprawled on the floor, not yet recovered to realize that their hard-earned pay has been lost on unwise bets and futile numbers. Larson was always fascinated by the paradox that men would work so hard for gold only to lose it so easily"--Bailey, "Frozen In Silver: The Life and Frontier Photography of P. E. Larson," page 170 (copy included).