An American Civil War veteran telling war stories to shoe shine boys.
The picture was the prize-winning amateur photograph from the 1935 Newspaper National Snapshot Awards was taken by Mrs. Nathan Klein of Wyoming, Pennsylvania. The note on the back reads: “Old soldier talking to bootblacks.”
The Civil War veteran talking to the shoeshiners is wearing a distinctive hat. It is the cap of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) — the largest Union veterans’ organization — founded in 1866. The number on the cap tells us his post was 139, located in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
