This dapper man had his portrait taken in Tidaholm, Sweden. There is no annotation as to who it is so I’ll present my hypothesis of the probable date of the photo, and then who I think it is, based on the age and facial features of the young man, which I am estimating to be between 17 and 24.

Somewhere a glass plate negative may still exist. The reverse side of the photo has in Swedish “Plate available for ordering”.

Based on the stamps of the medals embossed on the card this photo was taken after 1882.

The photographer that started the Axelsson studio, Robert Axelsson, had various studios throughout Sweden, and was active until his death in 1891. His wife Adolfina continued the business until 1921. The only dates I can find that lists the Axelsson studio in Tidaholm is 1898-1902. This does not mean they were not in Tidaholm before that, but there is no proof I can find on the internet to the contrary. Props to my husband for sleuthing the sources of this info!

So if we agree on a date range of 1898-1902, then (Agustaf Clemens) Gus Almquist would have been 19-20 years old (he left for America in Feb. 1901, right before his 21st birthday).

On the left is 26ish year old Gus at his and Alfrieda’s wedding, at least 5-9 years after the picture we are sleuthing.  On the right is a closeup of the dapper fellow.

So I would say the ears have a very close resemblance,  the chin looks close, the nose mostly close – with differences attributable to angle, the lips are the same, and the hair is much lighter, but the Almquists start out with light hair and often end up with dark hair in their 20’s.

What do you think, is this Gus age 19-20?  Was this picture taken right before his voyage to the New World?