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Wallace Nutting

Come Into The Parlor

by Mike Ivankovich

he parlor was traditionally a gathering room where family mem- found the ideal setting for both his home and picture business in
bers and friends would meet, eat, socialize, and relax. Smaller Southbury, Connecticut.
Tand less affluent homes had the Kitchen, Dining Room, and Nutting blossomed into America’s foremost photographer, and
parlor all merged-together in a single room. Larger and wealthier homes between 1900 and his death in 1941, he sold literally millions of hand-
often had a separate parlor where people gathered for formal occasions
such as holidays, births, weddings, or funerals. But the Parlor was
indeed the center of colonial life. Actually, the word “parlor” was
derived from a French verb “Parle” which means “to speak,” which is
what usually transpired in the parlor.
In colonial times, the center of the Parlor was the hearth. It was used
for cooking, heat, light, and comfort. At the end of the day, the family
would gather around the hearth and catch-up on the day’s activities.
They would talk, read, prepare for bed, and relax before the next day. The
parlor and the hearth were so vital to daily family life that special furni-
ture such as the settle and wing back chair was designed for use in it.

Enter Wallace Nutting
With the Colonial Revival
Movement (1880-1940) well
underway, enthusiasts sought to
bring what they believed to be
traditional values and aesthetics
into contemporary early 20th
century life by restoring and
preserving old houses, by repro-
ducing new furniture in the
style of the old, and by creating
works of art depicting early Broadhearth, Saugus Iron Works House, Ready for Callers
American life.
Interest in early American colored pictures. The bulk of Nutting’s photographic work was done
heritage fueled Wallace throughout New England and his outdoor, or “exterior,” scenes are what
Nutting—a Congregational most people associate with Nutting. They typically included
minister-turned-entrepreneur— pictures of apple blossoms, birches, country lanes, streams, rivers,
to pursue ventures that included ponds, lakes, and fall scenes, as he attempted to preserve the beauty of the
selling hand-colored photo- rapidly changing American landscape for future generations. Nutting’s
graphs, purchasing and restoring exterior scenes
a chain of historic houses, and achieved such enor-
reproducing the finest styles of early American furniture ever made in the mous popularity
20th century. that hardly an
American middle-
class household
was without one
From Minister to Photographer
First, a little background on Dr. Nutting. Born in Massachusetts in during 1910-1920.
1861, his father died during the Civil War in 1864. He attended Exeter They were beauti-
Academy and Harvard University, then the Hartford Theological ful, inexpensive,
Seminary, and then Union Theological Seminary, on his way to and provided peo-
becoming an ordained Minister in 1889. Over the coming years, he ple with the oppor-
served pastorates in four states before retiring from the ministry on a tunity to decorate
full-time basis around 1900 after a serious illness. As part of his recov- the walls of their
ery, Nutting’s part-time photography hobby soon transitioned into a homes at a very
full-time business. After opening a shop briefly in New York City in affordable price. A Nutting “exterior” scene, Blooms at the Bend,
1904, Nutting decided he needed the fresh air of the country and used as the title background image

16 Journal of Antiques and Collectibles