This is a photo (a CDV or Carte de visite) of a mystery building with a crowd of men and women in front.
Some are looking out the windows of this building which is draped in bunting. A photograph of a man is placed over the front door and you can see the crush of people at the door.
My best guess is that this is a funeral, perhaps of a President, certainly of an important man.
From the type of photograph (Carte de Visite), the clothing styles, with the women in bustle dresses and hats perched atop their heads, and the men in bowlers and long coats, I estimate the date to be circa 1872-1880. However bowler hats were worn from 1850-1900 and bustles were in style from about 1860-1900 so it is difficult to narrow the timeline with certainty.
What I would like to know is
* What and where is this building?
* What is the occassion?
The only other clues I have are that this photograph was the last in an
album of Cabinet Cards from Chicago Illinois photographers. Two were from Omaha Nebraska but more than 60 of the photos in the album were from Chicago. The image itself is not clear, it is rather fuzzy and faded so it is not possible to make out good details. In fact, I manipulated the colours and the sharpness of the original in order to get as clear and sharp an image as possible to post here.
Anyone care to guess what this building is and where it is?
