Salt Palace [BACKED WITH] Salt Air Beach

Author: [Johnson, Charles Ellis]
Title: Salt Palace [BACKED WITH] Salt Air Beach
Publication: [Salt Lake City]: [Sainsbury & Johnson], (c.1895)

Description: Cabinet card [10 cm x 14 cm] gelatin silver prints mounted back-to-back on a gray mount [18 cm x 23 cm] that appears to be from an album. The title in the lower left corners of both images. Both views have strong contrasts.

Image of the original Salt Palace which contained a theater and dancehall. It was named the Salt Palace and the exterior had been sprayed with salt crystals to reflect the sun. It was located on 9th South between State and Main. It was destroyed by a fire in 1910.

BACKED WITH

Photograph of a bird's-eye drawing of the original Saltair which was completed in 1893, and jointly owned by a corporation associated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Salt Lake & Los Angeles Railway (later renamed as the Salt Lake, Garfield and Western Railway), which was constructed for the express purpose of serving the resort.

Charles Ellis Johnson (1857-1926) was a Mormon photographer known for his work both in Utah and around the world. He grew up in St. George, Utah, and gained an interest in botany and theater. While operating a drug store in Salt Lake City, he started dabbling in photography and opened a photo studio. He photographed actors and actresses at the Salt Lake Theater, including some artistic nudes. He took photos of Utah attractions, and in 1903 traveled through the Ottoman Empire to take photos for the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. In 1917 Johnson moved to San Jose, California where he continued operating a photo studio.

"Johnson was one of the most prolific and enterprising photographers on the Mormon scene. He photographed thousands of people in his modern state-of-the-art studio in Salt Lake City." - Nelson Wadsworth 'Set in Stone Fixed in Glass' (pg. 274).

Seller ID: 2967

Subject: Utah Photography