C. A. Baile (NOT)

A mystery has surfaced at the Historical Society, which is nothing new since the place is full of mysteries.  This particular one involves a negative from the Simmons Studio collection that should have been easy to solve.

The negative has C.A. Baile written on it. So I took it to members of the family who confirmed that it was indeed NOT Clifton Agustus Baile.

When I developed the negative I saw that the customer (C.A. Baile?) had brought in an old picture and asked that one individual be isolated out of a family portrait.

The photographer cut out a silhouette which was still stored with the negative.

Placing the silhouette over the negative

gives you a picture that looks like this:

Suitable for framing.