Recently located in Boston was a time capsule. The concept is that people of that time put items of significance into a container to be found and opened at a later time.  The problem comes about when there is insufficient information to fully explain the meaning of the items.

For instance this time capsule, put down in 1901, contained photographs of six men. One would hope that citizens of the time were putting their best foot forward and that these six were prominent in Boston society. Things change over time.

When I see six photographs of Boston politicians all dressed in much the same manner, same race and all about the same age, all I can come up with is: Photo Line up. This is what cops call a “six pack”, used for identification purposes. One of these guys is accused of a heinous crime. Witnesses are shown the photo and asked if they can identify the offender. With the information given and modern usage this seems to be the best bet.

Coming in second, also involves the police. The science of identifying suspects to the exclusion of anybody else was still in it infancy. Law Enforcement had yet to settle on a standard. Fingerprints were by no means universally accepted. Photo mug shots were just coming into vogue, but twins and doppelganger incidents indicated that something more was needed. Many police departments were investigating the Bertillon Measurement System which depended on precise measurements of various parts of the body. It is possible these are examples of early mug shots.

Like I said things change over time. If I am mistaken, then the Feds are to blame. The last three Speakers of the House, in Massachusetts, have all gone to Federal Prison. Who can blame Massachusetts lawmakers if they hold the mistaken belief that incarceration in a Federal prison is a perk of their retirement system?