Historic postcards of Putney produced by A. J. Ayer appear online periodically. Most of them are of the immediate vicinity of the intersection of Main Street and Kimball Hill and have rather poor resolution giving a kind of fuzzy look to them. But they are labeled A. J. Ayer Series.
Steve Picazio at the Vermont Historical Society did some sleuthing and determined that Andrew J. Ayer was born in Putney in 1867 and spent much of his life working in retail businesses, including running a store in Putney in the early years of the 1900s. It is unclear if he was a photographer, but it does appear he produced postcards of Putney in the early 20th century.
I noted two with much greater resolution than the rest and with a slightly different format. Examining them more closely, I noticed some glaring problems. Parts of each photo clearly appear to be Putney, but other parts of the same photos are clearly not Putney and have somehow been skillfully inserted to look like they belong. I don’t remember where I found them, though likely online. Perhaps this was done with AI, indicating this is a lesson in being careful about taking things at face value these days.
Tom Jamison
