Editorial comment for this plate:

“WHY DON’T YOU LEAN ON ME?”

Our frontispiece this week is one of the series of copyrighted pictures by M. B. Parkinson, of New York, and we are permitted to present it to our readers in photogravure, through the courtesy of Luecker, Unger & Co., the exclusive publishers of Mr. Parkinson’s work.

The winning picture tells its story peculiarly well.

It is indeed one of the most successful products of Mr. Parkinson’s camera, and he has made a great many deservedly popular photographic pictures.

Of his methods of work we are ignorant. His subjects are well chosen and he is always fortunate in his models. The rest is in composing, lighting, and the technical work of the actual photographing. Mr. Parkinson is certainly to be congratulated on his success.

Parkinson is believed to have used these same two models— the young girl and older woman—in other photographs highlighting their age differences. Don’t You Tell is one example, also taken and copyrighted in 1890. The example below was found for sale on the web in early 2026, and has been selectively hand-colored.

“Don’t You Tell”, Photographed & Copyrighted 1890, Morris Burke Parkinson, American. Photo-mechanical print,hand-colored, approximately 20″ x 24”. Source: Internet

Morris Burke Parkinson (born: July, 1847-1926) worked for many years as a portrait photographer in New York City before moving to Boston in the very early part of the 20th century, where he maintained a portrait studio at 423 Boyleston street. He is perhaps best known for the two allegorical and widely reproduced photographs of four-year-old child model Josephine Anderson, depicted as Cupid Awake and Cupid Asleep.