Fabric Seller in Samarkand. - Neatorama

This remarkable color photo was taken by a Russian photographer 100 years ago, but the little shop and its proprietor could have come from the time of Tamerlane. This is what the Old Silk Road must have looked like. English Russia has a fantastic collection of these exotic old photos (from a Library of Congress exhibit).

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One interesting thing is that there is a page from the Qu'ran hanging from the doorframe right above his head.

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Modern looking padlocks? I call it hoax based on the guy's goatee. :)

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Joeorjoey, the picture comes from a Library of Congress exhibit based on glass plate negatives from pre-revolutionary Russia. I can't help it if they had modern looking locks.

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If this picture's 100 years old, then I'm 100 as well. Can't believe everything you see, and no, that lock and Houdini's Siberian screw lock look nothing alike. That looks exactly like a pad-lock (of the Master, kind).
Sorry to rain on the parade, but taking nothing away from the picture... it is well composed.

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Here's an example of a Siberian screw key padlock that belonged to Houdini, so it was used at pretty much the same time as the picture was taken. It's a different design, but probably worked along the same principle.

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