Prop Project: Picture of the Mustachioed Man

[Lydia]

Episode 910 features a scene in Stokes's house, and the picture of the man with the mustache was there as usual.

[Lydia]

This picture was in its usual place in Stokes's living room in episode in 928, and also in 931.  Then, at the end of that same episode, 931, it appeared in Professor Osmond's house.  There was a scene in Stokes's living room right before the scene in Osmond's house, and I was keeping an eye out for a second look at the picture, but the camera didn't look in that direction.  I'm thinking the picture had probably already been moved to the Osmond house set.

[Lydia]

The picture is seen, though not very distinctly, at Hannah Stokes's house in episode 1004, as she is talking on the phone.

[Lydia]

The picture is seen in episode 1025, in the room to which Angelique is moved after it is determined by the parallel time folks that Angelique's original room is not reliable.  Since the picture also appeared at Hannah's house, maybe in parallel time the mustachioed man is a beloved Stokes ancestor.

[MagnusTrask]

Maybe it's a picture that comes with the frame when you buy it...

[Lydia]

The picture is seen in Tim Stokes's house in episodes 1043-1044, in the same position as that in which it was seen in Hannah Stokes's house.

Do we have any proof that Tim Stokes and Hannah Stokes are not the same person?

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I'm surprised no one mentioned that Mr. Mustache appeared in Ep #1119, hanging in the spot in Collinwood's foyer where Barn's portrait normally hangs:



If it weren't for the fact that I just recently went through captures from Ep #1119 to post on the CTP/FITBs-1840/41 board, I might never have noticed. And if he is a Collins (considering we now know his portrait will be hanging in at least two different places in 1840/41 Collinwood), how interesting is it that he also gets around to so many other Collinsport and surrounding area locations?  

[Lydia]

I did notice it, but have been very slow about adding stuff to the Prop Project topics lately.  What always bothers me about seeing this picture in 1840 is that it looks like a photograph to me, and photography was still in its infancy at the time.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

If it is a photograph, maybe that explains how Mr. Mustache is able to be in so many different locations - he had several copies made and handed them out to his friends (and he's hanging at Collinwood either because he's a Collins or an extremely well regarded friend).    All the better to show off the latest technology. 

And as for photography being in its infancy, well, IF Mr. Mustachio is a Collins, he could have been tinkering in the process himself and, with the Collins money to back him, made strides that no one else had yet achieved. He decided to keep the actual process to himself but to show off the results nonetheless. We all know those Collins and their vanity. 

[Lydia]

But Ezra Braithwaite said that Mr. Mustache was his father!

[Lydia]

We see Mr. Mustache in the courtroom in 1840 several times.  I've noted it in episodes 1153 and 1166, but I know it's shown more than that.  What's interesting is that, as I believe I've noted in the Watching Project, there's a judge in the 1840 trial who bears a passing resemblance to Mr. Mustache.  If I remember correctly, the first time that we see Mr. Mustache hanging in the courtroom, Judge Mustache isn't there, but he turns up later.

I can't help wondering if Mr. Mustache and Judge Mustache are related.  If that's the case, however, then Judge Mustache ought to be a Collins relation, since, as MB noted, Mr. Mustache occupied a choice position in the Collinwood foyer for a while.  And if Judge Mustache is a Collins relation, then he should recuse himself from the trial at which we see him.  But Judge Mustache doesn't look like the sharpest pin in the cushion, so maybe he just didn't notice that a relative of his was involved in the proceedings.

[Lydia]

Mr. Mustache was hanging in Justin's bedroom in episode 1200, and in the Collinwood study in 1201.  I think it is highly probable that if the missing wall of the drawing room in 1841 parallel time were ever shown, we would see Mr. Mustache hanging there.

[MagnusTrask]

I think Mr. Moustache's portrait must come with the frame when you buy one.

[Lydia]

Or else it's the picture that you get when you buy the frame – the throwaway picture that you're expected to replace with a treasured picture from your own personal life.

[MagnusTrask]

Or else it's the picture that you get when you buy the frame – the throwaway picture that you're expected to replace with a treasured picture from your own personal life.

That's what I meant, actually!