The image is of a group of people posed in front of a temporary Prowse Bros. & Crowell building in Sydney, Nova Scotia. A fire sale sign offers big bargains on furs, clothing, ladies jackets, etc. The photographer is unknown and the individuals in the photograph are unidentified. The photograph is mounted.

The firm of Prowse Bros. began as a dry goods store in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island in the late 1870s or early 1880s. Both Lemuel E. Prowse (1858-1925) and his brother and junior partner, Benjamin C. Prowse (1862-1930), were prominent Charlottetown citizens, serving in provincial and federal governments. In the early 1900s L. E. Prowse moved to Sydney, Nova Scotia and opened a branch store, Prowse Brothers and Crowell, between 1903 and 1907.