Green Bay Business College- Portraits

Please, please click on Green Bay in the labels section so I don't have to retype all the stuff I've already put up about this collection. In short, I bought a pretty good sized collection of photos that were in some envelopes addressed to Kenneth Bierke of "The Green Bay Business College, 123 S. Washington, Green Bay, Wis." I'm fairly certain that the young guy is Kenneth Bierke himself. Only two more posts in the Green Bay collection, though it could be awhile before I finally finish it up.

Green Bay Business College- Color Vacation

Put this one down to my sense of history and belief that it's better to post all of the images in a collection, rather than editing them down to the most interesting views. Stamped on the backs of all these photographs, THIS IS A KODACOLOR PRINT MADE BY EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY T.M. REGIS. U.S. PAT. OFF. Week of July 12, 1954 III 2" And again, images from the life of Mr. Kenneth Bierke of Green Bay, Wisconsin. Associated with the Green Bay Business College, probably, first, as a teacher and then as an administrator. Eventually, when I get the entire collection posted, there will be images of his farm background, the parties, dances, and dinners attended, the wars fought, the wife on the home front, and in 1954, post war comfort, a nice car, some level of prosperity not known during the great depression and World War 2, that allowed he and his family to take a vacation. In the grand scheme of things, a pretty ordinary life, but one that covers a lot of the twentieth century, good and bad. Once again, click on Green Bay in the labels section to see the collection, posted to date.

Green Bay Business College- Dinners

I don't know whether it's a good thing or a bad thing, but I have a tendency to not edit photo collections. If the image came with the group, it goes up on the blog. Two more photos from the Green Bay Business College collection. So far I've put up pictures from school dances, banquets, and some rather nice color portraits of a woman during the war years. (Click on Green Bay in the labels section.) These two are of dinners featuring the two people who show up more often than any others in the collection. On the left on the picture that's fading away, and way in the back, on the right, of the other. The man, I believe, must be Kenneth Bierke, to whom one of the envelops I have is addressed, and the woman must be his wife. The fading picture looks like it was taken in a restaurant, while the other, with the stained glass windows in the background could be either a church dinner or a school function.

Green Bay Business College-Christmas Banquet

These are more photos from the Green Bay Business College collection. They were all stuffed in a separate envelope addressed to "Kenneth Bierke 225 Quinton Green Bay, Wisconsin." Typed, but no postage, so it must have been hand delivered. From three different banquets, two with a Christmas theme. In the first photo, directly to the right of the wall decorations, is a couple that will appear in most of the Green Bay Business College pictures. Mr. Bierke and his wife?

Green Bay Business College- Another Dance

Another picture from the Green Bay Business College package. A dance, but with a different date from the two previous posts. On the back of the photo, "THIS IS A KODACHROME PRINT Made by Kodak WEEK OF FEB. 16-59 RD."

Green Bay Business College-Riverside Dance #2

These square format photos are from the same Green Bay Business College dance as the previous post. Those photos were done by a professional photographer, these look like amateur pictures. Stamped on the backs of the color images, "THIS IS A KODACOLOR PRINT MADE BY EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY T. M. REGIS. U. S. PAT. OFF. Week ending June 23, 1956. Ro 3" With the June 3 post mark from the earlier post, the dance was probably end of May. An end of term dance.

Green Bay Business College-Riverside Dance

I've got a lot of these. A few years ago I purchased a group of pictures from the Green Bay Business College in Green Bay, Wisconsin. There are far too many of them to put up in one post. There is also some variety in the collection. Many of them are family pictures that appear to be family pictures of a faculty member. I'm starting with a small group of pictures that were all in the same envelope. The envelope is addressed to the "Green Bay Business College, 123 S. Washington, Green bay, Wis." The return address is "G. Ashert Studio, De Pere, Wis." The post mark is from De Pere and dated July 2, 1956. The theme of the dance is I Love Paris. There is an image of three guys standing in front of the punch bowl, written on the back, "Three too many." The name Ken Bierke is written on the back of several of the photos.

Wisconsin and Beyond

Old photo collectors love great images and there are a couple of those in this collection. But, collectors also love a great story behind the images and this set of estate photos from a Wisconsin dealer are all over the place. The two pictures in front of the house are very probably from the United States, as is the last image, that looks like it's from the fifties. Two guys near a palm tree. Florida vacation? The long haired guy with the umbrella and bag could be a doctor, or then again, just a guy with a doctor's style bag. The older couple are labeled Adolph and Jennie. The group of young people above the sea. I doubt that's Wisconsin, and with the woman in the clothe coat,newspaper and purse is labeled, something I can't make out and the "de depart, le 22 Octobre 1945." From France or maybe Quebec. Speaking of dates, the lady, prone on the grass with the shadow of the photographer is dated July 20, 1914. The couple in mid 20th century clothes are labeled Grandma and Grandpa. Not all of these images were taken in Wisconsin, as I've already noted. The woman is sitting in front of the for sale sign is stamped on the back, "MADE BY Goodhart-Tompkins Co. KODAK HEADQUARTERS 33 Peachtree, Atlanta, Ga." The kneeling man is labeled Cornwall Mines, 6/2/21. Cornwall is in England. And the strangest of the lot, the adult woman with the four children, written on the back, "Forced merriment is easily detected, and is an admirable quality that always arouses my deepest sympathies; The children betray the fact that something is troubling the family collectively. H.H." I wonder what made her write that. It's almost a short story.