James Joyce Did Not Invent the Stream of Consciousness

So why am I posting this faded, poorly exposed, barely recognizable postcard? Some times it's the message on the back that counts. "Dear Minnie thank you so much for your nice card i was surprise to hear that Jamie was married I hope she wil be very happy married give my love to the children and donel I do hop you are all well a very happy Easter aunt Jane is much the sam as usual Minnie her eldest doghter is home for a holliday I hope she will come here to spend easter with my your loving aunt G Brown 13 willowood Park" Not a single bit of punctuation, and I think because it was written so fast, irregular spelling and capitalization. James Joyce would be envious.

We Will Never Say Goodbye in Heaven

Well, I know how it was done. The printer wrote his message on a clear piece of film, sandwiched it on the bottom of the negative. The ink, probably black, then printed white. What I don't know is why he made some of his N's backwards. Click on the image to see it in a bigger window, if necessary. Printed on postcard stock. What a way to announce that Uncle Harry had kicked the bucket.

Charge With Brass

Fiorello LaGuardia, progressive Republican (Now there's an oxymoron!) mayor of New York City, while born in New York spent most of his childhood in Prescott, Arizona where his father was military bandmaster at nearby Fort Whipple. Before radio, television and the Internet, a talented bandmaster was worth his weight in gold at isolated military outposts. Bored soldiers far from home was not a good combination. Click on musicians in the labels section to bring up a photo of a World War 1, AEF military band as well as shots of small town coronet bands. Printed on postcard stock.

Strange Girls Get Strange Borders

What's up with Blogger? I'm redoing this post because the service was down for a couple of days and when it came back up, my last effort had been deleted. Too, I've only got 16 of 'em, but the followers section has vanished into the ether. Anyway, as I wrote a couple of days ago, these three girls probably appeared quite ordinary when this photo was taken, but to my eye, they remind me of three young stars of a slasher movie. The girl on the left is the dupe, the one on the right is the psycho killer and the center girl is the manipulator who gets the other two to do her evil bidding. And those weird borders make it even more spooky. When I worked in the photo lab, I had cut out a number of masks from black construction paper to give prints uneven borders, something that a couple of our clients liked. Printed on postcard stock. Early twentieth century, I'd bet.

Affectionate Men

Printed on postcard stock. The message on the front reads, "this is Charley with the cap on it was taking at the fest fall Bel lost" At least I think that's what the writer meant, since "fall" is off where it shouldn't be. The Message on the back, "gime 15 1911 Dear mother as were are all well and soray to here that Iris is not well. I dont see how i could com out But i love to. I have 40 turkies But few chicknes this is my day to take Butter to moristoun. Roy has got the cows here and i must milk. I sit a letter soon B By and send Kate our love to." The name of the addressee is partly obscured by the post mark but I think it's "Mrs (obscured) Rork, Greensburg, Indiana RR6" Greensburg is the county seat of Decatur county and had a population of 5,140 in 1910. The postmark is a bit smeared, so I can't make out the name of the town where it was mailed, but I can make out, "JUNE 16 4 PM 1911 OHIO"

Behind the Screen Door

Who is the mysterious person behind the screen door? Click on the image to get a better look. Printed on postcard stock.

More of the Currie Boys

A friend of mine who had taken a couple of psychology courses and fancied herself a therapist once told me that my tendency to collect things was about a need to apply order to a chaotic life. Personally, I think I just like stuff. In any case, I started this blog to bring some order to a chaotic collection of old photographs, and in doing so, somehow or another these three shots of the Currie boys got separated from a couple of shots that were posted on 10/19/10. Written on the back of the balding Currie boy, "Thos. G. Currie, 323 Electric Av. E. Pittsburg, Pa. Return to Mrs. D. Currie, 323 Electric Av. E. Pittsburg, Pa." On the back of seated, civilian Currie, "Donald Currie." The E. Pittsburg is for East Pittsburg, along the Monongahela River. Probably from World War 1. Printed on postcard stock.

Chinatown, Los Angeles

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A color postcard, printed in the front margins, "DETROIT PHOTOGRAPHIC CO., PUBLISHERS." and, "7343. ARE THE POLICE COMING?" The Detroit Photographic Company made it's first appearance in the city registry in 1888. It was a provider of photographic images for advertising and publishing purposes. In 1897, under the leadership of partners, William A. Livingston, Jr., and Edwin H. Husher, the Detroit Photographic Company acquired exclusive North American rights to the photochrom process, a photolithography method that allowed for mass printings of color postcards from original black and white photographs. In 1905, the company changed it's name to the Detroit Publishing Company. For more information on the company's acquisition of the photochrom process go to www.photochrom.com/Detroit.html At http://beinecke.library.yale.edu/digitallibrary/america.html I found an image from the Detroit Photographic Company catalog of children in Chinatown in Los Angeles that seems to be a different angle of the same location. The Detroit Photographic Company declared bankruptcy in 1924 and it's assets were liquidated in 1932.

Scare Crows

Hand printed on postcard stock, but not printed well. The drop off on the right side of the print was either caused by the use of the wrong focal length lens or a variable condenser put in the wrong position. I've got several versions of this postcard, and of the three, this one is the one with the most image and strongest focus. One of the things that fascinates me about old photos is what they can show us about life so many years a ago. It's nice to see what kind of clothes people wore or what kind of cars they drove, but an image like this goes far beyond that. In a time before radio, television, and the Internet, if a person wasn't able to entertain him or herself, life could be very, very boring. People would get together and sing around parlor pianos, they'd form town bands, and amateur theatrical groups. I doubt that the Scare Crows were professional actors. These people probably did nothing more complex than getting together and working out some entertaining acts to amuse themselves. It looks like they preformed in a barn, and their audience was probably no larger than their own friends. Now, how did I entertain myself today? I surfed the web, watched TV, and listened to the radio. I really had no need to go out and interact with other people. And that brings us to the big question: Has our society, dominated by electronic communication mediums made us more isolated as people?

Pre-Digital Fun

This one is for all those too young to remember a world without photo-shop. In olden times, if you wanted a photo of yourself with a better body or a nicer car, you went to someplace like the Atlantic City Boardwalk, stood behind a cardboard cut-out and stuck your head in the hole. Printed on postcard stock, this one has been scuffed up and dirtied. Not great condition, but still fun.

Big Sister, Little Brother

Printed on postcard stock, a studio portrait of two children, most likely brother and sister. The fur collar, hat and muff point to a certain amount of prosperity. Nothing written on the back of the card. No location, but with the winter clothes, it must be from a cold climate.

Bernard Pefferman, Worker

Printed on postcard stock and labeled, "Bernard Pefferman, 532 Grandview Ave. E.P." The E.P. stands for East Pittsburgh, a borough about ten miles or so from downtown Pittsburgh. On the Monongahela River, East Pittsburgh is where George Westinghouse built the factories that built the huge generators that provided power for, among other things, the New York Subway System. With his soft cap, and rough clothes, Mr. Pefferman was very probably a blue collar worker at the Westinghouse factory or in one of the steel mills or iron foundries in nearby Braddock. Late nineteenth or early twentieth century.

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This is a message for Lauren. For some reason that baffles me, Blogger won't allow me to post a comment from my home computer. To answer your question, I've had this photo in my collection for at least thirty years. More than likely I purchased at a flea market or garage sale. If you've read this, leave another comment and anything you know about Bernard.

Demon Child

Printed with far too much contrast, the blasted out highlights in the little girl's dress, the washed out face, coupled with the stiff pose in the briers, and whatever the hell that is on her head, gives this child a demonic look that would fit in well with a modern horror movie. In the photo with her mother, the squint makes her look both masculine and far older than her actual age. The solo shot is printed on postcard stock, a common practice of both amateurs and professional printers of the era. Written in pencil, "Margaret Mason."

In Costume

A real photo postcard, trimmed and, at one time, pasted in a photo album. Could be a dancer, an actress, or it could be a souvenir sold at an historic site of some kind.

Who Is the Master?

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Printed on postcard stock. Written on the back, "Master Carl Nugen Harfer, Kans." To the modern mind it reads like some sort of domination cult, but master very likely refers to school master. These may be three couples or the six teachers at a small, rural school in late nineteenth, early twentieth century Kansas.

German Mystery Postcards

Two real photo postcard submissions in a row. Unlike the Currie Boys post, this one presented a bit of a mystery. There is some German written on the backs of these two cards, and when I saw the name Karlstein, the first thing I did was go to the atlas and fine a Karlstein, Germany. But then, I noticed a very light photo lab mark, in the shape of a fish, "FOTORYBKA, PRAHA." Or in English, Prague, Czechoslovakia (Now the Czech Republic.) So, it was off to the Google translations sight to see if I could make out what was written. Well, who ever wrote the notes, didn't have the greatest handwriting in the world, and I was only able to do a partial translation. Any words that I couldn't translate are represented by a parenthesis, and the number indicates the number of words not translated. On the image of the couple walking, the lady carrying a fox stole, "Georgine and Edie Anderle on the way from a (1) day above (1) in the National Theater in Prague. National Theater, happy days behind us." Then there is a symbol that matches the one on the photo to identify the building. On the other image, "From one of our flights from the Karlstein Castle 8 VIII 1943 from (3) one (2) here." The names "Eduard Anderle, Georgine" are written on the edge of the card, but not part of the message. Well, a couple of things. Georgine seems to be younger in the first photo, but I can't be 100% sure of that because of the hat. It covers too much of her face. The man really is older in the second picture. Listed as Eduard on one card and Edi on the other, it could have been an older relative, perhaps father and son. Edi, the diminutive is on the younger man's photo, perhaps an indication. And 1943, at the height of the German occupation of Czechoslovakia. Were Georgine and Edi Germans on vacation, or was he a Nazi official there for the occupation? Or perhaps, they were Czechs, who wrote German and sent these two images along to a friend or family member in Germany. They could, after all, have been Sudeten, Germans, Czech nationals in the German speaking area along the German, Czech border. Karlstein Castle is in the town of Karlstein in the Czech Republic. Construction was started in 1348. I have found some photos that match the postcard, so I'm certain that it was taken in Czechoslovakia.

The Currie Boys

There was a time when every professional photo finisher and home darkroom had real photo postcard stock on hand. So much nicer to receive family photos rather than a picture of the local business district, church, or city hall. Each of these two photo postcards has "Minnie Streitmutter" written on the edge. The threesome is labeled, "Jim, Tom, Don Currie." But was Minnie a favorite aunt or one of the brothers' girlfriend?

Arcadia, Pennsylvania Coronet Band

In my post of 5/6/10, The Munson Coronet Band, I noted that long before radio and television, it was common for many small towns to have local bands that played summer evenings in the town square. This is a real photo postcard, made when most professional photo processors had postcard stock on hand so that people could bring in their own negatives to have a custom postcard made. Hand written on the back, "Hoping this finds you all well as I am glad to let you know that we are all well. You will find me on this card if you look close. Hoping to hear from you soon. From your brother, John Currie Arcadia Pa." Addressed to, "Mr. Donald Currie, 320 Beech Street, East Pittsburg, Pa." Post marked, "ARCADIA, PA SEP. 18, 1908." Arcadia is a small town in Indiana County, north of Indiana, the county seat and birthplace of actor, Jimmy Stewart. East Pittsburg was absorbed into the greater city, years ago. And yes, Pittsburg was once spelled without the "H"

Yet Another French Postcard

I found this old, framed French postcard in a thrift shop. One of my fellow employees at the photo lab where I was working at that time was teaching himself photo shop, and so I let him practice his digital correction skills with this image. Now, I did have to correct some of his work the old fashioned way, with a paint brush and spot tone, but by and large, the negatives I had made gave me a nice, black & white print. Also done the old fashioned way, with an enlarger and chemistry.

AEF Band

With the French poster on the wall, and the Carte Postale mark on the back of this photo postcard, It's a very good bet that this is a picture of an AEF military band from World War 1. AEF stands for American Expeditionary Force.