Burlesque Portraits

I was told that these two photos had come from the estate of a former Burlesque theater owner. They look like old lobby photos, displayed so that patrons could see who would be performing that night. The full length portrait is labeled "Polly Anne." A play on Pollyanna I would guess. No name on the head shot. The photographer's mark, "Bloom Chicago" is too vague to get anything from a Google search, but James J. Kriegsmann gave some interesting results. Kriegsmann was born in Vienna, Austria on January 1, 1909. He studied photography in his native Vienna before coming to the United States. He opened up a studio, on Broadway, in 1929, and specialized in theatrical portraits. He also did the portraits for the New York Transit Authority's Miss Subway promotion for thirty years. I'm a great fan of the Gene Kelly movie, On The Town, which has, as a plot point, Kelly's pursuit of Miss Turnstiles, obviously a play on Kriegsmann's Miss Subway pictures. Kriegsmann died on April 29, 1994. He was 85. His son James J. Kriegsmann, Jr. is also a commercial photographer specializing in theatrical portraits.

Driving Cars

I've got lots of car themed photos in the collection, and the only reason these two aren't being published separately, is that I bought them from the same store. There is a slight resemblance, but I don't think it's strong enough to say it's the same people in each photo. Written on the back of the image with the woman in white, "Dot and her friend, Everett Raabe taken along the road to Ft. Jennings." There is a Ft. Jennings in Putnam County in Ohio.

Olita Brown and Her Dobro

Identified on the back, Olita Brown stands in front of an old car, holding her Dobro guitar. The Dobro is actually a trade name now owned by the Gibson Guitar Company. The Dobro was first made by the Dobro Company owned by the Dopyera brothers. John Dopyera invented a resonator guitar, with built in metal cones that amplified the sound of the guitar. The Dobro is very popular with country/blue grass musicians. Click on the image for a larger view, and the word "Dobro" can be seen on the guitar's neck.

The Trocadero, Hollywood, California

The Trocadero Supper Club was opened in 1934 by William R. Wilkerson. It soon became a favorite night spot for regulars Fred Astaire, Bing Crosby, Cary Grant, Myrna Loy, Jackie Gleason, Henry Fonda, and Judy Garland. In the mid 1930s it became the place to Jitterbug in Los Angeles. Ted Healy, of Ted Healy and His Stooges (Yes, the three stooges were originally a four person act, with Healy as the bullying, leader of the group. Moe was one of the victims when Healy was the leader.) was beaten to death in a drunken brawl in the Trocadero, allegedly by Wallace Beery and studio exec, Eddie Mannix. The Trocadero closed in 1946. No name on this one. The lady seems like she's enjoying herself. Dated November 10, 1945, she had a lot to celebrate. V-E Day was May 8, 1945, and V-J Day was August 15, 1945. Printed on the back cover, "IF YOU DESIRE ADDITIONAL PRINTS OF THIS PICTURE WRITE TO THEATRE DISPLAY, 1614 W. WASHINGTON BLVD. LOS ANGELES, CALIF. REPUBLIC 3-1101 AND MENTION THE TROCADERO AND THIS NO. (1) AND DATE (Nov. 10, 1945) PICTURES ARE $1.50 EACH, TAX AND MAILING INCLUDED." To see other souvenir photo folders go to posts from 8/1/09, 7/24/09, 7/1/09, and 6/15/09.

Camp Florence, Arizona

Written on the back of the photo, "Taken at Florence Arizona prisoner of war camp, 1945. Mrs Sam Bluhen & Mrs Charles E. De Saro" During World War 2, there was a prisoner of war camp near the Arizona town of Florence. Florence was named for the Italian city. The camp held Italian and German prisoners of war.

Three More From Maurice Seymour

As I've noted before, (Two From Maurice Seymour, posted 6/22/09) Maurice Seymour was a Russian immigrant who opened a photo studio in Chicago, in the 1920s, who specialized in theatrical portraits. There is a stamp on the back of the photo of the dapper gentleman in the wild, print shirt, "THANKS FOR THE CREDIT MAURICE SEYMOUR PHOTOGRAPHER CHICAGO, ILLINOIS." There is no other info on the print. On the back of the man and woman, "JACK HOLLAND, JUNE HART" I found two movie credits for this couple on http://www.imdb.com/ One for Dance band, from 1935 and Rubinoff and his Violin, from 1939. Also, I found info that they were a ball room dancing team that worked the night club circuit in New York City in the 1930s. On the two ladies sitting on the drum, hand written on the reverse, "Ray and Geraldine Hudson (The Hudson Wonders)" A web search found a theater credit on http://www.ibdb.com/ for Ray, Geraldine and Helene Hudson appearing in Star and Garter, a musical revue that opened on Broadway in 1943. The only interesting thing is that Ray is listed as a male performer. Either this is a picture of Geraldine and Helene, or Ray's sex was misidentified on ibdb, or Ray was a drag performer, or it's all a coincidence, and these two have no relation to Star and Garter.

Party Girl!

No names or dates on these two snapshots. (I've never really been in love with color.) Were they taken pre AIDS or post AIDS? Oh for the days when STDs were curable with a shot of antibiotics.