An Adventurous Woman

I found this print in one of those antique malls. I think I paid around half a buck for it. It's one of my favorite images. This young woman is in her hiking boots, she has her folding camera, and she looks like she's working her way upstream in the Sierras. I did buy it in California, after all. No name or date, but I'm thinking twenties or maybe earlier.

Pennsylvania Doughboys

I was going to write the story that I've always heard, that World War 1 American soldiers were called doughboys because of their fondness for fried bread, but when I went online to confirm that information I found so many other explanations that I've decided to pass on this web address that has plenty of alternative explanations. www.worldwari.com/dbc/origindb.htm Note the keystone on the soldiers tunic. These are two of the earliest photos in my collection. I purchased them back when I still lived in Pennsylvania, and Pennsylvania is the keystone state. They have to be from the state militia.

John E. Reed, Hooray for the Girls

This the second post from Hollywood glamour and theatrical photographer, John E. Reed. Written on the back, "Marian Ryan in Harry Howard's Hooray for the Girls." I tried both http://www.imdb.com/ and http://www.ibdb.com/ for Marian Ryan, and came up empty. In ibdb I found two references to shows produced by Howard, one in 1940 and one in 1945. From the January 1945 issue of The Juggler's Bulletin I found a reference to Ben Berri appearing in Harry Howard's Hooray for the Girls, playing in Wichita, Kansas.

Camping on Lake Champlain

Written on the back of the card the print is mounted on, "Camping at Putnam Station, Lake Champlain About 1904-1906." The ink doesn't appear to be contemporary. It looks like it's from a ball point, and it's very bright, not faded from age. It could have been something that the seller wrote to attract buyers, or information reported as accurate by the original owner.

WPA

This is a strange one. The signs around the necks of the actors reads WPA. The Works Progress Administration was from the great depression, but the hair styles would suggest the 1950's. Too, the actors look like they are from high school. The black face make-up on the MC is also unexpected from a WPA arts project play.

Hollywood Dwarfs

From the days when I worked at the photo lab. The original, the sepia toned print, is a small 4X5 theatrical print of a dwarf act. I put it up on a copy camera, made a negative, and then made the black and white print, also posted here. The image is credited to Peralta. Fed them name into Google, and couldn't find anything helpful.

A Long, Narrow Portrait

This is a strangely proportioned old portrait, only four inches wide, but nine and a half long. The reflective quality is from photographic silver that's leaching out of the paper. From the twenties, would be my best guess, and early twenties at that. It came in a cardboard folder marked, "K.M.L. & ART Co. INC. GRAND RAPIDS MICH." She does look pretty arty, so the studio name fits. She looks like she eventually went to New York or Paris.