Florida Park, Madrid Spain

I've only got a couple of these old souvenir photo folders from night clubs that still survive. Florida park was once part of a royal estate in Madrid, Spain. Donated to the people for use as a park, the building was used for several things, before being converted into a night club. For more info, go to their web sight, www.floridapark.net/web_eng.htm I purchased this in the United States, so these couples are probably American tourists, but I've got to say if I was looking for Franco, with the sun glasses, and the furs, this would be what I think I would find in fascist Spain, circa 1960. Printed on the inside, "FOTO LUIS TELS. 273 10 74, 273 10 99, 273 56 80 FLORIDA PARK" On the back of the folder, "IMPRENTE EL ARTE-FERRAZ 11-MADRID-DEPOSITO LEGAL: M. 12.599-1968" It's possible that 1968 is the date, and then again it's possible it's not.

Family Portrait

An old albumen print mounted on a card. The card is damaged, and also the print. There is a date, 1929, written on the card, but the clothing, and the tricycle look more like the late nineteenth century to me.

A French Postcard

A real French postcard, not a modern day, screened reproduction. Printed on photo paper, probably smuggled into the United States.

Sixties Hair

As much as I hate to admit it, I'm old enough that a lot of images that show other eras, are from my lifetime. When I was a kid, a lot of high school girls wore their hair this way. Clearly a school portrait from the mid 60's.

Yale Aviation

Another of the old rotogravures (I think) from World War 1. The caption, "General view of the Yale unit's aviation station at Huntington Beach, L.I. ) I would guess that the L.I. stands for Long Island, New York.

More Girls on Bikes

My guess would be that these photos are from the forties or fifties. Two girls riding their balloon tire bikes. The photographer put himself in a good position for a nice action shot.

A Little Boy In Curls

It was one of the stranger customs of the second half of the nineteenth century for little boys to be kept in effeminate clothing and long curly hair until they got to be a certain age. It was a big deal for these young boys to get that first hair cut, and move onto more masculine clothing. It's very hard to read from the scan, but stamped on the border, "Durand Wisconsin, and Raitts" Raitts is probably the name of the photo studio where this picture was taken. This is another example of some digital repairs that I had done when I worked at the photo lab. There was a bit of foxing and some other very minor flaws corrected, and then I had a fine black & white negative made, and then I made a conventional print.