Central Radio

I love this picture. The photographer may have got his depth of field wrong, with the four people in front slightly soft, but it's still a very compelling image. The reflection of the building across the street, the four people, employees, owners or customers, standing there, so confident in their pose. Just great. Probably from the late forties or early to mid fifties.

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.

The Famous Old Crystal Bar

From the fifties, I would think. One man, four women, standing in front of The Famous Old Crystal Bar. Just added: I thought the name of the bar would be too common to identify the location, but with the use of my most powerful magnifying glass I was able to make out Washoe County on the sign, and was then able to place The Crystal Bar in Reno, Nevada. When this picture was taken, Nevada had the most liberal divorce laws in the country, and many Americans, anxious to get out of a bad marriage, headed to Reno for the waiting period and divorce. I'm thinking these five people may be knocking back a few while waiting for the judge to sign the decree.

Green Bay Business-Crowning the Queen

I haven't put up any of the pictures from the Green Bay Business College collection for awhile, and it's time to put some up some more. To recap, i bought a bunch of prints, some of which came in envelopes addressed to Kenneth Bierke, 225 Quinton, Green Bay, Wisconsin. Some are of a school dance, some are from some school banquets, and some are family photos of, I assume, Bierke clan. Click on Green Bay in the labels section to see some of the other prints I've already posted. This one looks like the Queen of the school dance is being crowned.

19th Century Old Lady

I hated to crop off the edges of the oval matt on this picture, but it just wouldn't fit on the scanner. Normally I wouldn't have cared, but sometimes the proportions of the mounts add to the beauty of the image. A very rich, albumen print of an old lady who was a little girl in the very first years of the United States. Let's say she was in her sixties when this image was taken. If true, and considering the age of the photograph, she was probably born near 1800 to 1810.

Kay Kyser

Kay Kyser was one of the most successful band leaders of the swing era. In all, his band recorded over 400 sides and had eleven number one hits. Kyser was born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina in 1905. While at the University of North Carolina he was a cheerleader and director of student plays. At the recommendation of Hal Kemp, he took over the leadership, from Kemp, of a local band. After his college career, he continued to lead his own band, and in 1934, was booked into the Blackhawk Club in Chicago. It was there that he developed the gimmick that he would be known for, The Kollege of Musical Knowledge, an amateur night quiz for the contestants. In 1938 he hired vocalist Ginny Simms. Broadcast regionally by the Mutual Broadcasting System, he went national and to New York and had a hit show on NBC radio. In 1949, he took his band to television, but after the show was cancelled in 1950, he retired from show business and never returned. I'm fairly certain that the singer with Kyser is Ginny Simms. She left the band in 1941, so if I'm right in my identification of Simms, with the NBC mic, this photo was taken between 1939 and 1941.

A Formal Portrait

I'm assuming that this lady did not dress this way, normally. I've seen hair-dos like this in late silent and early sound movies, so I'm guessing mid to late twenties to early thirties. A wedding portrait or for a formal affair of some kind.