Ann Anderson, Bank Robber

Wire photos were a method used by news wire services to electronically transmit still images by either telegraph or telephone wires. The caption reads, "(RO2) Reno, Nev., Jan. 2--BOOKED ON BANK ROBBERY CHARGES Mrs. Ann Anderson, 28, of Petaluma, Calif., is one of three persons booked in the Reno city jail on bank robbery charges. Mrs. Anderson and her husband and 33-year-old Shirley Maniscalco of San Fransisco are being held in connection with a bank robbery at Cotati, Calif., last Friday. Their arrest followed a fight at a Reno motel last night in which a fourth member of the group, Ted Barker was shot and killed. (APWirephoto) (RS1420str) 1955" Stamped on the back, "MRS DONALD MRS ANN ANDERSON RECEIVED EXAMINER REFERENCE LIBRARY JAN 3 1955" This has been a rather frustrating post. I was able to find a listing for a California prison inmate named Ann Anderson, aged 84, and had this lady been sentenced to life, that would be the right age. And then the wall, access to prison, court, and arrest records cost money.

A Tintype Head Shot

It's been my experience that tightly framed, head shot tintypes are fairly rare, though it's possible with the irregular boarders that this image may have been cut out from a larger area. As I've noted in other tintype posts, tintypes are actually negatives that appear positive against a black painted or lacquered iron base. Tintypes are actually called ferrotypes.

Catalina in Photographs

This is a companion piece to my last post, Catalina in Postcards. All of these images are dated, 8-24. The picture of the town, docks, and beach is captioned, "AVALON BAY CATALINA ISLAND." In my other post, there are some nice views of the Casino. Looking to the upper right center of the photo there is a different building at that site. The current casino was built to replace the original seen in this photo. The new casino was built in 1929, the original was torn down in Feb. of 1928. The original was not only the island's dance hall but it's high school as well. The photo of the gentleman in the straw hat is captioned, "STEAMER CABRILLO AT ISTHMUS (AND ME)" The isthmus is a narrow part of the island. The Cabrillo was a steamer built by the Banning Brothers, owners of the island from 1891 to 1919. They also owned the Wilmington Transit Company of Red Car fame. Purchased as a tourist resort, they were forced to sell to William Wrigley Jr. in 1919. A devastating fire in 1915 that destroyed over half of Avalon, including most of thee tourist facilities coupled with a reduction of tourism during World War 1 and the great flu pandemic that followed left the Bannings short of funds. The grass huts image is captioned, "MOVIE SET HAWAIIAN VILLAGE AT ISTHMUS." There is no way to identify the movie. The island was used for dozens of films, and 1924 doesn't narrow things down enough. The docked steamer shot isn't captioned, but take a close look at the bow of the ship and it can be identified as the S.S. Avalon. The Avalon was originally the S.S. Virginia and was used as a ferry between Chicago and Milwaukee. It was requisitioned by the military in World War 1. After the war it was sold to William Wrigley and sailed through the Panama Canal for use as an island ferry. It arrived at Avalon, for the first time, on April 5, 1920. The Avalon was a single funnel ship. Click on the image to enlarge it, and a bit of the bow of a second ship can be seen behind the Avalon. The lady in the swimsuit, "ON THE BEACH AVALON." And the picture of the same lady in a dress, "LAST DAY AT AVALON." There is more info about Catalina Island in my last post.

Catalina in Postcards

By and large, I've strayed away from collecting postcards, but recently, I've decided to try and pick up a few, in a few select areas. Old California, especially southern California, Pittsburgh, and old gas stations, motels, and stores. Since I have a small group of Catalina Island photos that I'll be posting next, these four images of Catalina Island, 26 miles across the sea from Long Beach, seemed like a good start. These are linen postcards, made from a high rag paper with a textured surface of parallel intersecting lines. Introduced in the early 1930's, they were the most popular type of postcard sold in the United States until the mid forties. Photo chrome postcards, which would come to dominate the market, were introduced in 1939. Even though the bright inks that were used in production, and the paper surface itself gave linen cards a painterly feel, the original images were primarily black & white photographs that had been hand colored. 99% of Santa Catalina Island was purchased, in 1919, by Chicago millionaire, William Wrigley, Jr. During his ownership, and the ownership of his sons, the Wrigley family poured millions into Catalina, building homes, resorts, hotels, the Casino, bird park, roads, airports, and fresh water reservoirs. The card of the two boats were part of the fleet that Wrigley owned to transport tourists to the island. The caption, "Happy vacationists board fast speed boats that skim the placid waters of Santa Catalina. As they whiz by, with their cheers of happiness and laughter. with greetings to the new arrivals is a thrill and delight to the passengers aboard the approaching steamer." It was mailed on Aug. 6, 1946 to "R.E. Brown, 816 Jackson St., Sioux City, Iowa" The message, "Hi Pop. I rode on both boats in Picture. We got here on the big one & took a 10 min. ride on the speed boat. Lot of love xxoo Charles. Having fun here." There is no message on either the Wrigley residence card or the bird park image. The caption of the Wrigley home card, "This palatial home was built by the late W. Wrigley Jr. and occupies a site on Mt. Ada, with a commanding view of Avalon Bay and coast-line of the island." No caption on the bird park card. Construction began on the Wrigley residence in 1920 and was completed in 1921. Mt. Ada was named for his wife. After Ada's death in 1958, it became a tourist attraction. In the 1970's it was given to USC, and used as a conference center. Since 1985 it's been an hotel. The bird park was built on 8 acres in Avalon Canyon by William Wrigley Jr. and opened in 1929. It had 500 cages and housed over 8,000 species of birds and was one of the largest aviaries in the world. It closed in 1966. The night scene is captioned, "Avalon Bay, a thrilling scene of bustling activity by day-"Fairyland by night." Like a jewel in an exquisite setting, the view of Avalon, at night from the hills above, is a never to be forgotten sight." Mailed Sept. 19, 1953, to "Mr. & Mrs G. We. Johnson, Laurene, Iowa." The message, "Dear Folks, We are up near the high point of this Island now and having a wonderful time. Reggie and Enid are with us. Now we are just about back to the bay and the boat will leave about 3:30. Minnie and Lester were over for dinner last night, Fri. We came up thru San Bernardino." Written in a different hand, "This has been the most enjoyable weekend we've had in ??? Love L.B. and Jean" Catalina was used for training in World War 2 and was closed to tourism. Coupled with the explosion in car ownership and cheap airfares to places like Hawaii and Baja, Catalina has never recovered as one of the major vacation spots in southern California. Pre-war, big bands played in the Casino, the circular building seen to the left of the ships and on the right of the night scene, swimming beaches were crowded, restaurants and hotels were full. Catalina is still a popular destination, but no where near what it was.

Small Town Glass Negatives

A couple of glass negatives, one I wanted, and one was the throw in. I've always assumed that these two images, if not by the same photographer, were at least from the same small town. While glass negatives were manufactured, and processed by local labs, many glass negatives were made by the photographer, and processed by the photographer. This allowed for a huge disparity in the basic quality of negatives. I printed these by putting them in an 8 x 10 enlarger, and had a hell of a time getting usable prints. The emulsion was uneven, and the plates were over exposed. I assume that the group photo is a multi-generational family, and while this is the image I was really interested in, it is interesting to see a small town before paved streets.

Trains

Not all of my old photos are of people. This is another one of the images that, when I was working in a photo lab, I made copy negs and prints from. The original is an old albumen print, very likely from the late 19th century through the early 20th, and probably made from a glass negative. I 'd love to know where the photographer was standing. The image makes me think that this may have been a professionally made, commissioned image. I imagine that the camera was not a small, hand held one, but one mounted on a tripod. It's difficult to take a quick snap and then step out of the way of an oncoming train with one of those.

In Mourning

Cabinet cards were one of the first attempts at standardization in photography. While the size of the actual print might vary, the card mount itself was 4.25 x 6.5 inches and could fit into pre-made albums and frames. This style was popular, in the 19th century, as a mourning card. Stamped on the back, "Wm. L. Cornell. South Amboy, N.J."