Hello world

Hello world

Fox Dreams

What a faraway look. Some would say dreamy, others, vacant. With the strange, distorted reflections in the window glass, perhaps hallucinatory. I don't like to crop the photos I scan. Silly perhaps, but I like to leave things as the photographer found them. But if I had the original negative and I printed it, I'd crop it so that only her face and the window would show.

The Epworth League Album 7, Old Folks (And Young) At Home

The picture of the little girl and her cats seems somewhat out of place on this page. A grand daughter, perhaps, of one of the older seated men, she looks like a model for silent movie star Mary Pickford from Rebbecca of Sunnybrook Farm or Mary Miles Mitner from Anne of Green Gables. Looking at those old silent films, I've always assumed that the look of those actresses was an idealized notion of a rural America that the film makers thought would sell tickets to an urban audience living in tenements. It's surprising to find an actual child who has that care free and innocent image.

Most people have at least heard of Mary Pickford, but Mary Miles Mitner's name may not be familiar to non silent movie fans. During the silent era, Mitner was a very successful child actress who rivaled Pickford in box office appeal. Her career ended in 1923 when she was implicated in the murder of director William Desmond Taylor. Born in 1902, the 21 year old Mitner was involved with the much older and married Taylor. Though never charged, Mitner never made another film. Mitner's mother and Mabel Normand were also said to be involved with Taylor.

The Epworth League Album 6, Ethnic Dress or Strange Fashion?

Are the ladies in the second image wearing some sort of ethnic dress or did they have similar tastes in fashion? I've been looking through Google images searching for a match, and so far no luck. Click on Epworth League in the labels section to bring up the lot.

The Epworth League Album 5, Two More Pages

Anyone who has ever tried to scan in a mis-exposed print will share my frustration. There is a side of me that wants things to look pretty much they way the originals do. There is a side of me that wants them to look better. The problem is that, after the programing has tried to correct exposures, I often get neither.

Are You Ready For Some Football

I did not play high school football, and in smash-mouth football obsessed western Pennsylvania that was not a popular choice. Sissy was the politest name I was called and , well let's put it this way; I was hit as much for not playing as I would have if I had played. Of course, my high school didn't have a very good team so that didn't necessarily mean anything. My high school team lost every game for three straight years. We came close to a win in my junior year. We were playing our arch rival and managed to loose by only six points. 6-0 to be exact. In the last ten minutes of the game, our opponents managed a seventy yard march to victory. Sixty yards on penalties. Fifteen yards when one of our players left the Field on the wrong side. There he was, a lone white uniform in a sea of blue. And just so you know, I am a fan. Steelers in the Super Bowl. I guarantee it!

Mildred Gets Around

While I know that most of these old color scenic postcards are hand tinted black & white photos, it's always nice to see some proof. Take a look at the base of the News Building card and other building that are clearly a photograph can be seen. Click on the image to bring it up in a bigger window, and you can even see people and cars. The caption of the first card, "THE NEWS BUILDING is considered one of the finest structures in New York. It cost ten million dollars to build. The tower rises 36 stories: a nine-story newspaper plant adjoining. The facade on the front of the building contains figures, carved from stone, representing people from all walks of life. The words "He Made So Many of Them" is a quotation of Lincoln's. The beautiful News Lobby draws thousands of visitors daily. An additional attraction is a guide service through the newspaper plant. Have you been through?" No caption on the second card. Publisher of the News Building card, "LUMITONE PHOTOPRINT, NEW YORK. MADE IN U.S.A." The fountain card, "Published by B. S. Reynolds Co., Washington, D.C." Post marks, "NEW YORK , N. Y. STA P, OCT 19 6:30 PM 1937" and, "WASHINGTON, D. C. OCT 26, 11 AM 1937" Both cards are addressed to, "Mr. & Mrs. J. A. Wainscott, 623 So. Vancouver St., Los Angeles, Calif." The message on the first, "Tues. Dear Folks, Arrived here yesterday. We will stay for 1 week. It is raining today so I don't know what we will do. Had a beautiful drive down from W. Hawes yesterday. We are staying in the center of New York-Love Mildred & Cliff." And on the other, "Wash D.C. Dear Folks, We arrived about 9 o'clock this morning drove around & saw many things all day. Went through the Capitol & Some institutes of Art & Science. I think we will leave for Indiana tomorrow & go to Anderson first & then Indianapolis. I hope you are all fine. Love, Mildred." Why don't parents name their daughters Mildred anymore? Seems like a nice name to me.