The Epworth League Album 21, A Mystery?

If I find an old photo album and an image has been torn out, I think someone along the line wanted a photo from the album, but not the who collection itself, or a dealer found a picture that they thought they could sell for a nice price. This album is so complete though, It makes me wonder if the missing picture had a third person (Take a close look at the bit of remaining photo, and it looks like it could be the same location.) that had a falling out with the owner of this album. "That bastard!" rip and a bad memory is gone.

The Epworth League Album 20

The frustrating thing about this album is that there isn't a single label, a single line of text. The nice thing about this album is that there isn't a single label, a single line of text. With nothing more than my best guess, I think that the photos on the first page are from back home, where ever that might be. The second page, the new life in California. But, were they carried west or were they mailed from parents to their children far away. I think the young lady in the first picture looks a little disappointed that she's not off having an adventure.

21

I can't imagine this postcard made people want to gamble. The four players look bored, the casino looks empty, and there is something a bit sinister about the lurker in the shadows. The caption, "Legal, state-supervised gambling in Reno, Nevada, is one of the many attractions which draw thousands of tourists each year. A "21" game is pictured here in one of the city's many hotels and clubs." The publisher, "A MIKE ROBERTS COLOR PRODUCTION, BERKELEY 2, CALIF. Distributed by Sierra News Co., Reno." Thousands of tourists?

Fanny Takes It Off

As I've noted before, I spent decades working in photo labs and I never had a week go by where I didn't print at least one amateur pin-up, naked wife or girl friend, nude man, people having sex or a surprisingly large amount of cross dressing. People like to play, they like to take pictures, and they like to pass them around. It's human nature, and by the look of these two photos, it's been that way for along time. The name "Fanny" is written on the back of each print.

The Epworth League Album 19, By the Sea

In my imagination this lady and her family got on a train in Iowa or Missouri, and travelled west over higher mountains than they could ever envision. They got to southern California, set up their new home and then one weekend, put on their best clothes, got on the street car and went to see the Pacific, and they were awed. I grew up in the age of photography, movies and television and knew what to expect when I saw the Pacific Ocean for the first time. I wasn't awed, and that's a terrible thing.

The Epworth League Album 18, Hats

What can I say. Gotta love those hats!

The Epworth League Album 17, Back Home

I have to wonder if the two faded prints are from back home in the mid-west. There's a lot of old growth, far more than there would be around a new home in a new neighborhood. Remember, click on Epworth League in the labels section to bring up everything to date. Start with the first post and see the album in order.