The Epworth League Album 31, An Epworthian Cross

In my small research into the Epworth League, I discovered a number of cultural references to the organization. From Sherwood Anderson to Ernest Hemingway and even in The Music Man, the League has been painted as a home for middle American dullness. Was this an Epworthian idea of good times? Hiking in the mountains to be photographed next to a cross? I'm a life long atheist, the only one in my family. My mother wasn't much of a church goer, just Easter and Christmas, but she did try and make me over into a believer. She wanted me to follow in my sister's footsteps and spend at least one summer at Jumonville, a Methodist church camp in western Pennsylvania. I'm happy to report that I wriggled out of that one, but I can remember the trips to pick up my sister, with all the campers hiking up to a sixty foot, mountaintop, steel cross. Lots of singing of hymns and holding hands.

The Epworth League Album 30, Wild Creativity

It's my own personal prejudice (with nothing to back it up) that women are far more likely to compile photo albums then men. But who was the photographer? The lady who took the time to choose and then glue in the photos, or someone else? This album has a lot of rather ordinary, just stand there and look at the camera pictures, and also, photos like these. It's not just the way she tore the borders. Who ever took these had a taste for low angles, poses of people looking off who knows where, odd groupings. Click on Epworth League in the labels section, bring up everything and you'll find more than a few interesting choices made by the photographer. I would love to see a lot more from who ever it was that took these pictures. I wonder if the two guys in the cactus garden were getting impatient. "Come on, just take the damn picture." "No, I want to get it just right. And please, tilt that hat just a bit more to the left."

The Epworth League Album 29, A Very Different L.A.

Hard to believe, but that beautiful rural land behind these four people is now covered in houses, schools and shopping centers. I recognize the ridge line as the San Gabriel Mountains, and while I can't be sure of the exact location, I'm pretty sure that the camera is pointed west, looking down the length of the San Gabriel Valley. That would mean Pasadena, Santa Anita and beyond. They look very confident in the future, don't they?

The Epworth League Album 28, Another Parade Picture

This is what I don't get. Sons of veterans? Why not actual veterans? Let's say this album was compiled in 1910, give or take a year or two. The Civil War would have ended about 45 years earlier. There would have been plenty of Civil War veterans still around. The Spanish American war would have been over for about a decade.

Big Announcement!

Well, not that big. I've pushed a bit beyond my all photos or photo based images rule for The New Found Photography a few times. Ephemera that was part of a bigger collection, hand tinted postcards, and I've thrown out doubts on things that look like photos but could have been illustrations. Should I just expand things and start adding non photo postcards, and commercial illustration? It's not like I can start another blog with what little I've got in my collection. There just isn't enough stuff to make it viable.

But I do have another collection that might fit the bill. A digital collection. One of the things about being underemployed is that I've got lots of time to surf the web, and when I find something that I like, it's right click save, and another few bytes of storage space on the hard drive. So that's it. Another blog that combines stuff sitting in my apartment and stuff I've found on line.

So what sort of imagery can be found at http://www.fairuse-wjy.blogspot.com/ ? Well, my interests run from demolition derby to German expressionism; Silent moves, to fifties sci-fi, to Stan Brakhage; vintage watches, travel trailers, ocean liners, and cameras. Lots of stuff. And because I'm a history buff, I've also saved a few pretty repulsive images as well, and since I think it's better to look, rather than look away, well, be forewarned.

I've started with ten images. Unlike The New Found Photography, I'm not going to add any commentary. As Joe Friday used to say, "Just the facts, Ma'am." I'm also going to limit the number of posts I put up. I'll try and do at least one a week, but no more than three. And why Fair Use? Well, it's only a matter of time before I violate a copyright. With luck the fair use principal will shield me from law suits. And if not, so sue me. I'm broke so you won't get anything anyway. And did I mention that it would be nice if I'm not just doing this for my own amusement. Once again, it's www.fairuse-wjy.blogspot.com

Running In the Snow

I think it's the same little girl. In any case I found them together. Judging by the cars it looks like these are from the mid to late thirties. It makes one wonder how this girl and her family did during the depression. A lot of people ended up loosing everything in that decade, but many others survived with their lives barely changed. And after those years, a world war. Perhaps her father or an older brother fought, and perhaps died.

Lady Hobos

Yes, I know. They're not actually hobos. The Erie Railroad was chartered in 1832 as the New York & Erie Railroad to build a line from New York City to Dunkirk, NY, on Lake Erie. Construction began in 1836 and finally reached Lake Erie in 1851. The line would change it's name to the New York, Erie and Western Railroad as it built lines that would eventually reach as far west as Chicago. In 1895 it, once again, was renamed as the Lake Erie Railroad. In 1960 it merged with the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad and became the Erie & Lackawanna Railroad. So we can know that this picture was taken after 1895. Hey, it's something. More info can be found on the often unreliable Wikipedia.