Swimming at the Creek

If you grew up in a small rural town like I did,  you'd know that a creek lies somewhere betwixt and between a river and a brook.  Of course, how that's perceived varies with where you're from.  In western Pennsylvania, where I'm grew up, rivers mean the Allegheny or the Ohio and this stream would fall into the creek category.  In Nevada, people would probably see it as a good sized river.  In any case, it looks like a good place to cool off on a hot summers day.  I used to swim in Roaring Run and Crooked Creek.  And sometimes, I'd just wade in Hilty's Hollow.

No names, dates or location on the print.  There is a processor's mark, "Fox Tone Print, FOX CO. SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS"  That doesn't mean much.  Fox was a regional lab with a large mail order business.

Long Dresses on Long Beach

I've noticed a tendency of blogger to cut off  the right side of images, so hopefully this slightly wider scan will give a fuller view.  And if not, well, so it goes.

Another hand colored postcard that no doubt started out as a black & white photo.  Imagine going to the beach wearing those long dresses and wool suits.  And wool swimsuits!  I don't see how they stayed afloat.

Happy People Before the War

I'm always fascinated by pictures of people taken just before a war.  The top photo is dated 1914, and the second two are dated 1915, and in those years many, perhaps even most, Americans viewed the war in Europe as being an imperial struggle, a battle for power and colonies.  (For the record, I agree.)  President Woodrow Wilson promised to keep us out of war, but between the sinking of the Lusitania in 1915 and the Zimmerman telegram of 1917, that promise wouldn't be kept.  In 1917, the United States declared war on the central powers.  The man in the picture looks like he was in the right age range for service.  Who knows if he survived.  But in 1914 and perhaps even in 1915, he was probably blind to the future.

Another Mystery Locale

Interesting things in both the right and left backgrounds.  On the left, there is a lady who looks like she's holding a Bible, so I'm guessing a church.  On the right, a woman who appears to be native American.  Maybe Mexico or the U.S. southwest.  If anyone recognizes the ornate doorway and can name a city, please leaven a comment.

Good Lookin'

No date, no name, no location, no information at all.  I bought these because I thought she was good looking.  My best guess, late forties through early fifties.

I Yearn For You

This one has been a bit of a trial. Translating a language that is unknown, where the context, the way natives use words, where the poetry of structure is a mystery, is  an almost impossible task.  I went to Google translate and started typing, clicked on find language, and up popped Estonian.  But a word for word translation isn't as simple as it might seem.  Kui has a different meaning depending on context.  It can mean as, if, than, when, how, that, and while.  Au can mean honor, glory, credit, dignity, and reputation.  And then there is the way people write cursive.  I tried habad, halad, nabad, nalad, and a number of other combinations for word number three on the back of the photo.  The only one that was in the Google translator, in Estonian, was nabad.  And it's meaning; navel or umbilical cord.  The first sentence, when I put in all the words together, "So is the threat to the honor of navels."  It might make sense to someone from Estonia, but to me...well, I can't help but think there is something wrong there.

The second sentence gets into the realm of the poetry of language.  Word for word, "You, my, place the dishes, looking for".  How about,  "I look for you where I place my dishes."  A simple invocation of home life?  I like to think so.

And in the next sentence, "I yearn for you."  At least I think that's how I think  it should read.   If anyone from Estonia can correct my poor efforts, leave a comment.

Added July 26.....We have a translation.  It's from an anonymous Estonian poem.  Click on comments and read Oliver's contribution.  Nothing about dishes, I'm disappointed.

Number 750, Men In Skirts

 I don't know why 750 is a significant number.  I get the whole three quarters to 1000 thing, but why is it better than, say 800, 8/10s to 1000?  Anyway, going on tradition, it's time for another visit to the lightly visited early days of The New Found Photography in honor of post number 750!

As I've mentioned more than a few times, I spent decades as a professional black & white printer.  In all those years, I printed thousands of negatives of men wearing women's clothes.  Some were like these two guys, fooling around for the camera.  Some were guys who went all out, with not just clothes, but wigs and make-up.  And some were so good, that if I hadn't been told, I would have assumed they were actual women.