Me And My Uke

So, how did the ukulele get it's name?  Well, I've got two stories on that one, and  the first is the better known of the two.  Ukulele is from the Hawaiian and it roughly translates as jumping flea.  One would normally think that because the instrument is so small  and the strumming movement so fast that it would recall the insect, and that is part of it.  But, there is just a hint of British imperialism that goes along with that version of the story.  It seems that King Kalakaua employed Edward William Purvis, one of those ubiquitous Englishman, imperialist adventurer turned mercenary, in his officer corps.  Unlike the rest of the King's retainers, Purvis was a very small person, and full of nervous ticks.  He was also a lover of the instrument, and played rapidly.  His Polynesian comrades liked to make fun of him behind his back.  He was the jumping flea, and the name got transferred to the instrument.  The other story is a lot less interesting, and much more likely to be true.  It comes from Queen Lili'uokalani, the last monarch of Hawaii.  According to her, the name comes from two Hawaiian words, uku, which translates as gift and lele, which means to come.  Therefore ukulele means the gift that came here.

 And while we're on the subject of Hawaiian rulers, the next time a Texan says, "Well, after all, Texas was the only state that was once an independent country, and that's why we're so special," remind them of Hawaii.

So, even though the ukulele is thought of as an Hawaiian instrument, it's origins are actually Portuguese.  It was very popular with Portuguese whalers and they may have introduced the uke to the islands. (There was also a wave of Portuguese immigration to Hawaii in the late nineteenth century, an alternate explanation.)   In the nineteenth century, the Hawaiian Islands were at the center of the world's whaling industry.  With the Atlantic hunting grounds all but exhausted, European and American whalers were forced to seek their prey in the Pacific Ocean.  The waters around Hawaii were teaming with whales, and unfortunately for the native Hawaiians, they were rather friendly and welcoming of strangers.  The Hawaiians got the ukulele from Portuguese sailors, (Or settlers.) as well as a whole host of western diseases, land taken and carved up among sugar interests,  an overthrow of their government, and a certain amount of cultural corruption.

Fun fact about Hawaiian music.  In 1929,  Hawaiian born Yukihiko Haida went to Japan, his parents homeland, and formed The Moana Glee Club, a band that played Hawaiian music.  Their popularity soared and ukulele music became very popular in Japan.  During World War 2, the Japanese government attempted to suppress American music.  Jazz, big band, and Hawaiian music were targeted as degenerate forms of expression.  Despite the imperial government's best efforts, Hawaiian music retained it's popularity throughout the war.  In 1959, Haida, still living in Japan, formed The Nihon Ukulele Association.  Today, Japan is a hotbed of Hawaiian music and culture.

And finally, I have to recommend one of my favorite bands, Janet Klein and Her Parlor Boys.  Klein, the chanteuse of the ukulele, performs and records songs from the twenties and thirties with the occasional klezmer tune thrown in.  Type her name in your favorite search engine and bring up her website.  She posts a number of old, vaudeville related photos that are worth seeing.

Written on the back of the photo, "Me and my uke."  I'm thinking cabin in the Adirondacks rather than Hawaii.

Los Lobos Is Still In the Future

Dated "OCT  60"  An exotic vacation to Mexico or was it here in the United States?

Snowed In

Another photo of guys hanging out in the snow.  This time, I'm guess about ten to fifteen years latter than those in the last post.   Take a look at the guy in the middle.  He bears a slight resemblance to one of the guys seen yesterday.  Not close enough for a sure fire connection, but I did get all photos from this and the last post from the same source.

Idaho Snow

College guys from the same frat?  That's my guess and I'm stickin' with it.  Just a bunch of guys getting ready to go out and face the real world as free and easy adults.  Hanging out with the guys at the cabin.  A little poker, whiskey, and a cigar or two.  I get a late thirties early forties feeling from these pictures, so the world they were about to face would be neither free nor easy.

Fuller & Rude

 "Fuller & Rude.  That's it, the only thing written on the print.  It might be the names of these two young ladies, but I suspect it's a commentary on their personalities.  But is it a joke comment or heartfelt?  I picked this one up in southern California, and it has to be form somewhere around the area.  Every time I see one of these old south Cal photos I think, "If only I looked hard enough I could find that hill or that stream or that bluff."  And then I look around and see how the landscape has been altered by one housing tract after another and realize it's a stupid idea.  Still, I'll keep my eyes open.

The Empire State Candy Club

It's been a long time since I've put up one of these souvenir photo folders.  At first, I thought that the Empire State Candy Club was just that, a club, open to the public, a floor show, dancing, food and plenty of alcohol.  But then, I started doing the research and found that it was a trade association of New York state candy distributors.  What was interesting was how I found out.  It doesn't look as if this particular association is in business any more, so I didn't find their web site.  I found references to them in the University of California San Francisco Tobacco Documents Library Collection.  One reference was an ad, taken by the Candy Club, in the program for the annual convention of The New York Association of Tobacco Sellers from September of 1963.  The other, a cancelled check from The Tobacco Institute for the purchase of a ticket to  the Fortieth Annual Empire State Candy Club Clambake in 1983.

I know, it seems a little weird that candy sellers would be connected to tobacco distributors, but then I started to remember the small town five and dime that sold me candy bars when I was a child.  Sloan's had a huge counter that filled the back wall of the store.  One half was candy and the other half was smokeless tobacco, cigars, and cigarettes.  And what separated the two?  Candy cigarettes and shredded chewing gum in snuff tins and tobacco pouches.  On entrance to junior high school, average age about twelve, students were allowed to chew tobacco or dip snuff.  At sixteen, with a parental permission slip, students were allowed to hang out in their very own smoking room.  That was a long time ago.  I was born in 1955, started grade school in 1960, and junior high in 1967.  And the fact is, back then, that arrangement was fairly common in small town America.

A lot of my classmates chewed tobacco.  As a life long hater of tobacco, I was very, very unhappy to be sitting next to a guy spitting tobacco juice into a paper cup.  It made it hard to concentrate in class.  And using the water fountains, with puddles of brown spit....disgusting.  And I would bet, that if I could go back in time and make a count, at least a third, perhaps even half of the boys in my class had permission slips from their parents to smoke.  I may be wrong, but if memory serves, that wasn't the case with the girls.  It makes me wonder how many of my classmates died of cancer.

Over the years, I've put up quite a few of these folders.  Click on souvenir photo folders or night clubs to bring up the others.

Relaxing In Suburbia

It was a golden time after all.  The war was over, the United States had one of the few strong economies in the world, unions were strong, and wages were high.  There was even money to buy the kids a piano.  Too bad rock & roll got 'em.

Stamped on the back,  "ROLLMAN'S CAMERA SHOP APR 6  1954  SHILLINGTON, PA."   What a great name for a camera shop.  I'll bet there motto was buy a roll from Rollman's.  And, as of January 2012, Rollman's was still in business.  Of course my source for that info stated that Rollman's had been in business for 55 years.  Do the math, and that means that the store opened in 1957, so clearly my source has some problems.

Shillington is a small town, a borough actually, adjacent to Reading, Pennsylvania.  In the 1950s, Reading had a population of over 100,000, today it's under 90,000.  There was a community named Shillington as early as 1860, but it didn't incorporate until 1908.  And the first elected official, Burgess Adam Rollman.  It's probable that some descendant of Adam was the camera store Rollman.  The most famous Shillingtonian (?) was author John Updike.  Updike was the valedictorian of the Shillington High class of 1950,  so it's pretty probable that the young lady in this photo either knew him, or knew of him, before he was famous.

Naughty Biddy

How did Biddy serve the tomatoes undressed?  Why did Biddy serve the tomatoes undressed?  Hard to believe that this was once considered risque.  No publisher listed or any captions other than the one seen on the bottom right.

Love Those Accordions

Please tell me he's wearing a pith helmet.  Who doesn't love an accordion?

Red Dress

I love these old, hand tinted photographs.  I'm always surprised just how hard it is to find a good example.  There was a fair amount of work in applying the tints and, of course, if a mistake was made, a new print was needed and the colorist had to start over, so they weren't cheap. .  Throw in that they were often displayed in a frame,  exposed to sunlight, and the subsequent fading, it's no wonder that so few have survived in one piece with good, rich colors.  The Northland logo presented some problems.  There are a huge number of photo studios, past and present, with that name.  I'm tempted to say that this photo is from Northland Studios with offices in Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Toledo and Indianapolis because they were in business in the 1920s and with all those offices, it increases the chances that this photo is one of theirs, but of course, I can only guess on that.   Click on hand colored prints in the labels section to bring up some more images.

La Dolce Vita

I don't know what they're doing, but it looks like they're enjoying themselves.  I'm thinking early to mid sixties and somewhere in Europe.  Don't know why, it's just the impression I get.

At Fullerton

As I was scanning this photograph a question occurred to me.   It may be a stupid question, but I'm going to ask it anyway.  Did women shave their legs before the twentieth century?   It wasn't until the World War 1 era that women began wearing dresses that showed their legs, so who would have know?   And what would they have shaved with?   The safety razor wasn't invented until 1880.  (It's amazing what you can find on line.)  A straight razor isn't the easiest thing to master.  Most men either grew a beard or where shaved by a barber.  I had a beard for a few years while I was in college and never really liked it.  But if my only other choice involved  a straight razor, I suspect I would have gotten used to  whiskers.  I can't imagine running a straight razor the length of a leg without major blood loss.  And just think of a nicked femoral artery.  Ouch.  Anyway, just curious.

Written on the back, "Mae, Guy, Ruth, Mother at Fullerton."  Fullerton is a city in northern Orange County in California.  It was named for businessman George Fullerton who bought the land for his employer, The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad.   The city was incorporated in 1887.  This photo was probably taken in the 1920s.  Fullerton would have still been a major grower of oranges and other fruit, but by that time it had also become an oil boom town.  I'll have a barrel of crude with that orange slice.

The North Texas State Normal College Album 16

I keep trying to figure out just who was the owner of this album.  She (or he) has to be in at least some of the photographs.  I've had a few guesses over the course of these posts, but not today's.  Click on NTSNC in the labels section to bring up the lot.

The North Texas State Normal College Album 15

No, I hadn't abandoned the North Texas State Normal College Album.  It's just such a pain in the behind taking apart the album every time I post another page or two.  Click on NTSNC in the labels section to bring up the whole lot.

Poor Children

I wonder what life was like for this child, growing up in what looks to be a big city tenement house?  Look at old photographs, and one would assume that the world was made up of nice, middle class people living in nice, middle class neighborhoods.  That's because most poor people couldn't afford cameras.   Poverty isn't a pleasant way to live.  I know that from experience, but it is a great photographic subject.

The Howsers of Missouri

I've still got plenty of postcards left, but after this post, I'm going to move on to other things for awhile.  Top to bottom, "Ula Howser"  "From Myrtle Howser to Zilia Howard, Mrs Zelia Howard, Bagnell, Mo"  and "Elston Howser"   Bagnell, Missouri is a very small town that had a population of 93 as of the 2010 census.

Nostalgia

Ah nostalgia.  Do we all long for a simpler time and see that time as so much better than what we have now? The original photograph for this card was probably taken around 1910, give or take a year or two in either direction.  But it was mailed in 1940.  Did the lady who mailed it think about a looming world war and say to herself, "If only we could all go back,"  conveniently forgetting that World War 1 was just a few years in the future when this image was taken?  It's human nature to remember better times that never where.

Postmarked, "CANANDAIGUA N.Y. JUN 17 12:30 PM 1940"  Sent to "Miss L. Smith, 341 Maple Ave., Oradell, New Jersey"  And the message, "Greetings to all the Chapter and congratulations to the new sister.  Hope we have many more.  Alana T. Wallis"   I would guess that the chapter was a college sorority, but I suppose it could also be some sort of club.

Canandaigua is a bit confusing because there is both a Canandaigua city and a Canandaigua town,  they border each other, and each is on Canandaigua Lake.  Now if the city was big while the town was small, it might make some sense, but they're both about the same size.  I wonder if the urbanites look down on the townies?  Famous Canandaiguans include painter Arthur Dove and comedian Kristen Wiig.

Horse

Now here's a mystery.  Why would anyone make a postcard from this nag?  He's not a race horse.  No, this horse is a working horse, made obsolete by tractors and cheap fuel.  This one's a pretty old card, from back in the day when farmers worked their horses and didn't think of them as a family pet.  Maybe the owner of this animal had a soft spot and liked his livestock.  Maybe after his working life this horse was retired to the back pasture.  More likely, when this photo was taken, the farmer/owner was thinking of how much money he could get for old Jughead.  Take a look at this card and make an offer.  Jughead can still pull a plow, a wagon, and if that doesn't work, there's always the slaughterhouse.

Greer Garson

This is it.  In the past week or so, I've been putting up a few Hollywood celebrity postcards, and this is the last one I have.

I have to admit, Greer Garson isn't an actress that comes to mind when I think of classic movies.  The only movie of hers that I can remember is Mrs. Miniver, an overly sentimental film about a brave family during the London blitz.  In the end, actors and actresses aren't remembered for their acting, they're remembered for their movies.  Garson was a huge star in the forties, with five straight Academy Award nominations from 1941 to 1945, but didn't make that many memorable films.  There would eventually be seven nominations total, with one win, the already mentioned Mrs. Miniver.

She was born Eileen Evelyn Greer Garson in England in 1904.  She was, for her day, a very well educated woman, attended King's College, London, and the University Of Grenoble, France, with  degrees in French and 18th century literature.  Garson's intention was to teach, but ended up working for an advertising agency.  Her acting career started in amateur stage productions, she joined some repertory companies, did some experimental television productions in the late thirties and was discovered, and signed to a contract by MGM after being spotted by Samuel Goldwyn while on a talent scouting trip.  Her first film was Goodbye Mr. Chips, made in 1939.  Her last theatrical film was The Happiest Millionaire in 1968.  She continued making occasional TV appearances, the last, Little Women, in 1978.   She became a naturalized American citizen and died in Texas in 1996.

Garson was married three times.  Her second husband, the actor Richard Ney played her son in Mrs. Miniver.  Her third husband was Texas oilman Buddy Fogelson.

Greetings From North Bessemer

I gotta say, I've been to North Bessemer, Pennsylvania, and I wasn't impressed.

The message on the back, "Dear Helane,  I discovered you forgot cover but I thought I would send it home with Peurle on Sunday.  But I believe I will mail it to you at once.  Hershell was dissapointed he said I want my Helane to come back. We have a big circus in our town today.  Today I wish you could see it.  Grace"

Mailed to "Miss Helane Kohou, 935 Jerome St., McKeesport, Pa.  And the postmark, "UNITY STATION, PA  AUG 23, 3PM 1916"  I've also been to Unity Township, formally Unity Station, near Plum Township as well as McKeesport.  Again, not impressed.  The real question is how this postcard ended up in an antique shop in Pasadena, CA.  And finally, did Helane and Hershell ever get together?

Bing Crosby

How can a man be as well known, and as forgotten, as Bing Crosby?  There aren't many Americans who haven't heard the song White Christmas, and while It's A Wonderful Life has supplanted White Christmas, the movie, as the favorite TV Christmas special, it's still very popular.  But who remembers Bing Crosby the musical innovator?

I've been collecting 78 rpm recordings for decades and at first, if Crosby's name was on the label, I passed.  Then one day, I got a load of Crosby records as part of a larger lot and began listening.  What a revelation.  This beautiful bass-baritone voice that sang in an almost conversational style.  I was hooked, a Bing Crosby fan for life.   Too, as I listened, I noticed something else.  It was like there were two periods of music.  PB, pre- Bing, and AB, after Bing.  The style didn't exist before Bing Crosby came along.  I can remember a conversation I had with another fan.  He told me that there were changes in the technology of recording about the time that Crosby arrived on the scene that made it possible to capture the tonal range in his voice, and that was the reason for the change in popular musical styles. That always seemed specious to me, so I've never done any research into the claim, but I pass it along for what it 's worth.

And a quick note on Bing Crosby the actor.  Based on number of tickets sold, Crosby is the third most popular movie actor in history, behind Clark Gable and John Wayne.  Once I became a fan of the music, I started watching the movies.  White Christmas, of course, (For the record, I prefer it to It's A Wonderful Life), Holiday Inn and some of the other musicals, but also the road movies with Bob Hope.  The humor still holds up quite well.  At least in my opinion.

Bing Crosby was born Harry Lillis Crosby in 1903, in Tacoma Washington.  He began singing professionally while still in high school.  His first big success was as a member of The Rhythm Boys with the Paul Whiteman Orchestra.  Depending on the source, Crosby either quit to go solo, or was fired because of his drinking and marijuana use.  His first wife was the actress Dixie Lee.  They had four sons, two of whom, Dennis and Lindsay,  committed suicide.  A third son,  Gary wrote a tell all book accusing his father of being physically and emotionally abusive.  Philip, twin brother of Dennis,  died of natural causes.  Crosby had three more children with his second wife, Kathryn.  Harry Jr., Nathaniel, and Mary.  Bing Crosby died of a heart attack in 1977, in Madrid, Spain.

The Famous Sunshine Benches of St. Petersburg

Florida, not Russia.  It's amazing how an old postcard can lead you into the depths of strange, useless trivia.  I went to Google and typed in sunshine benches, St. Petersburg, not really expecting much.  I figured this card was nothing more than an advertisement for a bank, First Federal Savings, painted on the one bench. Was I wrong.  St. Petersburg was once was known as the city of green benches.  Way back when, in the first decade of the twentieth century, a local real estate agent put a couple of green benches in front of his office.  They became so popular with passers by, that in 1916, the St. Pete city council decided to install benches all over the downtown business district, that they all had to be green, and they all had to be the same size.  Now I can't imagine that sitting on a bench, next to parked cars, in Florida, especially in the summer was a pleasant experience, but it seems my imagination is a bit faulty on this one.  But unforeseen problems do have a habit of rearing their ugly head.  It seems that the benches attracted the wrong sort of people.  No, not criminals.  Not drug dealers.  Not unruly teens, smoking and making rude comments to proper young ladies.  The benches attracted the elderly.  Old people sitting in the sun, not spending money.  Just imagine, old people in Florida!  In the early sixties, someone on the city council came up with the bright idea of painting the benches in pastels.  Surely orange, yellow, and pink benches would attract shoppers with money to spend.  Didn't work.  In 1967, by order of the city, all the benches were removed.  The old people did not go away.  And that is how civilizations fall.

The message on the back, "Feb 12th Hope you are feeling fine again from your opperation the 16th we are going over to visit the Pedricks.  I am having a nice time and feeling fine.  We are having a lot of rain. Love Aunt Irene."  Mailed to "Mr. & Mrs. B. J. March & Buddy, Road, Schwenksville, R.D. 2, Pa."  And the postmark, "PINELLAS PARK, FLA  FEB. 13, 1964"

Lana Turner

Imagine.  It's the 1940s and you've saved your money so  you can visit Hollywood.  You go to the restaurants you've read about in the fan magazines.  You hang out at the studio gates, and take the tour bus to the home's of the stars.  And in the end, the only movie stars you see are the ones on the postcards sold at the corner news stand.  Remember, it's Hollywood, where people make up stories for a living.  The folks back home can be told anything, and who's the wiser.

Oh Lana Turner, what a life she lead.  Born in 1921 in Wallace, Idaho, as Julia Jean Turner, she moved with her family to sunny southern California when still a child.  No, she wasn't discovered at Schwab's Drug Store, but at a small cafe near Hollywood High School.  The rewards of skipping class.  She made a lot of movies in her career, and by any standard  was a successful actress.  A lot of those films were good movies and a couple have withstood the test of time.  Most notably, The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946), The Bad and the Beautiful (1952), and Imitation of Life (1959).  Unlike a lot of glamour girls, Turner could act, and while the parts disappeared as she aged, she never officially retired.  Eventually she would make her way to television and make a notable turn on the night time soap, Falcon Crest.  Her last movie was Thwarted, a low budget film made in Florida.  It was made in 1991, just a few years before her death in 1995.

Lana Turner also had an adventurous private life, going through seven husbands, and more than a few lovers.   To put it mildly, she didn't always make the best choices.  There were husbands that hadn't gotten around to divorcing previous wives.  Physically abusive husbands, including one, actor Lex Barker, who was alleged to have  raped Lana's teen aged daughter, Cheryl Crane.  And then there was boyfriend, Johnny Stomponato.  Stomponato was a gangster and member of the Mickey Cohen crime family.  Lana and Johnny took up  in 1957.  Lana tried to break things off, but Johnny Stomponato wasn't the type of man to leave when asked.  In 1957, Lana took a part in a movie being made in England, Another Time, Another Place, opposite a young Sean Connery.  Johnny followed her to England and  confronted Connery with a gun.  Sean Connery decked Stomponato with one punch, disarmed him, and turned him over to the police.  When Lana Turner returned to Hollywood, Johnny Stomponato was waiting for her.  And then he was dead, stabbed to death in Lana Turner's house.  The official story is that Stomponato was beating her and that Lana's daughter, Cheryl, stabbed Stomponato, defending her mother's life.  But of course, it's a Hollywood story, so there are rumors of murky cover-ups.  The most popular is that Lana and Johnny had reconciled, that things had gotten rough, and that Lana did the stabbing, and that after consultation with studio lawyers and publicity men, it was decided that Cheryl should take the blame to save her mother's career.  In 1958, the  DA decided that Cheryl Crane's actions were justified and no charges were filed.

I Want What I Want...

...When I Want it.  I'm not even going to try and make out what's written on the back of this card.  It's just too faded.  I'd criticize the writer for not using a more permanent ink, but then again, the writer probably assumed that this card would be thrown away fairly quickly.  I wonder just how racy this was when it was purchased.

Aunt Fronia

I bought this real photo postcard at the same time, and from the same dealer, as the previous post.  The handwriting on the back is similar, but in my opinion, not a close enough match to be sure that they are related.  And the caption, "Aunt Fronia Kerney and half sister Laura."

Little Pauline

Another real photo postcard.  Labeled "Pauline Fay Buckner."  My mother would go crazy when I sat on a chair like this.

Four Chums

I'm going to do postcards for awhile.  Sooner or latter I'll get tired of it and move on to snapshots, or photo albums, or something else.  But for the time being, it's all postcards all the time.  Just a bit on dating early postcards.  Up until 1898, the U.S. Post Office, in the United States, had a monopoly on the printing of postcards.  After 1898, private publishers and individuals were allowed to make cards, but the post office retained control over the term postcard so privately produced cards were referred to as private mailing cards.  After 1901, the post office ceded it's exclusive use of the word postcard.  Up until 1907, it was against postal regulations to write anything on the back of a card, except the address.  Cards had undivided backs, lacking the line that divided the address from the area allowed for messages.  So, this is a privately produced card, labeled postcard, with an undivided back, so it should have been made between 1901 and 1907.  That is if the person who printed this card hadn't saved a box of card stock for a decade or two.

Written on the back, "Ruby"

Five Men, One Woman

Here's a nice little group photo.  Take a look at the lady's feet, all at odd angles.  In the age when ladies wore voluminous skirts, they could be seated in a photo and it would look like they were floating in air.  I'm sure this woman has to seated, but with her clothing hiding the chair, she has the quality of a levitating magicians assistant.  Perhaps she'll float away into the nether regions.  And what a collection of hats.

Mother and Son

I should have put this one up yesterday.  We're supposed to be patriotic on inauguration day, and we do equate the military with patriotism.  Every time I see an image of a soldier with his mother,  I always wonder if he came back alive.

The Lady Violinist

My favorite violinists are Stuff Smith, Stephane Grappelli, and Regina Carter.  If you don't know who they are, you're not a jazz fan.  From the forties or fifties, I would think.

Come on in the water's fine.

It's the middle of winter, so I thought I'd just put up a reminder of the summer ahead.  This real photo postcard was addressed to. "Miss Alberta Simmonds, Clinton, Tenn." but never stamped or mailed.  I guess Clinton was small enough back then that a street address wasn't necessary.

Strike Up the Band

No names, dates, or locations on this one, and it's hard to guess based on a band uniform.  

Writing Away

This one is strangely fascinating to me.  It's dated "12/25/71" and with the open gifts strewn around, you'd think she's writing thank you notes.  But then I took a second look, and I wondered who would write a thank you note on a legal pad.  Anyway, in an age when writing cursive is a disappearing skill, I like looking at pictures of people writing.  In my grade school, one of the exercises we used to learn cursive was the writing of letters.  Another disappearing skill.  Now it's all a couple of quick lines in an email.  The tech age doesn't know what it's loosing.

The Camera Couple and The Third Wheel

I do love my photographs of photographers.  I've just gone through one of my favorite reference books, 500 Cameras, 170 Years of Photographic Innovation by Todd Gustavson and the closest match I can find to the lady's camera is a No. 4 Screen Focus Kodak, Model A, first made in 1904.  Of course, once a company made a nice camera, it wasn't long until another company came up with a copy.  And the man's camera, a bit difficult to see down there between his legs, looks like it might be a Kodak Autographic first made in 1916.  I have one in my collection and a number of others that look pretty much the same.  Oh well.  Now, is the third person their model, or just the guy that they couldn't ditch before heading out on a camera outing?  Maybe his camera is on a tripod with a self timer.  Either that, or there's a forth person and with luck the third man's date.