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.

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.

The North Texas State Normal College Album 13

Without any captions it's impossible to tell who is who in this album.  If the owner was a student at North Texas State, and he or she is pictured, then going be age, I would think that the best bets are the young women in the center group of the second photo.  Just for the hell of it, I'm voting for the standing woman in white.  As usual, click NTSNC in the labels section at the bottom of the post to bring up the whole collection.

A European Village Wedding

Must of us have had the experience of looking at an old photograph and knowing where it must have been taken.  There's nothing written anywhere on this picture.  I could have been taken almost anywhere, but when I look at it it says Europe to me.  Not the Europe of Paris, Prague or Berlin, but the Europe of a small village somewhere in eastern, or perhaps southern Europe.  I'll bet the photographer was a local shop keeper who had a side line taking photos.  An old piece of canvas was hung up on the wall to provide an even background, and a glass negative, the same size as the finished photo, was exposed.  Maybe the married couple moved to the United States and brought this print with them.. Maybe they mailed it to their emigrant cousin.  Who knows how it got here.  But then again, maybe I'm wrong.  Maybe this image was made in Iowa.

The North Texas State Normal College Album 12

More group shots.  One from the farm and  two from the school house.  Click on NTSNC in the labels section at the bottom of the post to bring up the whole lot.

The North Texas State Normal College Album 11

No, I hadn't forgot about this album.  It's just such a pain to take the album apart and put it back together every time, I have a tendency to put the updates off.  Click on NTSNC in the labels section at the bottom of the post to bring up the whole collection.

Dead Foxes Ripped Her Flesh

Sorry, I couldn't resist the Frank Zappa reference.  Doesn't the lady in the center look like she's about to add another pelt to her shoulder.  It also looks like she doesn't care whether it's animal or human.  A very mean looking lady, indeed.

Scalp Treatment

What's a scalp treatment?  What's an oil treatment?  Are these the owners, or customers? Do children need scalp treatments?  Did these people decide they needed a picture of the kids and decide, "Hey, I've got the perfect place for a picture.  Down by the scalp treatment store."  (Or is it salon?)  Written in the print border, "2mo"  Written on the back, "June 9, 1946"

The North Texas State Normal College Album 9

Time for a few more pages from The North Texas State Normal College Album.  The studio portrait of the two kids was taped in while the other photos are glued on the page, so I'm guessing that it was added after the other ones.  But how long after?  They look unhappy to be at the photographers.  As always, click on NTSNC in the labels section to bring up the whole album.

The Front Porch

This one is labeled, "Cousin Carol, Grandpa C., Mother & Wayne, Aunt Minnie, Marguerite, Me & Cousin Keith"  Another photo that has been cut from a photo album, so we'll never know who Me was.

What Are They?

Find an old photograph with nothing written on it and it's only natural to wonder who they are, what were their names, where did they live.  Sometimes, the question is what were they?  My first thought was doctors and nurses, but then I began to wonder.  Waiters and waitresses?  Scientists?  Butchers, bakers, candle stick makers?   One thing's for sure.  They liked dogs.

The Summer House

This photograph reminds me of a John Cheever story.  Not a specific story, but one of the ones where somewhat unhappy New Yorkers go off to the New England summer house and work hard to avoid an inevitable confrontation.

The German American Collection, The Album 13

The last of the formal portraits, this time a group effort. Remember to click on German-American in the labels section to bring up the lot.

The German American Collection, Althea Hope Risebake

Written on the back of the school photo in a childish hand, "Althea Hope Risebake" Stamped, "SCHOOL PROJECTS PHOTO CO. 309 MAIN ST. ORANGE, N.J. Tel. OR. 5-5286 Res. OR. 5-5622."

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The problem I'm having with the German American collection (Click on German American in the labels section to get more information and more images.) is that it's so broken up it's almost impossible to build a real narrative of this family. What I do know is that a German family immigrated to the United States and made a life in New York and New Jersey. These two pieces both have education as a theme, but they don't come from the same time or place. Was the District Number 13 souvenir tag from the Andes, New York School District given to the child of a German immigrant, and a parent of Althea Hope Risebake, or was it given to someone born and raised in the U.S. who would eventually marry into that immigrant family? Was Althea born in Germany, struggling to learn English along with her math and geography, while her American born class mates made fun of her accent? Of course, when this picture was taken, an accent may have been common in this school. While it's frustrating not to know, it also allows for a freedom of speculation that makes collecting old photos endlessly fascinating. .

What Makes a Great Cabinet Card Part 2?

Yesterday I asked the question, with millions to choose from, what makes a great cabinet card. Well, here is an example. The photographer, M.J. Streuser from Bellevue, Iowa had a great eye for composition, the subject matter, a group of guys out having a good time, the sense of movement one gets from Arnie brandishing his club. Wow. I feed the name M.J. Streuser into Google, not expecting much, and found another example of his work on the Cowan Auctions site, of a photographer and his assistant posing with their wares. Probably a self portrait and it was wonderful too. I really recommend that others visit and take a look. The very first post I put up on this blog was a group of prints I made from a set of glass negs, all from the same photographer, and the thought of picking up more Streuser prints, well it's the same. Written on the back, "Arnie, Geo. Zentiner, Frank Kegles, Charles Hartley, Ed Kamp, Phil, Joe Brandt, From one of Arnie's birthdays." Go punch in M.J. Streuser into Google before the Cowan Auctions site takes down the cabinet card I mentioned, and please use the archives section to the right to navigate back to Montana Glass Negatives, pubished on June 9. 2009.

Group Photos

This family really loves it's group shots. Written on the back of the first picture in the collection, "Jakru at Miss Rybak's July 19-1914." My guess is that Jackru is the little boy with the flamboyant neck tie. July 1914 was the month before World War 1 began in Europe and three years before the U.S. entry into the conflict. While only one photo is labeled, the changes in women's clothes and the car give a range from just before the war to a few years after. Jackru would not have been old enough to fight in the first world war and might have been just a bit too old to fight in the second, but his life and the lives of the others in these photos would never be the same.

Green Bay Business College- Portraits

Please, please click on Green Bay in the labels section so I don't have to retype all the stuff I've already put up about this collection. In short, I bought a pretty good sized collection of photos that were in some envelopes addressed to Kenneth Bierke of "The Green Bay Business College, 123 S. Washington, Green Bay, Wis." I'm fairly certain that the young guy is Kenneth Bierke himself. Only two more posts in the Green Bay collection, though it could be awhile before I finally finish it up.