Sullen French Girls

Pre-punks?  Born fifty years too early?  Dated, "Juillet 1927"  July, for those like me, who do not speak French.

A Small Photo

A very small and very old photograph. At only 2 inches on the long dimension, it's about the size of a modern wallet photo. She seems to be sitting at one of the old fashioned school desks with the seat attached to the front of the desk to the rear in the class room row of desks.

The Girls of Union High

I've been gathering up old photos for decades, and this small group of images was one of the first collections of related photographs that I ever bought. Purchased in western Pennsylvania, it shows some young girls, and a few adults in a small town. My guess is that these images are from around the World War 1 era to the early twenties. But is this a company town, a community built by a coal company for it's workers, or just a poor rural township in the hills of Pennsylvania? Written on the back of the horizontal image, "Left to right. Mariam Cosley, Thelma Allenbaugh, Irene Forgie, Alice, Elma Evans, Freshman year at Union High School." I've always thought that Alice must have been related to the photographer, so no last name was needed. The two girls sitting on the railing, "Left to right. Thelma Allenbaugh, Elma Evans. Freshman year at Union High." On the picture with the winking girl, "Left to right. Irene Forgie, Elma Evans, Freshman year at Union High." I think Elma must have been the clever, fun one of the class. The two older woman in the long dresses. "Miss Helen Johnston Algebra I teacher U.H.S. at right. Miss Eleanor Fuller Geog. I teach U.H.S. at left. Freshman year." The longer shot with the girl standing on the rock, "Grace Cosley. Freshman year." Mariam's sister from the horizontal image? The three girls standing with the two sitting, "Standing from left to right are Grace Cosley, Bertha Kreiger, Elma Evans. Sitting Left, Thelma Allenbaugh. Right Irene Forgie. Freshman year." Elma is looking down in this one. Was Bertha the most popular girl in school, and did she make the normally gregarious Elma a little self conscious? Or perhaps she is worried that she might fall off the rock on which she is standing.

Esther's Graduation 1930

It's always nice to get something that is dated. Written in ink on the front of the photo, "For Aunt Lena, with love, Esther 1930." It appears to be a graduation picture. Note the rolled up diploma in Esther's hand and the prize ribbon on her dress. Too, this is a contact print, size 5x7. Could be high school or college.

Crazy Dancing Teenager From the 1950s

No names, no dates, no nothing! Just a couple of great 8x10's of a crazy, dancing teenager from the 1950's. This young lady is probably still alive. If anyone out there recognizes her, please leave a comment.

One Young Lady Over 20 Years

You don't find a collection like this too often. Photographs of the same young lady, in essentially the same pose, taken over a period of twenty years. I haven't spent a lot of time around children in my life, so I'm not very good at estimating their ages....I'm making a wild guess that the first picture was taken around age five. So that would make the last image of a young lady aged about twenty five.

There are dates written on the borders. In order, 1922, 1928, 1929, 1931, 1932, 1934, 1935, two from 1937, 1938, two from 1940, and 1942. Born around the end of World War 1, the last picture begins not long after the United States entry into World War 2.