Uploads from Addie-B, tagged vintage

Mac: The wild man from Borneo

nobody@flickr.com (Addie-B) — Fri, 03 May 2013 20:15:50 -0700

Addie-B posted a photo:

This photo is one of five pictures that I bought from a large lot of photos at one of my local antique stores taken by a pair of Canadian brothers that owned a photography studio together. A lot of the pictures have witty writing on them, but most of those pictures are priced higher than the others, so this is the only one with writing that I bought.

This young man seems to be one of their friends. The writing on the side calls him "the wild man from Borneo" (which Deborah was kind enough to clarify, as you can see in the comments below.) A quick google search showed that the title wasprobably a reference to a pair of victorian brothers ( From Mount Vernon, ohio, rather than Borneo) who gained a reasonable amount of fame as sideshow performers. They were both only about 40 inches tall, but had amazing strength for their size, often lifting heavy weights in front of audiences, and wrestling with audience members. Here's the wikipedia page for them, if anyone wants to read up on them more or see a few pictures of them ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_Men_of_Borneo )

A film, "The Wild Man of Borneo" came later in 1941 ( www.imdb.com/title/tt0034394/ ) but, this picture was taken long before that. Based on the clothing in other pictures from the same photographers, I would place it in the 1910's.

Victorian boys

nobody@flickr.com (Addie-B) — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 14:48:56 -0800

Addie-B posted a photo:

This is by far the largest tintype that I own and also the largest that I've seen in person (I'm sure I've seen scans and pictures of a lot more on ebay and here on flickr, but all of the other tintypes that I've come across in stores have been closer to the size of a cdv. This one is closer to the size of an rppc.

The two boys don't look too much alike despite being identically dressed. Maybe they were cousins? Though Ben made a good point about them having the same ears and not all brothers look alike. I suppose we'll never know as, like all but a small handful of the tintypes in my collection, there is no information on the reverse.

It almost looks like the boys have stands on some kind behind them, but they seem too old to need restraints to keep them still. Any ideas on what they might be?

John and Jane Slapper

nobody@flickr.com (Addie-B) — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 09:50:00 -0700

Addie-B posted a photo:

This cabinet card show my Great-Great Grandmother's sister, Jane, with her husband, John Slapper. There's no date on it and I don't know when either of them were born, so, I couldn't say exactly when it was taken. It looks like it might be from the 1880's, though. I would guess the 1870's, but she looks too much older than she did in the last picture of her.

This is the younger picture of Jane - www.flickr.com/photos/addie-b/7815808786/in/photostream/
and the woman in the middle of the bottom row in this picture is her as well, several years older - www.flickr.com/photos/addie-b/7805229788/in/photostream/

Ralph out at harvest

nobody@flickr.com (Addie-B) — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 19:16:40 -0700

Addie-B posted a photo:

I'm trying to upload all of these in chronological order, but this one from 1914 slipped by. My great-grandfather, Ralph, is all decked out in his overalls for harvest season (and slightly unshaven). I have to say, it's tough to pull off overalls, but I really think he's doing it. He almost looks like a model for some magazine.

The border on the front of the picture gives a identifies Western Kansas as the area in which the picture was taken, but there's no specific town mentioned. On the reverse, someone wrote that the picture was "taken when out to harvest". He would have been about 21 years old at the time.

Big-brother-powered transport

nobody@flickr.com (Addie-B) — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 18:05:33 -0700

Addie-B posted a photo:

Finally, Ralph's little brother, Harry, makes an appearance, riding around in style on an odd trike-wagon combo run by Ralph, who doesn't look too pleased about it. Unfortunately, the picture is very small (about 1" X 2"), so it doesn't get much clearer than this. Harry looks like he's maybe a year or two old. The year '98 (1898, of course) is written on the edge of the cardboard backing, but I don't know what year Harry was born, so I couldn't say exactly what his age is from that. Ralph, however, was born in 1893, so he was about five at the time.

Ralph as a toddler

nobody@flickr.com (Addie-B) — Sun, 19 Aug 2012 14:53:02 -0700

Addie-B posted a photo:

This cute, little guy is my great grandfather, Ralph, again, probably at about two years of age, around 1895. I hadn't noticed until earlier this morning, but he seems to have a wheeled tin horse toy with him (undoubtedly given to him to keep him happy). He would have needed it. I'm sure that big, poofy-sleeved sailor suit inspired outfit wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world for a toddler.

First-born child

nobody@flickr.com (Addie-B) — Sun, 19 Aug 2012 10:02:32 -0700

Addie-B posted a photo:

My great grandfather, Ralph (Rhoda's husband), with his parents, Laura and William, at a year or so old, probably around 1894.He's about as cute as cute can be with his little arm on his dad's shoulder. At this point, he was an only child, but was followed a few years later by another brother, Harry, and a a few years after that, a sister, Edna.

Another copy of this picture (in slightly worse condition) has been in a frame on my grandfather's desk for literally as long as I can remember. Very likely for my entire life and longer. As kid I thought that this was taken in the store that they owned, but now I realize that it's clearly a studio backdrop (There's another, somewhat less-impressive picture on the desk of the the store in the 1910's or so which I had it mixed up with).

one room schoolhouse

nobody@flickr.com (Addie-B) — Sat, 18 Aug 2012 16:15:45 -0700

Addie-B posted a photo:

My Great Grandmother, Rhoda, as a schoolteacher in a one room schoolhouse in the Gaskill school district in 1915. She was always nostalgic about her time there and, in her old age (she lived into her nineties) would often comment that she still felt like that nineteen year old girl in the one room schoolhouse. On the border below "oct 25 - 1915 - Gaskill 9 1/2 miles from Morrow" was written. Morrow is in her home state of Kansas, but I've never heard it mentioned before as a place that any of the family members lived. Perhaps it was just the closest town that would have been recognizable to her family.

I have to say that, in my fourth year of college, getting ready to apply to my credential program and having just finished my CSETs, I envy her a bit for how easy it was to become a teacher back then. But, i must admit, at eighteen, barely out of high school, I wouldn't have been ready to be in charge of a classroom full of students from 1st grade to 12th grade. One curriculum at a time is challenging enough.

Rhoda

nobody@flickr.com (Addie-B) — Fri, 17 Aug 2012 19:03:38 -0700

Addie-B posted a photo:

This is a fairly simple portrait of my great grandmother, Rhoda, as a teenager, but I'm very fond of it. There's no date of info on it, other than her name (thanks to my aunt and a few other conscientious family members, all of our family photos are clearly ID'd), so I'm not sure if it was taken before or after the last picture of her with her sisters, mother and aunts.

two trios of sisters

nobody@flickr.com (Addie-B) — Fri, 17 Aug 2012 18:11:40 -0700

Addie-B posted a photo:

Last week, my grandfather let me borrow fifty-odd photos from his cache of family pictures (all of them from his side of the family) so that I could scan them and upload them here. Most of them are of his father, but this one, which was taken 100 years ago this month in August of 1912, shows his mother (and my Great Grandmother), Rhoda, at age fifteen standing for a portrait with her two sisters, her mother and her aunts.

Rhoda is in the back row on the far right (our right). Her sister, Myrtle is standing next to her and her other sister, Julia, is on the far left. Their mother, Mary, is sitting in front of her next to her sister, Jane, (Rhoda's aunt), and, on the far left, her sister-in-law, who was also named Mary.

As far as I know, Rhoda was the only of the three sisters to have children. Myrtle married, but had no children and Julia, who was deaf as the result of a serious fall when she was seven or eight years old, was forbidden to marry the man that she fell in love with as a young adult (probably around the time that this picture was taken) because he was also deaf and both families were determined for them not to pass on their deafness to their potential children. She ended up being passed between her mother and sisters for the rest of her life.

developing stoicism

nobody@flickr.com (Addie-B) — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 14:14:13 -0700

Addie-B posted a photo:

I thought that this photo was the little sister in the second photo (www.flickr.com/photos/addie-b/7701320452/in/photostream/) but now that I've viewed it in a larger size, I'm not 100% sure. If it is, she's got short hair and a romper rather than a dress (though it does have a flower print) . But, it could possibly be a little boy. This is one of very few of the pictures that has no developer's mark on the back, so that might signal it as an earlier picture, but the other ones with blank backs are later. I really don't know what to think and the time frame it was taken in really depends on who's in the picture too. Any opinions?

Whoever it is, he or she seems to be well on his/her way to achieving the level of stoicism that the boy from the first few pictures displays.

There is what looks like a name written on the back which might settle the question if anyone can make it out. I'll post a scan of the reverse below.

On another note, I do believe that's the backside of a rocking horse in the bottom left corner. I didn't notice it until last night when I was taking the picture over to the printer to scan it.

*UPDATE*- After taking a closer look at another one of the pictures ( www.flickr.com/photos/addie-b/7733811116/in/photostream/ ) I think this is the same little girl in that picture, but I'm not quite sure who she is. It's possible that she's the sister of the little boy from the first few pictures, but I'm more inclined to think that she's another little girl altogether. Perhaps a cousin or just a neighborhood kid.

this beach is boring!

nobody@flickr.com (Addie-B) — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 10:58:23 -0700

Addie-B posted a photo:

The little Bulgarian boy again in another snapshot that, this time is not an attempt at a portrait. It seems he was finally allowed to go outside, though his mood doesn't seem to have improved. I wonder what that grumpy face was about. Not allowed to go into the water, perhaps? (with a touch of sun in the eyes to go along with it)

I'd assume that this was probably taken in the same year as the earlier two pictures. He doesn't look much older, but there's no date on the back, so it's only a guess. The agfa-lupex mark is still there, but that doesn't really narrow it down.

little drummer boy

nobody@flickr.com (Addie-B) — Mon, 30 Jul 2012 09:09:10 -0700

Addie-B posted a photo:

This cabinet card is one of the many new additions to my collection which came as a result of my driving practice in preparation for a brief stint as a councilor at a camp up in Julian, CA this past weekend. the store I bought it from was a bit overpriced, but this little guy was just too cute to leave behind. I completely adore his big blue eyes and how clear that part of the picture is. His drum and his little, tasseled hat are pretty adorable too. It's a bit scratched up, but, somehow, I think that adds something to it. I almost tried to clear up the big scratch over his chin in Paint (because I don't have Photoshop), but I decided that I actually like it better this way.

The reverse is blank and there's no more info on the picture or the little boy in it, though I think I'd place it in the 1890's or so.

at the window

nobody@flickr.com (Addie-B) — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 17:32:12 -0700

Addie-B posted a photo:

This lovely rppc was one of a lot that I bought on ebay several months ago. Unfortunately, it's unsent and there's no information written on the back, but it looks to be from the 1910's or so. I love how obvious it is that this was taken in a studio. The wall is immediately behind the window prop without a backdrop of any kind to mask it (the fact that the ivy is on the inside of the windowsill with the curtains is also a bit of a giveaway. I can't quite see that happening on a real window.) The boy seems to making some effort to smile for the camera, but, overall, his expression still screams "are we done yet? This is boring.".

school picture

nobody@flickr.com (Addie-B) — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 13:11:44 -0700

Addie-B posted a photo:

This rppc is the last of the seven photos of twins Ellen and Helen that I bought at my local swap meet a couple of months ago. As with the last class picture, there are two clashing dates on this photo, 1925 and 1927. I suppose it's possible that the twins are thirteen in this picture (which is how old they would have been in May of 1927, and the boys in the back definitely look like they could be thirteen or fourteen, but the boys in front look more like eleven, which is how old the twins would have been in May of 1925, so I'm really not sure which date to go with. Oddly enough, Ellen and Helen are the only two people in the picture without names written on them (two question marks are in their place). Perhaps the person labeling it couldn't tell which was which given that they're wearing identical clothes again.

Ellen and Helen on their birthday

nobody@flickr.com (Addie-B) — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 12:02:52 -0700

Addie-B posted a photo:

This snapshot is the fifth of seven pictures that I have of these twin girls, Ellen and Helen, who, based on this photo, were born in 1913. There are ten candle on each of their birthday cakes, so this is likely their tenth birthday, which, according to the date written on the back, took place on June 22, 1923. This is the first of all the photos which shows some slight variation in their outfits (different colors of necklaces and different shoes). Perhaps that was their birthday wish as they started to get older and like different things.

Ellen and Helen in costume

nobody@flickr.com (Addie-B) — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 07:44:32 -0700

Addie-B posted a photo:

This snapshot is the fourth of seven photos that I bought at my local swap meet of these twin girls, Helen and Ellen, who were born in 1913. It looks like they're wearing dance costumes of some sort here. Perhaps they were taking dance lessons or perhaps their mother just made it for them for them to play around in. It was taken on May 27, 1923 (as noted on the reverse along with the clarification that Ellen is the girl on the left and Helen the girl on the right). I'd assume that is was taken in their backyard, which they seem to share with another family, as there are two houses behind them, built very close together.

Ellen and Helen

nobody@flickr.com (Addie-B) — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 14:52:57 -0700

Addie-B posted a photo:

This is the third of the seven photos that I bought at my local swap meet of these little twin girls, Ellen and Helen, born in 1913. This rppc is the only one of the photos with no information on the reverse, but it does have and H on Helen and an E on Ellen, as you can see, to distinguish the girls from each other. they look quite a bit older here than they do in the last picture, maybe six or seven.

They don't look pleased at all about having this picture taken. Perhaps they've been forced to stop playing for it. that would certainly be enough to make one impatient for an end to the posing. It would seem that matching clothes were the norm for these two girls. i don't think they're wearing anything different in any of the photos. I'm sure it made their mother's life much easier to buy or make matching outfits.

Ellen and Helen with Grandma

nobody@flickr.com (Addie-B) — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 14:13:59 -0700

Addie-B posted a photo:

This is the second of the photos that i have of these identical twins, Ellen and Helen who were born on June 22, 1913 (based on a picture of them with cakes with 10 candles on June 22, 1923). There's no date on the back of this rppc, the only studio portrait in the bunch, but they look only a little bit older than they do in the first picture, which was taken in 1913 (which may be a year off). so, I'd assume that this was taken around 1914 (or maybe 1915 if the first picture is off by a year). On the reverse, one of her parents (probably their mother) wrote "Ellen - Mother - Helen", which I would assume goes from (our)left to right.

I just love how nobody's bothered to look at the camera for this shot. Both twins are looking off to the side where they're likely being entertained by some kind of toy or by one of their parents and their grandma is looking down at their little legs which are crossed, mirroring each other, between grandma's knees. It looks like they've been given apples to keep them happy for the picture as well. At first i thought that they might be balls, but I think I can see a stem on the one in Ellen's hand.

There is no full surname given on any of the photos, but one of two school photos give their last initial as G.

Ellen and Helen in the Washtub

nobody@flickr.com (Addie-B) — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 11:53:04 -0700

Addie-B posted a photo:

I bought several photos of identical twin girls named Ellen and Helen at my local swap meet. This one is the earliest: as snapshot of the two girls taking a bath in their backyard as toddlers. no last name is given on any of the photos, but the school photos do list their last initial as G.

On the reverse someone wrote what I think says "Now you can go end Helen I am true", though that doesn't make much sense. It is also identified on the back as having been taken in 1913. The most recent photo I have of them is a school picture from 1927 in which, based on this date, they must have been fourteen or fifteen years old, though they look a bit younger than that (in fact, based on when they were born (June 22, 1913) i think the date on this is probably a year off). The boy in the background never appears again in any of the other photos, so I'd assume that he's not their brother.