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What it is:

Carte de visite (CDV) measuring a bit less than 2.5 x 4.25 inches.

What I know about it:

Photographer is Hurd’s of North Adams, Massachusetts.  Otherwise undated and unidentified.

Comments:

This is another one of the photos my mother gave me.  I think this is the same photographer as the one here, and in the partnership seen here.  I’m sure it’s just a coincidence, but it’s interesting that both photos I have of women from North Adams show them with flowers in their hair.  The woman here is also wearing a large sprig of something on her chest.  Can somebody with more plant knowledge identify it?  It reminds me of mistletoe, but that’s probably not right.  I wonder if it has some significance, or if it’s just meant to be pretty?

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What it is:

Photo printed as a real photo post card, trimmed down to a bit less than 3.25 x 4.75 inches, then apparently glued to something like a cardboard frame.

What I know about it:

Paper manufacturer’s markings (AZO, four triangles pointing up) indicate the date is in the range of 1904-1918.  Otherwise no information.

Comments:

Without identifying information or particularly distinguishing features, there isn’t much to say about this, except that he’s a nice-looking young man.  But as always, when I really stop to think about it, the magic of photography astonishes me, in the way it lets me stare at somebody across a century or more.

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What it is:

Photo measuring 3.5 x 3.75 inches.

What I know about it:

Nothing!  Undated and unidentified.

Comments:

While I have plenty of photos of people in relaxed, unguarded moments, I have some that are downright unflattering.  Why did somebody feel the need to take a picture of this woman on the phone?  Why did she let them?  With her dress and pearls, she seems concerned about her image, but her posture is ungainly, and her hair looks unattended.  Is she in her home, or somebody else’s?  She’s gazing right at the camera, as if she knows what’s going on, as if she doesn’t care, which I like.  In any case, as I’ve said before, it’s often the more casual, imperfect photos that give a better sense of what life was like in a previous time.

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What it is:

Photo measuring slightly less than 3.5 x 5.5 inches.

What I know about it:

Written on the back in pencil is what appears to be Mifi + Kathryn.  Click here to see for yourself.

Comments:

Mifi?  Really?  I’m guessing that’s a nickname, assuming I’m reading the handwriting correctly, but a nickname for what, I wonder.  In any case, I like this photo.  Two handsome young women standing tall and proud.

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What it is:

Cabinet card measuring 4.25 x 6.5 inches.

What I know about it:

Undated and unidentified, but see comments below.

Comments:

I’m not sure what’s going on here.  This seems to be a teenage boy posing in a studio setting that is designed to look like the great outdoors.   But he’s leaning on what appears to be a chair wrapped in floral-patterned fabric.  Perhaps it is being used to help steady the boy in lieu of a posing stand?  Has a crude attempt been made to disguise the chair as something like a flowering bush to make its presence in this “natural” setting more plausible?  Standards and conventions have certainly changed over the years regarding how our minds accept and process what we are looking at in photos, but I don’t recall ever seeing anything like this before.  On another topic, here is the back of the photo.  It’s a junkyard of random information and notes, plus what appears to be the remains of an envelope flap that had been glued to the back.  Some of the notes are probably from a previous dealer or dealers.  But the woman’s name and address puzzle me.  Was she connected to the boy in the photo?  Was she someone to whom the photo was mailed in the offending envelope?  If it had been a man’s name, I would have assumed it was likely the identity of the subject.  But unless this boy was experiencing some gender dysphoria, we have a good example of why it’s risky to automatically make assumptions about what is written on the backs of these old photos.

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What it is:

Photo measuring 4.5 x 3.25 inches.

What I know about it:

Written on the back is Eve of 11th April ’45 / just before chicken short cake dinner.  And see comments below.

Comments:

Rummaging through a bag of unsorted snapshots, I ran across this photo for the umpteenth time and stopped to enjoy it.  But this time, I said, “Hey wait!  Isn’t that Rita?”  Having previously posted pictures of Rita here and here, her face is one I’m now more likely to remember and recognize, and I’ve suddenly started seeing her in other photos I hadn’t previously connected to her.  (The handwriting is the same on the backs of all of them, too.)  I’ve found enough that I may have to create a special category for her.  This photo reinforces the notion that she was a military brat.  A different photo’s caption mentions that they were living in a “Naval housing project”.  Photos from 1941 and 1942 refer to them being in San Diego.  Do we want to assume they were still there in 1945?  From the previously posted birthday photo, we know Rita is five years old here.  Then there’s also that teenage boy.  I’m assuming he’s her brother.  From other photos, I know his name is Arthur, and he’s about ten years older than Rita, making him around 15 or so in this photo.  And then there’s the writing on this photo.  I assume that “eve” is referring to “evening of” rather than “night before”.  And what could this chicken shortcake dinner be?  It certainly seems to have been a special occasion, since they dressed nicely, commemorated it with a photo, and seemed to feel that no further explanation was necessary.  To me, this whole thing is a charming piece of vintage Americana.

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What it is:

Real photo post card measuring slightly less than 3.5 x 5.5 inches.

What I know about it:

Written on the back in pencil are June 1921 and Mrs. Will Valen.  [The name is written in the address area.  I don't know if it's the name of the intended recipient, or if it identifies somebody in the photo.]  The paper manufacturer’s markings [AZO, two triangles pointing up, two pointing down] narrow the date range to 1918-1930, which backs up the handwritten date.

Comments:

Every time I look at this photo, my eyes are drawn immediately to the charming woman and the adorable children.  (Her children, shall we assume?  A boy and a girl?)  So it was a while before I even noticed the rather outlandish chair.

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What it is:

Photo measuring 2.75 x 4.5 inches.

What I know about it:

Nothing!  Undated and unidentified.

Comments:

I’m trying to place this outfit.  What comes to mind is that when I’m watching some Agatha Christie show, and they visit the country estate of a wealthy and successful painter (as opposed to an artist struggling in a run-down garret), he’s dressed like this.  (His alibi was that he was painting a portrait at the time of the murder, so the model can vouch for him.  But the model turns out to be the victim’s wife, who was posing nude, so the alibi turns into a motive.  Or does it?  But I digress.)  Does it give that sort of impression to anyone else?  Given the rather ordinary house he’s standing in front of, it seems almost like he’s in a costume.  Perhaps it’s not so ordinary inside?  Or perhaps he’s visiting a relative?  Perhaps I’m way off base, confusing him with some other character type?  As a very general ballpark estimate, I’m guessing the photo is from around the 1940s, though the Poirots are set in the 1930s and the Marples in the 1950s (at least the ones on TV).  In any case, it’s a dashing look.

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What it is:

Photo measuring a bit more than 3.5 x 3.5 inches.

What I know about it:

Nothing!  Undated and unidentified.

Comments:

What can I say?  Happy people make me happy.

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What it is:

Eight photos, ranging from 1.75 x 1.5 inches to 4.24 x 3.5 inches.

What I know about it:

The top left one is dated March, 1947.  The center right one is dated August 18, 1946, with 4 1/2 mo. noted on the back.  The center one has a word or name written on it that looks a bit like Gervais, but that I can’t quite make out.  Otherwise all undated an unidentified.

Comments:

Just a few images in honor of Mother’s Day.