Clara in Ottumwa, Iowa
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Yesterday I went to a holiday party, where my friend Jennifer delighted me with a gift of several vintage photos! Here is one of them, a cabinet card. I’m used to seeing this overall silhouette (long dress and long sleeves, corseted waist, big shoulders), but I’m not used to seeing the white (or light-colored) lace trim on the ruffles forming a v-shaped pattern up the sides of the bodice. It makes me guess that the rest of the dress is a cheerier color than it seems in this photo. When I enlarged it, I noticed a pin at her neck that has a five-letter word. It’s hard to read clearly, but it seems to be her name “Clara”. (Let me know if you think it says something else.) I also like the painted house in the backdrop, which at first glance resembled a snowy mountain. Written on the back, in what appears to be a relatively recent addition, is “Clara Judd Blake, Alma’s sister, Mother of Helen, Howard, and Russell”. A quick internet search suggests that she died in 1907 at age 29, which is rather startling. The photographer is Geo. W. Thomas of Ottumna, Iowa. His full name is George Washington Thomas, and information about him can be found here.
Pics of Then 
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