The lady with the BROWNIE CAMERA

Here's the final piece of the group "puzzle." I love this shot. The suit, the camera, the clutch purse, and the jaunty hat. Plus there's the stance and the attitude. And then there's his suit. He probably cut the rug each weekend. Bodie-oh-do!

Now you can put all the pieces together and see the whole. If I have net connection tomorrow I'll post the whole. 

NOT A SMILE in the bunch

Another shot of people in hats. Not one person in the entire shot is really beaming a smile. There are various looks of vague pleasure or no pleasure at all. I'm wondering if this shot was the one BEFORE the good shot when everyone smiled. You know the one I'm talking about. You might have even take some yesterday on Thanksgiving. You take a shot and then say "No, I need to take another. George had his eyes shut." So finally you get what you hope is the perfect shot. Then you later look at them enlarged and realize everyone but one member looks perfect. The one person has one eye shut and is midway between a smile and burp. So it goes with group shots.

I shall now continue my Thanksgiving away from home. Hope all are having good times or something close to it.

Happy THANKSGIVING!

Here's hoping everyone has a good hat day. And may your hat make you happy. A lot happier than this young lady. 

WORKIN' the hats

Hats. 

Hats made a statement. Now usually it's men wearing caps. Baseball caps. Baseball caps backwards. It's probably just me, but the whole baseball hat backwards makes me cross my eyes and think half-assed backwards indeed. A few decades ago if you wore your hat like that you were labeled a fool and people stayed clear of you. Now it's the fashion. A stupid fashion. There's a reason a baseball cap has a brim and it isn't to shield your neck. But like I said...that's just me. 

My other gripe are families that come walking into a nice restaurant all wearing baseball caps and they never take them off. They all sit there looking like doofusses in their caps. Again, in this case I know it's not just me, but there was a time men took their hats off when they went inside. Women didn't because women's hats were far more problematic. Exhibit A is below. His cap comes off easily and I'm sure when he went inside he immediately had it in his hand. It was respectful. Oh well. 

Hats. 

This lady is workin' hers. And her suit. Quite a fancy tailored number for strolling in the woods with friends. But wait, you haven't seen the rest of them. Stay tuned.

In this case THE PART IS BETTER THAN THE WHOLE

"The whole is greater than the sum of its parts" except in the case of a vernacular photograph of a group of people. Then the details are what count. 

Eventually I will show the whole real photo postcard, but for now I want to focus on details. I only noticed this fellow was holding the old box Brownie when I enlarged the image. And he's not the only one in the overall shot with a camera, but I'll save that one for later. For now...I give you Vernacular Photographer exhibit A. Wonder what he took and what happened to them. Again, I think we can all say it in unison..."We'll never know."

Out in the open, but still SNEAKIN' IN THE SIDE DOOR

This photo intrigues me. I know, I'm easily intrigued. The thing is this snapshot is in the album I've referenced before of the two fellows, Bill and Dick, who took a trip across country. I don't know if this was a place they saw on their trip or a place near where one of them lived in California. But it intrigues me. 

Click on image to see it larger.

The top looks like an ice cream cone with a lightening rod? Any guesses? Suggestions? Unfortunately no matter how much I enlarge it I can't pull in the sign above the front door. The only information the photo gives is the fellow sneakin' in the side door. Some nefarious goings on I fear. Or maybe just a smoke, a drink, and round of pool.

How you gonna keep 'em down on the farm AFTER THEY'VE SEEN WOOLWORTHS?

This is another find from my trip to Weaverville. This little "cutie," her word, not mine, looks perfect to be an employee at F. W. Woolworth. She's got the hair, the clothes, that special something. Hmmm...which department would she have been given in the little shop around the corner? I think she'd have been good at selling candy. I don't see her pushing jewelry. No, not her style. But candy...as long as she didn't eat too much of the stock. There was bound to be some guy who came in and thought he was the first to say "Ain't she sweet?" 

And now for your dancing pleasure...maestro...

F. W. Woolworth WAS THE PLACE TO BE

This vernacular photograph was given to me on my birthday by my best friend. She shares my passion for old photos, but she has enough sense to pass them on instead of burying herself as I have done. I'm very lucky.

Click on image to see it larger.

F. W. Woolworth was the place to shop. I always enjoyed Woolworths and wish they were still around just as I remember them. I can remember the one in Harrisburg, PA that had little sections on the countertops full of little toys. I loved running my hand through the marbles. Wish I still had my bag of marbles, but I lost my marbles a long time ago. I don't think I need to hear any comments about that.

My maternal grandparents lived in Harrisburg and whenever we went to visit my grandmother, my mother, and I would go downtown to Pomeroy's and Woolworths. At Woolworths we would sit at the counter and have lunch. The most vivid memory I have is when my grandmother bought me some little plastic Disney characters. Like the marbles, there was a section, sort of a tiny bin, full of all sorts of little people and animals. I was told I could pick out 4 figures, at least that's all I have left. I worried over which ones to get. I'd take one out and put it in  my hand while I pushed aside others in the bin. I'm still pleased with my choices. Pinocchio, Daisy Duck, Dopey, and Peter Pan. All less than an inch and a half tall. Now mind you at that age I had two crushes. I was in love with Peter Pan and the Everly Brothers. I don't know, it's just how my mind worked. And I do have stories about Phil Everly, but I'll save them for another time. Anyway...

What really interests me in this photo are the Woolworth girls. I'm sure they were referred to as "the girls" and not women. I'd say the shot was from the late 20s to maybe mid-30s. I have no idea where it was taken other than the obvious...Woolworths. One sign says "Nothing in this store more than 15 cents." Can you imagine? A whole store where every item cost 15 cents or less? You can bet some of these items are now on sale at eBay for a heck of a lot more. Sure do miss the Five and Dime stores.

I have posted sort of a "companion piece" about working women at my ephemera site. When this shot was taken it hadn't been all that long that women were full-time in the work force. Were they married or unmarried? Seems to have been a bit of thorny issue with some people, but you'll have to read the letters from Comfort magazine here.

CHERISH your pets

For the past week, since I got home from my vacation, I've been dealing with my little dog becoming partially paralyzed. Fortunately he's back to near full recovery, but a week ago was very stressful with sleepless nights. Three years ago at Christmas time he became completely paralyzed from the neck down and required major spinal surgery followed by 6 months of non-stop care. So when he started having trouble walking last week and would cry out when touched my mind raced back to the nightmare of the full paralysis. I rushed him to emergency on the 4th and the doctor confirmed there was partial paralysis, but she couldn't say if it was temporary or permanent. He spent a few days on pain meds and now is once again running back and forth inside the house, doin' dog stuff. I'm sleeping much better.

I've always had pets. Can't imagine life without at least one. Right now I have a dog and two cats. One of the cats was a feral that I worked with in my backyard for two years before finally gaining enough of his trust to bring him inside. The sweetest little tiny toy you could imagine. Has major medical problems, but he makes up for it when he trills his little call. Wee Bobbie, the Manx.

Photos of pets bring back memories and ultimately some sadness because they're always gone too soon. When I saw this vintage photo at the antique store in Weaverville I smiled, thinking about the joy the little babe probably brought to those who owned it. I hope it grew up to be a happy dog doin' dog stuff all its life.

Click on image to see it larger.

I have a photo of a dog that was in one of my dad's squadrons. His name was Boots and he used to fly with the crew and even had his own military ID. My dad always smiles when he sees that photo of Boots and recalls stories of how they sneaked him aboard the flights.

Right now I have a flock of wild turkeys outside my window. Did a head count and came up with 50. They're yelling at each other with some chasing others around and around at the base of trees. Stupid as can be, but I consider them my pets too. They don't seem to feel the same. I think it's time for me to go out and break up a couple of these fights. "Okay, you bunch of turkeys...knock it off!"

All dressed up with NO PLACE TO GO

Part of the fun of vernacular snapshots is to see what locations people decided were the best spots to pose. We've all been through it. "Stand over here. No wait, over here would look nicer. Okay wait, the sun is behind you. You're just a big shadow. Go back to where you first were." And so it goes. In the case of these two shots all of the people had to do a little bit of climbing on rough surfaces in shoes not meant for climbing.

I posted at my ephemera site about having photos taken on downed trees, specifically redwoods. These lovely ladies, from probably sometime around 1915, are not on a redwood. I'd say pine, several pines. Not only did the lady on the log need a lift up, but I imagine the other one needed to tip-toe gently amongst the logs so as to not get things rolling under her feet. And that odd feather/flower/bird thingie on her shoulder...I really don't know. Looking at the shot through my loop it looks to be drawn on...but not really. However the black is much blacker than all other blacks in the shot and the white tip is whiter than all other whites. Usually by looking through my loop I can figure these things out easily, but not this time. There is also a small "v" in black ink on the sitting woman's left arm, her left arm, not the left arm when we look at her. Okay, not vital information.

Click on image to see it larger.

Then there's this couple from probably the 40s or 50s. Clearly not dressed for mountain climbing, but sometimes we forget how rural people's lives were. If they were bedecked in their Sunday finest and lived in the countryside of course they'd be posed next to plants or rocks if not next to a building. What I find funny is that they climbed up this little incline and sat down. What was it about those rocks that made them so gosh darn fascinatin' to require climbing up on them and settin' down? I mean, I like the shot, but I would have loved to hear the discussion that took place while they sat on the rocks in their nice clothes and then dusted off their fannies when standing. And there is the oh so small hint of a shadow on the right so there were at least two people watching them. Did they then change places and have this couple in the photo take a shot of the other two? We'll never know.

Click on image to see it larger.

These photos were bought on vacation in a small antique store in Weaverville, California. I scoured the shop hunting for anything when I finally spotted a small basket with a stack of photographs. All were shots taken in the countryside, nothing taken in any cities. Now whether or not they were taken in or around Weaverville I don't know. Weaverville is still a pretty rural place located in the Trinity Alps of Northern California. A fine little gold mining town with a wonderful Chinese temple that is a state historic site. All 'n' all a good time was had in Weaverville.