This photo, a prime example of tattered and lost, was purchased for 25 cents. It's torn with tape on the back. Of no monetary value, which doesn't mean this image doesn't hold value.
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I have no information about these young girls and this house, but I think a quick bit of imagining could create numerous stories. It's such a wonderfully odd photo. A portrait of a home and the children that lived within. Was it professionally taken or by a family member? The girls seem insignificant next to the size of the structure. They look more like figures placed in position. It all looks a bit haunted and ominous.
This is my contribution to this weeks Sepia Saturday.
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That's a really interesting building. I wonder about the front doors - they seem to be two doors? One has a screen and the one to the right has glass... Wonder if it's a duplex or something like that and one door leads in at ground level and the other to a stair to the upstairs?
ReplyDeleteNorkio
A lot of houses had two front doors, one which went directly into the parlor for when visitors called. I imagine the door on the left was the parlor door and the one on the right led into a hallway. I remember the house my grandfather was born and raised in had two such doors. You can still find them in very old sections of towns and farmhouses.
ReplyDeleteLooks like a first day of school picture. What an interesting house! It appears to have a flat roof. The older girl's shoes look too big for her. There are stories to tell about this photo!
ReplyDeleteLike you I am always drawn to these tattered and lost photographs. I bought a handful of old photographs at a antiques fair yesterday but it was the really old, torn and seemingly uninteresting ones - the ones the dealer through in for nothing - that were by far the most interesting when I came to examine them at home.
ReplyDeletedo i see another figure looking out of the upstairs window above the porch? spooky...!
ReplyDeleteCurious paneling on the right side of the porch. Obviously it was added as an after thought. Or perhaps it is a temporary seasonal device. It might be to block north winds or snow drifts from the entry way.
ReplyDeleteOften one door was for residents and guests while the second was for the hired help.
ReplyDeletequite some ornate header and trim work on that porch. Almost resembles a row house, of the east, but bigger and I do not see one right adjacent to it. Thanks for the ephemera
ReplyDeleteAnd the dress sleeves are worth a photo all their own! I love them..
ReplyDeleteThe older girl is standing funny..and her shoes look too large..perhaps she was making do. This looks like a fairly nice neighborhood. I agree the girls look small compared to the building:)
ReplyDeleteAlan, I completely agree. Often the photos I buy are ones overlooked by others. Never sure why. When I went to a recent estate sale late I figured there would be nothing left. I was stunned at some of the things I found and wondered why they'd been left. I guess they didn't speak to the early birds. I don't know why this one of the house and girls was not bought. I love it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with all of you. I think the girls dresses are wonderful with those huge sleeves. Very interesting. And their pose, their foot position, is so strange.
ReplyDeleteI think it was a late Fall day with a breeze because both of the dresses seem to be blowing slightly int eh same direction.
I can't tell if anyone else is at the upper windows. I can see what looks like a lamp in the downstairs window.
Glad you enjoyed it. It's a keeper.
Wow! What a fabulous photo. Don't you just wish everyone wrote the specifics of photographs on the back?! Then you'd know the names and ages of these girls, the date, the location. I have all those questions in my mind. Aside from that, I just love the photograph for its own sake. Great buy!
ReplyDeleteThis house looks rather grand and the girls are very well dressed. It would be so interesting to learn their story.
ReplyDeleteI wish there was an address, a specific location. Perhaps they'd appear on a census.
ReplyDeleteNo info at all on the back. Just a piece of tape and the name of the antique dealer who was selling it for actually 50 cents. I happened to hit the store the day the dealer had a 50% off sale. It was a gold mine day for me.
ReplyDelete