NOBODY was making eye contact

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CHRISTMAS JOY with Christmas Toys

This lovely little girl was found in the bottom of a box at an antique store. Who knows how long she had been there, smiling, waiting to be acknowledged. Who could resist her for only $1.00?

I'd say she dates back to the early 1940s, possibly late 30s. Leaded tinsel. Raise your hand if you remember it. Raise your hand if you have a box of it. Okay, my hand is raised. I'm looking around for the rest of you.

To see another image of a leaded tinsel Christmas tree check out this older post called "LEADED, not unleaded." You'll understand why I have a thing for the toxic leaded stuff.

And now the challenge I pass along to you. Can you name the four dolls this little angel has next to her? If you can let me know what you think.

And to see some past Christmas posts:

DECK THE HALLS with howls of Molly

ASSEMBLY LINE Santa

SERIOUS about tinsel

MERRY CHRISTMAS grandma and grandpa

PATIENCE is a virtue

All of this brought to you for another wonderful Sepia Saturday.

WHY SO GLUM, part two

Here's the question. Are these two young ladies the melancholy older ladies of yesterday? Both real photo post cards bought at the same estate sale. If they are the same it seems they got even more glum as they got older.

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I keep hearing "Don't worry, be happy" in my head when I look at them. Perhaps they soon were dancing on the grass after the portrait was taken. I imagine there were lots of other people standing around watching since this wasn't taken in a studio, perhaps at their home. Good little schoolgirls.

At least, YOUR SHOES WERE SHINED

I bought this cabinet card last year on a brief sojourn to the Gold Country. An antique store with no customers and one seller willing to sell things at half-price. So for two dollars I got this little fellow who travelled all the way from Pennsylvania to California.

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I wonder, if when his family saw this shot, they noticed his face was ever so slightly blurred. His feet are in focus, but his face isn't. I hadn't even noticed it until I enlarged it. It would have been such a disappointment to those who loved him. "Well John, at least your shoes were clean. Sigh." Let's hope Aunt Marie was pleasantly surprised when she received this from her nephew, John Conyer (?) Hays in 1896.

As to the photographer, A. E. Warren, I've found other photos online taken by him. An example here, with different more fanciful type, and here.

In 1894 Warren wrote a letter that was published in The Photographic Journal of America, Vol. 31 about the costs of doing business.

In 1898 he ran some ads in Meyer Brothers Druggist, Vol. 20 catalog.

Alas, also in 1898, tragedy befell Mr. Warren when his studio and home burned down. A brief piece was printed in Wilson's Photographic Magazine, Vol. 34, about the need for insurance.

Other than this I'm not finding anything about A. E. Warren. Nor have I found anything about young John Conyer Hays. At some point these two crossed paths and now they have crossed paths again 112 years later.

CHURCHYARD OF PRINCE GEORGE WINYAH Georgetown, South Carolina

Sooner or later someone doing genealogy research is going to find this post and say "Wow! That's where my ancestor's are buried." That's what's interesting about blogging, what seems to be useless information I impart somehow ends up meaning something to someone. It's happened several times.

I have titled this post using the copy written on the back of the photo, "Churchyard of Prince George Winyah, Georgetown, S. C." I have no idea where I got this. I found it the other day in a large chest that is full of several thousand post cards.

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It's a wonderful old cemetery with Spanish moss hanging from the trees and old headstones. Oh so perfect for a Halloween eve. Or perhaps a walk on a warm summers night with lighting bugs flitting around the moss and stones.

I did a wee bit of googling and found the following at Wikipedia about the church and cemetery. Funny thing is that I'm not finding any other photos online. That seems a bit strange considering it's historical relevance to South Carolina.

Prince George Winyah Church is an Episcopal church in Georgetown, South Carolina. Prince George Winyah is one of the oldest continuous congregations in South Carolina, and the church building is one of the oldest churches in continuous service in South Carolina. Prince George Winyah (Episcopal) and Churchyard was named to the National Register of Historic Places on May 6, 1971.

Starting in 1716, Anglican parishes were electoral and administration units in South Carolina government. Therefore, Prince George Parish and Prince George Winyah Parish can also refer to an electoral and administrative district that had the same geographic boundaries as this church.

Early History

As early colonialist spread across the South Carolina lowcountry, there was a need of a new parish north of the existing St. James Santee Parish. Prince George Parish was established on March 10, 1721. It was named after the Prince of Wales, who became King George II. There were two potential locations for the church: an inland settlement on the Black River and Winyah on the Sampit River and Winyah Bay at the location of today's Georgetown. In 1726, a wooden church was built inland on of a bend of the Black River near Brown's Ferry and twelve miles from the present Georgetown.

On April 9, 1734, the parish was divided to form St. Frederick's Parish. The wooden church was transferred to the new parish.

Prince George Winyah Church

The earliest vestry records for Prince George Winyah are January 13, 1737.A subscription campaign for a new church at Winyah was begun in 1737. This was supplemented by an import tax at the port and £1,000 from the colonial Assembly. Starting in 1740, the bricks were collected. Land was donated by William Screven, who was the first Baptist minister in Carolina, and his son Elisha Screven. Construction was begun in the mid 1750s. The cornerstone was laid in 1745.

The church was built of English red bricks with local oyster shell mortar. The cornerstone was laid on October 30, 1745. The nave has a rectangular plan with five bays. The center bays have side doors with fanlights and the others have windows with fanlights. Brick pilasters flank the side doors and are at the corners of the church. The roof is hipped over the sanctuary and has a Jacobean or Dutch gable at the entrance. The nave has a plastered, barrel-vaulted ceiling. The pews are paneled, wooden box pews. There is a center aisle and a cross aisle at the side doors. The floor is flagstone. The first service was held on August 16, 1747.

The church was occupied by British troops in the Revolutionary War. During the occupation, the church's interior was burned. Tradition also indicates that the church was used for a stable.

A chancel with a semielliptical apse and a gallery was built about 1809. A vestibule entrance with double doors and a tower was constructed in 1824. The brick tower had a square cross section topped with an octangular section with cupola and large cross. A clock and balustrated belfry is in the upper section. A Mohler organ was installed in 1850.

In 1823, Francis Huger Rutledge was ordained a deacon. He eventually became bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Florida. In 1828, Anthony Toomer Porter, who founded Porter Military Academy in Charleston, was baptized.

On February 25, 1865, the Union Navy occupied Georgetown. The church remained open.

In 1871, the chancel furnishings were replaced and the altar was enlarged. In 1874, the church was given a bell and a clock. A stained glass window from St. Mary's Chapel at Hagley on the Waccamaw was installed.

Churchyard

The churchyard is surrounded by a brick wall and contains the cemetery. In addition to parishioners and clergy of Prince George Winyah, the cemetery has the graves of several notable South Carolinians: Paul Trapier, who was a patriot and was elected to the Second Continental Congress; James H. Trapier, who was a brigadier general in the Confederate Army, Rev. Dr. Anthony T. Porter; Capt. Roger Shackelford, born in North Carolina and among the early Shackelford family of Georgetown; and Governor Robert F. W. Allston. (SOURCE: Wikipedia)

Saying good-bye to THE VIRDEN CLASS OF 1929

The last day of the Virden Community High School class of 1929. I seriously doubt that any of the people shown the past few days are still alive. If they are, they're around 98 years old. So it's always possible. I hope they had good lives.

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I don't know why looking at faces of long ago high school students is fascinating. It goes beyond just seeing the fashions of the period. I guess it's the wondering about their lives. They were just about to head out on their own. Did they screw up their lives as badly as so many of us do? Were they happy at the end of their lives? Were their lives cut short? They reflect back all the joy and fears we all go through. I guess it's because we see ourselves in them.

PATIENCE is a virtue

Patience is a virtue, but try telling that to kids as they wait for Christmas day. Not going to work.

This is sort of a strange place when you get into the details. The tv seems to be up on something like cinder blocks. And I'm enjoying the star studded sky backdrop between the tv and the window. Fun and interesting. I'm hoping somewhere beneath that tree are clothes for the dolls. Hate seeing "nekid" dolls being dragged around.

Click on image to see it larger. I swear that should be back up and working again.

Well it was their Christmas and let's hope it was a happy one.