They Called Him BULLDOG

_________

Tattered and Lost volumes 1 to 8 available at Amazon.

The Cavalry FAN DANCER

With leave being weeks away, the guys were getting anxious for a little entertainment. Henry said he'd seen a fan dancer in the big city and thought he could recreate it. The guys weren't convinced, but here's Henry out looking for his costume.

_________

Tattered and Lost volumes 1 to 8 available at Amazon.

NATTY NED the Cavalry Man

Click on image to see it larger.
_________

Tattered and Lost volumes 1 to 8 available at Amazon.

FLEAMARKET Cavalry

Just your average Cavalry fleamarket. Old trucks, boxes of Jello, and items you won't find anyplace else. Open only on Saturday. Best hour 14:50.

Click on image to see it larger.
_________

Tattered and Lost volumes 1 to 8 available at Amazon.

The PACKAGE from Home

A pack of gum? A love letter folded up like origami? What has these two fellows so fascinated and the third working as the lookout? My mind runs in all sorts of directions.

Click on image to see it larger.
This photo is from the Louise Bigelow Schnabel album, same as the last post with the goat.

_________

Tattered and Lost volumes 1 to 8 available at Amazon.

It's a horse! It's a Harley! IT'S A GOAT!

When confronted with this week's Sepia Saturday prompt I thought, "Cows, maybe cows. I know have pictures of cows." In fact I have some very nice 35mm slides of cows taken by Betty Schnabel's father. Cows give milk and eat grass. What's there not to like about a cow? But goats it must be. So I went on a search for a photo of a goat. I have posted a couple goat photos in the past (here and here), but I needed something of better quality. It had to say GOAT!

And then I found it. A very small snapshot in the old photo album of Betty Schnabel's mom, Louise Bigelow Schnabel. A page of photos of World War I cavalry fellas having a good time. But none of them was having as good a time as this fella riding a goat.

Now, I always thought the cavalry rode horses or camels, but a goat was a whole new idea. Perhaps this was just in training. Funds were low, just give them goats to get started. Imagine a parade ground with a cavalry riding goats. I'd give at least a buck fifty to see that.

In the case of this fella I'm guessing his pre-military form of transportation was a motorcycle. During the training Harley the goat would have to do.

Click on image to see it larger.

And I have to say—with a smug look on my face—that at least my guy is "riding" the goat and not trying to sit and have a chat with it as the Sepia Saturday fella is doing. I mean, come on. Make an effort. Sure, your hat is funnier than mine, but I bet mine was making vroom vroom sounds.

_________

Tattered and Lost volumes 1 to 8 available at Amazon.

Just BECAUSE...

 they're so doggone cute.



This dynamic duo are from the Betty Schnabel estate. It's a little portrait from her mother's family album. No idea who the kids are.
_____

Tattered and Lost volumes 1 to 7 available at Amazon.

Double HOCKEY STICKS!

Sepia Saturday suggests golfers this week. Alas, I have no photos of golfers that I can remember. But woman with hockey sticks? I've got hockey sticks!

Both of these shots come from the photo album created by Betty Schnabel's mother, Louise. I have no idea where either of these shots were taken, but don't they look lovely in the first one. The second one they look like they're a bit more serious about playing than posing. And Betty's mother is in the second one behind the word "Candy." No idea what that means. And I'm confused how this is the 1919 hockey team if it was shot in 1916. Any suggestions?

Click on image to see it larger.

Click on image to see it larger.

I can remember playing hockey in high school. It was ludicrous. We went out onto a wet field in the winter wearing white Keds. And of course they watered the lawn each morning before we went out, even if had just rained. And then our shoes and socks would sit in our locker each day growing mold. We'd come back the next morning (I had PE first period which was the worst!) and have to put the wet shoes back on. I'd always try to bring a dry pair of socks. We all ended up putting our socks on followed by plastic bags followed by stinky shoes. The whole locker room smelled like a toxic waste dump.

And then there were the shin shields which were useless. The buckles were so loose that as soon as you ran down the field the shield was covering your calf. It wasn't a pretty sight. Lots of black and blue shins during hockey season. I hated it and always hoped I'd be on the best team so I could stand at the back and "guard" the goalie. I was very good at standing behind everyone letting them break into a sweat. I should have been given an award for that.

Don't get me started about swimming during the winter at first period. Only two hair dryers for over 30 girls in the late '60s when everyone had long hair. Complete frizz each day for weeks. There was no hope. I hated PE and by my senior year I'd developed a really bad attitude. It was my only time in high school where I let be known I'd had enough.

_____

Tattered and Lost volumes 1 to 7 available at Amazon.

HEADLESS at the Beach

Click on image to see it larger.

At first glance it appears to be a headless child standing on the beach. Nah, just a white sunhat that over time has faded in the photo. But it is sort of odd looking with the headless child and the head protruding from the left. These two are actually familiar if you saw my post Sandcastles at the CLIFF HOUSE.

This is another photo from the Betty Schnabel estate.
_____

Tattered and Lost volumes 1 to 7 available at Amazon.

Sandcastles at the CLIFF HOUSE

This is a repost from several years ago because gosh darn the photo of the tourist car fits the Sepia Saturday theme…several weeks ago. And I have a nice new photo to share of the old Cliff House if you scroll towards the bottom.

If you've seen past posts about the Kallman family you will probably recognize Alfred, patriarch of the family. This photo is from the George Kallman estate.

This is Alfred aboard a touring car in San Francisco, probably around 1919. He was on his way to see the Cliff House restaurant and Sutro Baths. The Cliff House still exists, the Sutro Baths not so much. And when I say the Cliff House still exists, it's not the Cliff House Alfred would have seen.

Click on image to see it larger.

The Cliff House has burned down several times. The photo below shows it at its most gorgeous, but it too burned down over 100 years ago.

I'll let good old Wikipedia fill-in some details about this San Francisco landmark.

The Cliff House is a restaurant perched on the headlands on the cliffs just north of Ocean Beach on the western side of San Francisco, California. It overlooks the site of the former Sutro Baths and a room-sized camera obscura and is now part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, operated by the National Park Service.

Cliff House has had five major incarnations since its beginnings in 1858. That year, Samuel Brannan, a prosperous ex-Mormon elder from Maine, bought for $1,500 the lumber salvaged from a ship that foundered on the basalt cliffs below. With this material he built the first Cliff House. The second Cliff house was built for Captain Junius G. Foster, but it was a long trek from the city and hosted mostly horseback riders, small game hunters or picnickers on day outings. With the opening of the Point Lobos toll road a year later, the Cliff House became successful with the Carriage trade for Sunday travel. The builders of the toll road constructed a two mile speedway beside it where well-to-do San Franciscans raced their horses along the way. On weekends, there was little room at the Cliff House hitching racks for tethering the horses for the thousands of rigs. Soon, omnibus railways and streetcar lines made it to near Lone Mountain where passengers transferred to stagecoach lines to the beach. The growth of Golden Gate Park attracted beach travelers in search of meals and a look at the Sea Lions sunning themselves on Seal Rocks, just off the cliffs to visit the area.

In 1877, the toll road, now Geary Boulevard, was purchased by the City for around $25,000. In 1883, after a few years of downturn, the Cliff House was bought by Adolph Sutro who had solved the problems of ventilating and draining the mines of the Comstock Lode and become a multimillionaire. After a few years of quiet management by J.M. Wilkens, the Cliff House was severely damaged by a dynamite explosion when the schooner, Parallel, ran aground. The blast was heard a hundred miles away and demolished the entire north wing of the tavern. The building was repaired, but was later completely destroyed on Christmas night 1894 due to a defective flue. Wilkens was unable to save the guest register, which included the signatures of three Presidents and dozens of illustrious world-famous visitors.

In 1896, Adolph Sutro built a new Cliff House, a seven story Victorian Chateau, called by some "the Gingerbread Palace", below his estate on the bluffs of Sutro Heights. This was the same year work began on the famous Sutro Baths, which included six of the largest indoor swimming pools north of the Restaurant that included a museum, skating rink and other pleasure grounds. Great throngs of San Franciscans arrived on steam trains, bicycles, carts and horse wagons on Sunday excursions.

The Cliff House and Sutro Baths survived the 1906 earthquake with little damage but burned to the ground on the evening of September 7, 1907. Dr. Emma Merritt, Sutro's daughter, commissioned a rebuilding of the restaurant in a neo-classical style that was completed within two years and is the basis of the structure seen today. In 1937, George and Leo Whitney purchased the Cliff House, complementing their Playland-at-the-Beach attraction nearby and extensively remodeling it into an American roadhouse. The building was acquired by the National Park Service in 1977 and became part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Many of Whitney's additions were removed and the building was restored to its 1909 appearance. In 2003, an extensive further renovation added a new two-story wing overlooking the Sutro Bath ruins.

The site overlooks Seal Rocks and the former site of the Sutro Baths. More than thirty ships have been pounded to pieces on the southern shore of the Golden Gate below the Cliff House.

The area immediately around Cliff House is part of the setting of Jack London's novel The Scarlet Plague (1912). (SOURCE: Wikipedia)

To get a nice overall feeling about the Cliff House through the years click here to go to the official site and stay for the opening historical slideshow, including the Sutro Baths.

To see more images of these tour cars, including this very same No. 20, click here to enter the Cliff House project. And spend a bit more time clicking around the site to see other wonderful images.

The current Cliff House from the outside is not lovely at all. But oh my can you get an excellent meal there. I went there for my birthday a few years ago. The food was perfect, as was the view.

The following delightful snapshot is from the Betty Schnabel estate sale, specifically her mother's album. It is one of my favorite shots from my collection.



And just to make sure I have something for this weeks Sepia Saturday theme…another repeat from a few years ago.

Do a dogs ears lay flat against its head if a woman cackles in the background? You be the judge.

Until next week when I might just post something for a Sepia Saturday theme from years ago. It's been one of those weeks.

The BOHEMIANS AMONG US

Taking a one day break from the woman who had so many children that I didn't know what to do…honestly, she needs a rest.

Instead today I focus on the theme for Sepia Saturday.

It was easy for me to come up with photos of dancers, but not of cross-dressing dancers. I have quite a few cross-dressers in vintage snapshots, but none of them dancers. But women from the early part of the 20th century as so called free spirits dressed as bohemians and gypsies…eventually every collector will find them.

These shots come from the Louise Bigelow Schnabel photo album. I have no idea who any of these ladies are, nor do I know why pretending to be a bohemian gypsy was so popular, but it was. Take a look at this Pinterest page to get an idea of the driving force behind what some women were doing. And an "explanation" was found at Wikipedia under Bohemian Style:

The "Dorelia" look Among female Bohemians in the early 20th century, the "gypsy look" was a recurring theme, popularised by, among others, Dorothy "Dorelia" McNeill (1881–1969), muse, lover and second wife of the painter Augustus John (1878–1961), whose full skirts and bright colours gave rise to the so-called "Dorelia look". Katherine Everett, née Olive, a former student of the Slade School of Art in London, has described McNeil's "tight fitting, hand-sewn, canary coloured bodice above a dark gathered flowing skirt, and her hair very black and gleaming, emphasiz[ing] the long silver earrings which were her only adornment".

And to see an old post I did for Sepia Saturday which also featured women playing gypsy click here.

As to cross-dressing dancers, I don't think there's a more enjoyable troupe than Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo.





And frankly, I just can't get enough of these guys.

TESTING the water, Part 2

More from the ladies of the lake.


Click on image to see it larger.

The little row boat was named Osprey. Now, did they row from the yacht to shore? Probably never know.


Click on image to see it larger.

But this "answers" a few questions about the situation from yesterday's post.

TESTING the water

This photo comes from Betty Schnabel's mother's photo album. I have no information about any of the people in this boat, nor where it was taken. The album contains a lot of photos of a lake and a large log structure next to it. I would imagine it was somewhere in Washington state because of the Bigelow (Louise Bigelow Schnabel) family history, but can't be sure.


Click on image to see it larger.

I love this shot with the women in their hats and long skirts. Not the ideal boating outfits, especially should they fall in. And I wonder if those on the other side are also testing the waters. The young girl in the plaid appears to be looking at the woman closest to her until you look at her eyes. She seems to be interested in either the photographer or someone in that direction.



This is my submission for this week's Sepia Saturday.

Ready for the EASTER PARADE

Well past this years Easter Parade, but definitely set for next years.


Click on image to see it larger.

One of these young ladies is Betty Schnabel's mother, Louise Bigelow Schnabel. I'm thinking the one on the right.

Surely makes my paper plate hat with the construction paper flowers look a little shabby.

Little Girl with PAPER DOLL

What makes this snapshot unusual is that the little girl is holding a paper doll. It's pretty common to find photos of children with dolls, but not paper dolls. I'm sure some eagle eyed reader who collects paper dolls will be able to figure out which doll it is.


Click on image to see it larger.


Click on image to see it larger.

This photo is from the Betty Schnabel estate sale and is in her mother's photo album.

LOUISE BIGELOW SCHNABEL plays the Greek

With this weeks theme at Sepia Saturday being about music I had to really think about what I had which might fit the bill. The Sepia image provided show people enjoying music probably a good forty to fifty years after my images.

These images come from an album purchased last year at the Betty Louis Schnabel estate. On May 12th of next month it will be one year since Betty passed. I never knew the woman, only one of many to pick over her things at an estate sale. Sometimes I do find myself feeling a bit like a vulture swooping in to purchase someone's memories, but I tell myself I'm giving them a good home.

Betty's mother was a musician. The only way I know this is from a line in Betty's obituary:

Betty's soul was music. An accomplished pianist, she added spark and life to many of her lodge gatherings as well as with family and friends. The love of music was encouraged by her mother, a professional musician, who joined her in many a piano duet.

These photos show, I believe, Betty's mother, Louise Bigelow Schnabel, performing at the Greek Theater at the University of California in Berkeley. Louise is the one at the piano playing the cello (Thanks to Mike at TempSenzaTempo). In the final shot she is the one in the middle of the three women. I'll admit I'm making a guess and feel the odds are in my favor because of how much her mother looked like Betty.


Click on image to see it larger.


Click on image to see it larger.


Click on image to see it larger.

I have no idea when these images were taken, but I'm guessing in the teens. Louise Bigelow Schnabel will now become part of known history.