FOOTBALL fans in 1954

It's November 1954 and Princeton is playing Yale. We can once again thank Donald G. Schnabel for these snapshots. And again I'm able to find theme photos for Sepia Saturday because of Donald.

Imagine getting dressed up like this to go to a game. People don't even get this dressed up to go to work. Well, not in California. Different times nicely captured in old 35 mm Kodachrome slides.

Click on images to see them larger.



This first shot is of Betty with a fellow who was in some of Donald's shots from Paris that I posted in January. No idea who he was.

The rest of these folks are all unknown, but oh my they look so stylish.





Oh yeah, the game. Views of the game from the nosebleed section.

Who won? Scroll down to find out.

TESTING the water, Part 2

More from the ladies of the lake.


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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.

FRAMED in gold

For anyone familiar with my recent posts you know that a few weeks ago I purchased a gold mine of photos. I lucked out at an extremely wonderful estate sale when I scored several photo albums, thousands of slides, and a young girls scrapbook. I figured there had to be something within one of the albums to go with this weeks Sepia Saturday prompt. I went with golden frame instead of what was within the frame and a count of three that go together.

What follows are all very tiny tintypes. We are the first people to ever see these images large. All of these folks are grouped together on one page with no information given as to their relationship to each other.

This golden fellow measures 15/16” x 1.25” including the frame.



Sisters, cousins, or just friends who all had their photos taken on the same day by the same photographer? A day out together filled with flirting, giggling, and some fine pastries? We can send them wherever we imagine.

Leave Your HAT ON

I have no information about this tattered photo, but I can make up a lot of stories.


Click on image to see it larger.

Obviously this wasn't taken during colonial times so we can perhaps surmise this lady was dressed up for a play during the past century and someone decided to take her photo and then tart her up a bit. Now, whether or not they intentionally made her look like she'd been drinking from a jug of cheap wine I don't know.

Sepia Saturday for this week is of a very nice looking lady, a real lady, adorned in her finery. Mine looks a bit like her finery has seen better days. Actress or working girl? We'll never know.

The GHOSTS IN THE LITTLE FAMILY ALBUM: Frances Rich Cheney and Friend

Frances (Rich) Cheney is the woman on the right. I don't know if she was a sister or an aunt to Gertrude.


Click on image to see it larger.

A couple of fine hats. Imagine the boxes they kept them in. I mean, you'd need something to store it in because you certainly don't want to have to dust these things or try to get spiders out of the folds in the bows. I know, spiders on the heads...could have gone all day without saying that.

Click in the labels section for "Frances" see photos of her on her homestead.

Only four images left to see from this little family album.

The GHOSTS IN THE LITTLE FAMILY ALBUM: The Ladies

Oh to be out and about with these ladies on a glorious Spring day, having lunch, getting their photo taken, and then parading in their fine hats. I could use a day like that after dealing with computer problems for days. It's amazing how one little non-virus piece of errant software can do so much damage to one person's life. These ladies could never even imagine what we have at our fingertips today, nor the stress these things can cause.



I will imagine myself in the photo and how the rest of the day would unfold. I'm time traveling as I write this.

Remembering MINNIE PEARL'S HAT

The prompt for this weeks Sepia Saturday is hats. The ladies in Alan's image are very stylish wearing delicate hats on their tenderly upswept hair. Would I have an image to compliment Alan's? Of course I do.

I give you two unknown ladies in what can only be described as Minnie Pearl style hats. You be the judge.


Click on image to see it larger.

Don't know Minnie Pearl? Well, I'm sorry you missed her. She was a firecracker!

Sarah Ophelia Colley Cannon (October 25, 1912 – March 4, 1996), known professionally as Minnie Pearl, was an American country comedienne who appeared at the Grand Ole Opry for more than 50 years (from 1940 to 1991) and on the television show Hee Haw from 1969 to 1991.

Sarah Colley was born in Centerville, in Hickman County, Tennessee, about 50 miles (80 km) southwest of Nashville. She was the youngest of the five daughters of a prosperous lumberman in Centerville. She graduated from Ward-Belmont College (now Belmont University), at the time Nashville's most prestigious school for young ladies, where her major was theater studies and dance was a particular interest. After graduation she taught dance for several years

Her first professional theatrical job was with the Wayne P. Sewell Production Company, a touring theater company based in Atlanta, for which she produced and directed plays and musicals for local organizations in small towns throughout the southeastern United States.

As part of her work with the Sewell company, she made brief appearances at civic organizations to promote the group's shows. She developed her Minnie Pearl routine during this period. While producing an amateur musical comedy in Baileyton, Alabama, she met a mountain woman whose style and talk became the basis for "Cousin Minnie Pearl". Her first stage performance as Minnie Pearl was in 1939 in Aiken, South Carolina. The following year, executives from Nashville radio station WSM-AM saw her perform at a bankers' convention in Centerville and gave her an opportunity to appear on the Grand Ole Opry on November 30, 1940. The success of her debut on the show began an association with the Grand Ole Opry that continued for more than 50 years.

Pearl's comedy was gentle satire of rural Southern culture, often called "hillbilly" culture. Pearl always dressed in styleless "down home" dresses and wore a hat with a price tag hanging from it, displaying the price of $1.98. Her catch phrase was "How-w-w-DEE-E-E-E! I'm jes' so proud to be here!" delivered in a loud holler. After she became an established star, her audiences usually shouted "How-w-w-DEE-E-E-E!" back. Pearl's humor was often self-deprecating, and involved her unsuccessful attempts at attracting the attention of "a feller" and, particularly in later years, her age. She also told monologues involving her comical 'ne'er-do-well' relatives, notably "Uncle Nabob" and "Brother", who was simultaneously both slow-witted and wise. She usually closed her monologues with the exit line, "I love you so much it hurts!" She also sang comic novelty songs.

Pearl's comic material derived heavily from her hometown of Centerville, which in her act she called Grinder's Switch. Grinder's Switch is a community just outside of Centerville that consisted of little more than a railroad switch. Those who knew her recognized that the characters were largely based on real residents of Centerville. So much traffic resulted from fans and tourists looking for Grinder's Switch that the Hickman County Highway Department eventually changed the designation on the "Grinder's Switch" road sign to "Hickman Springs Road." (SOURCE: Wikipedia)

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New book NOW available on Amazon.
Tattered and Lost: Forgotten Dolls

This one is for those who love dolls!

Snapshots from the last 100+ years of children and adults with dolls. Okay, there are a couple of dogs too.

Perfect stocking stuffer for the doll collector on your list!

MINNIE GURR with friends

I believe this is the only other shot I have of Minnie Gurr, this time with friends.

I'd like to introduce you to Minnie's friends Eunice Robinson on the top with May Flournoy in the middle.






Good luck figuring out what Minnie wrote.

MrCachet from Old Paper Art has deciphered the card:

When are you coming to (Union?) I have spent most of this summer visiting, and am now on to (?) I got the little cushion I am sending you in Atlantic City, N.J.

Mary Lou from Mary Lou Rambles suggests the following:

To me it looks like "am now in Augusta"

UPDATE: Some information about May Flournoy, second from the top, and Eunice Robinson, top, provided by IntenseGuy.

He located May's headstone at Find a Grave.

May was born on October 4, 1890 and died September 24, 1982. She was married to Forest C. Glenn, born on January 13, 1885, died on August 18, 1938. That's a long time to be a widow.

The following is about Eunice:

Eunice Robinson appears to have been a pre-college friend and the "baby of the bunch."  She married Mr. Roper (not of the TV show fame). Her find-a-grave memorial is here.  From what I can tell from the US Census records, Eunice was employed at a cotton mill as a cloth checker - and later a farmer's wife. I'm not 100% sure this is the "right Eunice" but she and Minnie Gurr were both from Trion, Chattooga, Georgia.

Eunice Blanche Robinson was born on August 4, 1892 and died April 19(?), 1981,

If anyone is a member of Find a Grave and would like to post May's or Eunice's image at the site let me know.

A PET GOAT will eat you out of house and home

A pet goat or not. Perhaps just a day sitting in a hay pile with some barn animals.

Click on image to see it larger.

My neighbor has some goats. I love going over to see them. They always come up to the fence and stand on their hind legs to get right in my face, eye to eye. I tell them they're very good goats, but they seem to already know that.

I do have more goat photos to come, though not nearly as many as I have of dogs.

Gypsy in COLOR

This is the last photo I have of Gypsy. An older, but still stylish woman. I wish I knew more about her other than she was fashionable and loved to travel. Still, that's really all I have. It's also all I have about Jean who travelled to Hawaii on a Matson liner in the late 1920s to early 1930s. So I guess I'll just have to be satisfied with what little I know about both of these women. Adventure on the high seas.

And to just clear this up I will again say this woman is NOT Gypsy Rose Lee and probably would not wish to be compared with her. I'm the one who named her Gypsy because she looks so much like her when she was young. Go back through past posts and you'll see all the photos I have of her.

Bon Voyage Gypsy!

Gypsy POSE

There's really nothing to say about this other than once again this woman looks lovely. I'm imagining this is 1940s to early '50s. People were still wearing gloves in San Francisco in the early '60s too.

Again, I'd love to see all of the colors in this.

The next few days are nothing more than a fashion show by a woman who had a lot of style throughout her life. Well, I have no idea what she was like as a child. She'd be a fascinating story. What was her childhood like that she grew up to be so fashion conscious? You'll eventually see the final shot that shows right up through her later years she was stepping out.

A FORGOTTEN ROSE

I don't know anything about this woman other than what I can "see" in the photos I bought. I did a post about her several years ago entitled "I hope HER VALENTINE WAS TRUE." I've decided to feature the other photos I have of her; let you enjoy this beautiful and stylish woman.

I call her Gypsy, which would probably displease her, but there is one specific photo where she reminds me of Gypsy Rose Lee. Yes, the burlesque star; the high class stripper who my mother used to tell me about seeing when she had a stopover in Chicago while taking the train to California. She always told me the woman had style.

So take a look at the old Valentine and then the photo below. There will be 11 more in the series. This one was taken at a studio with the name "Jerome" on the back.

I can say that she lived in the San Francisco area; I do know that much. I so wish I'd bought more of her photos, but the seller at the antique store no longer has a booth.

The SOLDIER AND THE LADY

I find this photo fascinating for a few reasons.

The photo is in a frame and unfortunately the front of the image is now glued to the glass. There's no way I know of to remove the image without damaging it. So it will always be stuck going through life with a cheesy dime store metal frame.

Click on image to see it larger.

The second thing that interests me is the fellows uniform. Anyone have any idea what it is? There's something Russian looking about the couple, but I could be wrong. I'd certainly be fascinated to hear what others think.

And then there's the woman with the heavy framed glasses without stems. Imagine keeping those on your nose all the time without your ears doing any of the heavy lifting.

What was their history? Did he go to war? Did he return? Were there children? All that information is lost with time.

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If you don't read my other blog, Tattered and Lost Ephemera, the ¡Viva Fiesta! image in the left margin will seem out of place on a photography blog. So to find out a little bit of history about it click here.

BEST FRIENDS

The past few months have been troubling on the health front. I've been through a variety of tests and still no answers. At least I know it's not cancer. The specialist called to say "Nothing to see, that's the good news." I'm sort of figuring I'll just let it be. I've lived with worse pain over the years. This will either go away or actually develop into something they can figure out. Whatever.

One of my best friends came to visit last week. I have two "sisters" I consider my best friends. One I met at age 7 aboard ship to Hawaii, the other I met at age 18 my second year of art college. Though genetically not linked, we are linked through our life histories. We are intertwined as much as a strand of DNA. It was so good to have her here. We laughed as usual and shared our usual verbal shorthand. I already miss her.

I'm assuming these women were "sisters." DNA or no DNA, they were somehow linked and decided to get all gussied up and go out for a portrait. I'm glad they did. I hope they had a hell of a time out on the town.

A HAT or a contraption?

Hats have always sort of confused me. Some look more like elaborate contraptions than a functional piece of clothing. If a hat is hard to keep on your head it seems to be the only function it has is fashion. Same with shoes. If you can't run in them when necessary they're just fashion, not function. Why is it we choose to put such contraptions at the top and the bottom of our body? Not sure there's an answer.

Click on image to see it larger.

The young lady on this RPPC is wearing a funny hat. Well, to me it's funny. It looks a bit like a salad bowl with the salad on the outside. She looks lovely enough, but what happened when she bent over? How many pins did she have sticking through her hair and hat to hold this on? Ever seen a hairpin? I imagine most young people have never seen those weapons of mass destruction. Some of them are lovely, but when I think of sticking a bunch of them on the top of my head I have to say a resounding "No!" This hat is perched. A perched hat.

From the sum of the pieces I GIVE YOU THE WHOLE

Did anyone put the pieces together like a puzzle? Three of the pieces would fit fine. Two others were much smaller. I now give you the complete RPPC.

Home from a long holiday weekend I can guarantee no pictures like this were taken of my family. No, mostly embarrassing close-ups with flash. Nothing that will ever be worthy of a future 100 years from now vernacular photography site. So relatives, you may rest easy. The shots are just between us.

Click on image to see it larger.

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.