My Birdie And Me

Posted on July 9, 2016 by Annieoakley

Old photo, circa 1913, young woman holding bird

Price: $4.00 Size: 4 and 1/4 x 2 and 1/2″

Awww, this is nice: the joyful expression on the young woman’s face, posing on the porch steps, the way she’s sitting sideways, head turned and smiling, the graceful and caring way she’s holding the bird (a wild bird that was rescued?)….the detail in the all-wood background – steps, house siding, posts of the porch railing and door. As for dating the photo, the high-waist skirt might indicate around 1913 or so. No, doubt the blouse was gorgeous, too – note the ruffled-edge, wide cuffs of the elbow-length sleeves.

“My Dog and I”

Posted on July 9, 2016 by Annieoakley

Set of two photos, circa 1920s, of girl and puppy.

Price: $3.00 Size: About 2 and 7/8 x 2″ each.

Apparently, the grammar is incorrect, as it’s supposed to be “my dog and me.” Take out “dog” and you wouldn’t name the photo “I” 🙂 but I didn’t know that either, till I looked it up. Proof we’ve been confused for decades on this point, I guess. But how adorable are these photos: young girl with a bobbed haircut, in her backyard, bottle-feeding her little puppy.

Dague Siblings With Model T

Posted on July 3, 2016 by Annieoakley

Old photo, some of the Dague siblings, circa 1925

Price: $10.00 Size: About 3 and 7/8 x 2 and 1/2″

It’s always heaven to find names on the backs of photos! The three girls from left to right are Isabelle, Lucille, and Virginia. (At least, that is definitely Lucille sitting higher up on the hood, and guessing the dark-haired girl is Isabelle who is about two years older than Virginia.) That is probably younger brother Robert on the left and whoops, he got left off by whoever wrote on the back. But he is kind of blending with the background in this photo. As for the car, it looks to be a Ford, Model T, four-door sedan, probably 1924 (help courtesy of AACA, and we have them listed under helpful websites now). You’ll notice the license plate has the year 1925, and the state appears to start with the letter “O”. Ohio fits perfectly, for one, the wording on the plate looks too short to be Oregon, and for another, the Dague Family that is matching up, lived in Ohio.

About five years prior to the photo being taken, the 1920 Federal Census for Harrisville Township, Medina County, Ohio shows: Harvey and Bessie Dague, with children Edna (Lucille Edna in family trees online), Vernon, Willard, Isabel, Lowell, Virginia and Robert, along with Harvey’s brothers-in-law William and James Parks[?]. The Dagues and Parks are all native Ohioans.

Source: Year: 1920; Census Place: Lodi, Medina, Ohio; Roll: T625_1417; Page: 4A; Enumeration District: 68; Image: 128. (Ancestry.com).

Me In My Olds

Posted on July 3, 2016 by Annieoakley

Old photo, man in Oldsmobile, circa 1917.

Price: $5.00 Size: 5 x 3″

Youngish gentleman in suit, tie and Newsboy-type cap, posing for the camera in a circa 1917 Oldsmobile. (We presume it’s his. He looks proud.) That would likely be the toolbox that is resting on the running board. The shape of the rear window seems uncommon: like a long, narrow rectangle with the edges rounded off, we’re not seeing an exact match online.

Scott Fountain, Belle Isle, 1942

Posted on June 25, 2016 by Annieoakley

Old photo of the James Scott Memorial Fountain, Belle Isle, Detroit, Michigan. August 29, 1942.

Price: $4.00 Size: 3 and 1/2 x 2 and 1/2″

Since we were in Detroit (Hamtramck to be exact) for the last post, here’s a snapshot from 1942 of the James Scott Memorial Fountain. (Wonder if the guy who picked up his car at the factory stopped off to visit Belle Isle?) This thought conjured up the image of a scattering of hundreds of thousands of photos taken since the fountain’s completion in 1925, some that didn’t survive, but many resting in old photo albums and shoe boxes, and tons now in digital format (professional shots, wedding photos, group shots, selfies, etc.). Our photo above had made it out to San Francisco and was snatched up at the paper fair; a pocket-size repository of great memories of times spent on Belle Isle and the magnetic pull of a mini water-and-marble paradise.

Fountain Magic

Let’s go see the fountain! All fountains have an enchanting quality, don’t they? There’s the beneficial negative ions from the water’s spray, and if built into the design, the sheer beauty and whimsy and magic of characters so often depicted in fountain architecture, like the Scott’s turtles with their attendant frogs, it’s guardian lions with expressions so sweet you want to hug them (the lions, not their expressions, oh well, both), it’s winged beasties with ram-like horns, it’s devilish-looking water spirits riding happy fish….Surely too, we’re soaking up magic from the form of the fulfilled dream and hard work of the architects and sculptors, (in this case Cass Gilbert and Herbert Adams) the often-haggling city council members, (the Scott’s creation being controversial due to it’s namesake’s reputation; there’s the statue of the man himself overlooking the whole scene) the general laborers (of course) in the construction; and then the magic reinforced by all of us: the residents and visitors that have and will come to a fountain to cool off, dream, celebrate, recharge, marvel and leave inspired.

Update from the Detroit, July 2017 trip…a 1950s photo…Yours Truly, Bernice or Dagmar

Source: James Scott Memorial Fountain. n.d. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Scott_Memorial_Fountain. (accessed June 24, 2016).

318 San Andres Street, September 1948, Philippines

Posted on June 18, 2016 by Annieoakley

Old photo, Philippines, 318 San Andres Street, September 1948

Price: $15.00 Size: About 3 and 1/4 x 4 and 1/2″

You never know where an old photo will take you….

In this case we’ve traveled to September 1948, San Andres Street, to what most certainly has to be Malate, Manila, Philippines. The key to the country of origin is the distinctive window shade design, similar to those appearing below from a Google search re “Philippines old photos of windows.”

But even better: One of postcard collector David Montasco’s snapshots, via the Google website Panoramio, titled San Andres Street bahay na Bato 2014, gives us a storefront view on San Andres Street sixty-six years later. No, it’s not our 318 address but it could be close by. (The difference 66 years has made to San Andres Street, Malate, Manila, Philippines….there’s a fascinating topic all by itself. How many different viewpoints does the contrast conjure up? For me, overwhelming beauty – life on this planet.) And what a great shot….the colors, the old street light, the conglomeration of wires, the tin roof, etc. Love it.) Anyway, in addition to focusing on the window shades, you can see similarities in the two storefront facades. And, I don’t know about you, but I’m comparing the pose and look of the young man in our black and white photo in the window, top left, and the guy in 2014 behind the pop bottles and motorcycle. Wow, wouldn’t it be something if they were actually related? (I’m hearing some scoffs, chuckle.) Well, stranger things have happened.

But back to the old photo…

Tining’s Dry Cleaners (and) Laundry was not found from our vantage point of online searches, but likely there’s more info to be had out there somewhere, an old directory, or maybe someone who remembers their parents or grandparents mentioning this dry cleaners. But if we could only read the cursive writing underneath “Cleaners Laundry” ….is that the proprietor’s name or is it something in Tagalog? As per the norm with these elusive types, you can almost make out the wording, but argggh! not quite. Then there’s something else printed there in white, at the bottom. And, last, but not least, the back of the photo shows:

“x marks my Room at 318 San Andres Sept 1948.” Ahhh, the memory of place, captured forever in time.

Sources: Google search for “Philippines old photos of windows.” (accessed June 18, 2016).

Montasco, David. “San Andres Street bahay na Bato 2014.” http://www.panoramio.com/photo/113277366. (accessed June 18, 2016).

Roberta In Cap And Gown

Posted on June 14, 2016 by Annieoakley

Cropped old photo, circa 1920s – 1930s.

Price: $3.00 Size: About 2 x 3″

Still in school dayz for one more post….This is a cropped portrait of a beautiful African American woman in her graduation cap and gown, holding her diploma. The time-frame is maybe 1920s – 1930s. The reverse shows her writing, too bad it’s so cut off. Guessing from the signature that her name is Roberta, and we do know another thing about her: she had a good sense of humor. She jokes that (likely this photo) is, “something to frighten the mosquitos away. smile.”

Walnut Festival Parade

Posted on June 9, 2016 by Annieoakley

Vintage parade photo, 1950s, Walnut Festival.

Price: $10.00 Size: 5 x 3 and 1/2″

Circa 1950s, of the Walnut Festival Parade, showing a view of horses, tacked up in silver finery, and their riders (does the guy in the foreground remind you of Teddy Roosevelt?) in hats and typical fifties-era cowboy shirts, on parade before an audience lined up on both sides of the street. The most logical guess for location would be Walnut Creek, California. We’re not finding city directories or old phone books online for this time-frame for Walnut Creek, so perhaps the answer lies in a local library. (A day trip on the horizon?) One of the most helpful clues to identify the city would be the restaurant on the left. You can see a sign showing “Chick’s Eat” above the “….Famous Fried Chicken” sign. (Check out the guy perched up there, who secured a nice spot for himself to watch the parade.) We can also make out a Chevron logo on the other side of the street (one such sign recently sold for $1800.00.) In the background, the banner strung across the road reads, “Walnut Festival.”

Oneidas And Onondagas Parade Float

Posted on June 4, 2016 by Annieoakley

Old photo, circa 1908 – 1912.

Price: $15.00 Size: About 4 and 1/8 x 3 and 1/8″

The occasion for this parade is unknown, possibly the 4th of July, or Memorial Day. The location is also unknown, though the most likely guess for a state would be New York , but we can date this old photo by the number of stars on the two U. S. flags that are draped, along with the bunting, from the building in the background. The flags show 46 stars: Oklahoma was the 46th state and admitted to the Union on November 16, 1907 and New Mexico was the 47th, admitted on January 6, 1912. Officially, the United States did not adopt a new flag until the following 4th of July, however, flags were sometimes fashioned and flown or displayed ahead of the official date.

The central subject of the photo is a float by or to honor the Oneida and Onondaga Indians, members of the Iroquois Confederacy or Six Nations (Originally the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga and Seneca with the Tuscarora having joined in the year 1722.) That appears to be a painting on canvas, perhaps of land or rocks, at the center of the circle of some of the clan figures: the deer, wolf, bear, beaver, and is that a turtle in the front about to slip into the “water?” Members of the Oneida and Onondaga stand in traditional dress under the horseshoe shape banner, with the sun’s rays? shooting from the top and sides. Behind are a tepee, a figure of an Indian and a portion of a tree. It looks like a team of donkeys pull the float.

Other details: Notice how almost everyone in the well-turned out crowd is wearing a hat (just true to the era.) Other things to pick out are the electric lights strung on both sides of the street, at least six old street lamps, and that many in the crowd are holding a piece of paper, maybe that’s an advertisement or handout for who was who in the parade.

Sources: The 46 Star Flag. usflag.org. (accessed June 2, 2016).

47 Star Flag – unofficial – (U.S.) FOTW Flags of the World. (accessed June 2, 2016).

Iroquois Confederacy. October 19, 2015 (last updated). Encyclopaedia Britannica. (accessed June 2, 2016).

Additional reading:

Haudenosaunee Confederacy

Salinas River Flooding, Circa 1900s

Posted on April 17, 2016 by Annieoakley

Copy of old photo originally taken circa 1900s. Unknown photographer.

Price: $15.00 Size: 10 x 8″

The first in a series of (mostly) copies of old photos of Salinas, California and environs:

This one was labelled on the plastic sleeve as “Salinas River, Flooded, 1900s.” It shows two horse and buggy sets and a third horse-drawn vehicle, maybe a wagon, it’s hard to tell. In any case, all three are being driven up a wide, flooded dirt road, traveling toward the photographer. The lighting doesn’t let us pick out too many details for drivers and passengers. And the photo’s exact location is unknown at the moment, but within the scene we find a couple of great clues: In addition to some farm buildings, a weather vane and a utility pole, we see a couple of two-story wooden buildings – the one on our right, shows “Tavern” painted on the side, (see the horse standing in front?) and the one on our left appears to say “Riverside Hotel.” Hats off to you if you can make out the sign above the entrance way (Pederson?) In the far distance is part of the mountain range that surrounds the Salinas Valley. All in all, a great photo….but we’ll keep looking for that hotel.

Update: Be sure to read the comment from Nick dated October 8, 2018 and click on the Google map view he included. The location of our photo appears to have been the small community of Hilltown, south of Salinas.

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