Vintage photo, white border, deckled edge. Belle Isle, Detroit, Michigan. Circa 1950s.

Price:  $6.00            Size:  About 2 and 1/2 x 3 and 1/2″

Another found on the recent Detroit trip. Beautiful Bernice, posing at the Scott Fountain on Belle Isle. The cat-eye sunglasses trend was popular in the 1950’s. Her shoes now, hmmmm, two-tone, but not really a saddle shoe – this exact style wasn’t found online. As to the inscription on the back,  “ ‘Your truly’ Bernice or Dagmar”  that’s one of the most interesting aspects of this photo.

A character name from a play?

And at first, I thought it was “Dogmar” and was searching for Dogmar as a possible surname or given name, and not coming up with much…..Then, and this happens to me quite a bit, for which I am truly grateful:  A day or two later I came across the movie I Remember Mama (1948) playing on the classic movie channel, with Irene Dunn as the Norwegian-born mother of four, set in San Francisco at the turn of the 20th century, with the youngest daughter named Dagmar (wait, what?). If you’ve never seen the movie, check it out (so beautiful!) The film is based on the story, Mama’s Bank Account (1943) by Kathryn Forbes, which inspired a play (1944) then the movie, then t.v. series Mama (1949 – 1957) and later two musical versions in the ’70s. The movie’s story is told from the standpoint of the oldest daughter, Katrin, an aspiring writer, played by Barbara Bel Geddes (Dallas fans, you will remember her as Jock’s wife, Miss Ellie.) So, did Bernice in our photo above play Dagmar in a school play production? It’s our best guess, other than the fact that Dagmar could be a middle name for her or vice versa (Dagmar Bernice).

Source:  Kathryn Forbes. n.d. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathryn_Forbes (accessed July 9, 2017).