Category Archives: People

In a Field of Cabbage

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Vintage photo from film reel, circa 1940.

Price:  $2.00         Size:  About 2 and 1/2 x 2 and 3/8″

I picked this photo up at the same time as the one in the previous post. Presumably, they came from the same person or family. This is an odd one, though. And I’m not sure if that’s really a cabbage field, just my best guess. This group sure seems pretty intent on looking down at….something. The soil, insects? No idea. I pictured maybe the guy in the foreground, in the white sweater, might be the younger guy from the prior post at Treasure Island. (Maybe.) Then pictured he and his uncles (not in this picture, and just my imagination from the Treasure Island one) are sightseeing and ended up in the Salinas Valley or the Central Valley or somewhere else in California, south of San Francisco. (It probably is California.) Was there a “U Pick” kind of thing going on back then, like apples or pumpkins? But nothing shows in old newspapers for advertisement. Or, maybe they were a college group. The one guy does have a college sweater on, hard to tell from where, though. So, maybe they’re all “ag” students and this is a field trip. One thing’s for sure (and I love it), they certainly are all well-dressed!

Treasure Island, California, 1939 or 1940

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Vintage photo from film reel. Circa 1939 – 1940

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

See the next post for a possible related photo.

Treasure Island, San Francisco, California:  Three very smartly-dressed gentlemen, of Asian descent, pose next to a sign which points the way to the Parisian theater extravaganza, Folies Bergère, which was held at the California Auditorium. In the background is the California Building on the left and the San Francisco Building on the right. (The tips of the “pillars” for lack of a better word, that we’re looking at there, between the two buildings, are cut off in the photo.) And that is what was called the Lake of the Nations, or Pool of Nations, directly behind the flower bed.

Treasure Island is a man made island that was built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to host the Golden Gate International Exposition (GGIE), a world’s fair, that helped to celebrate the openings of the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge. The island had originally been scheduled to become an airport, after the fair was over but was instead turned over to the U.S. Navy, who used it for training grounds and education for a number of years. And, it’s very faint, but you can see one of the bridges in the background.

Check eBay for images of Folies program ephemera. For more on the history of Treasure Island and the GGIE, including videos, see the Treasure Island Museum.

Sources: Treasure Island, San Francisco. n.d. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treasure_Island,_San_Francisco (accessed January 23, 2022).

Folies Bergère. n.d. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folies_Berg%C3%A8re (accessed February 14, 2022).

Golden Gate International Exposition. n.d. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Gate_International_Exposition (accessed February 14, 2022).

Treasure Island Museum. https://www.treasureislandmuseum.org/media (accessed February 14, 2022).

Ruth Brown, Ida Corbett and Nellie Bond Bagley

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Real Photo Postcard, cropped. July, 1913, Santa Paula, California

Price:  $12.00        Size:  About 2 and 1/8 x 3″

“Ruth Brown, Ida Corbett and Nellie Bond Bagley – on her wedding day. Santa Paula, Calif.”

Three beautiful ladies decked in lace, in that gorgeous style from the 1910s. It was Nellie Bond’s wedding day, Santa Paula, CA, July 1913. I think it’s pretty safe to assume that the names read left to right, which places the bride to our right, wearing the white shoes, long white gloves, and holding a bouquet of flowers that trails into a long spray. And, if you look closely, you can see that there are some black marks on the photo, obscuring the full bouquet. At first glance, you might mistake the marks as part of the flower arrangement (it works ascetically speaking, but no.) This Real Photo Postcard was found cropped down quite a bit to it’s approximate 2 x 3 inch size.

Nellie Bond was born February 1893 in Missouri, daughter of William and Susie Bond (from the 1900 Federal Census, Benton, Polk County, Missouri). In July, 1913, she married James Elijah “Ail” Bagley, also a Missouri native. His full name and date of birth, October 26, 1893 are found in Ancestry.com family trees.

The clipping below appeared in the Oxnard Courier, July 11, 1913:

Ida Corbett (maiden name Hardison) born about August 1870 in Pennsylvania, was married to Leonard W. Corbett, February 11, 1892. Their marriage announcement was found in the Los Angeles Evening Express, dated February 13th:

Ruth Brown proves to be a little harder to find in records – a common name and we don’t know whether Brown is her maiden or married name. Nothing definitive shows up in quick searches online.

Sources:  Year: 1900; Census Place: Benton, Polk, Missouri; Page: 6; Enumeration District: 0122; FHL microfilm: 1240883. (Ancestry.com).

Year: 1900; Census Place: Santa Paula, Ventura, California; Page: 7; Enumeration District: 0166; FHL microfilm: 1240116. (Ancestry.com).

Year: 1910; Census Place: Santa Paula, Ventura, California; Roll: T624_111; Page: 8A; Enumeration District: 0215; FHL microfilm: 1374124. (Ancestry.com).

“Wedding in Santa Paula.” Oxnard Courier, July 11, 1913, Friday, p. 6. (Newspapers.com).

“In Social Circles.” Los Angeles Evening Express, February 13, 1892, Saturday, p. 8. (Newspapers.com).

Three Gents

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Real Photo Postcard, unused. Circa 1908 – 1918. AZO stamp box.

Price:  $5.00

I believe these guys, or at least the two on our left, may be brothers, due to their resemblance to each other, though admittedly, there is a tendency to see family links where there may be none. Human nature, I think. Or, you might just imagine them as buddies or business partners. We wonder where the photo was taken. That looks like an American flag flying from that second story window on the left, crossed with another flag, which we can’t make out. Those could be decorations for some type of celebration draped over the iron balcony, like trimmings in support of an upcoming or just past Independence Day parade. The only wording that’s easily readable on the buildings behind the gents is “Free Reading Room.” Though, some historian might be able to recognize the design on the window to the left of the door to the reading room, which would be a possible clue for location. Oh, then there is some other wording showing – that last line looks like a name that starts with “McShe…” something Irish or Scottish. Easy to miss, but it’s on the building showing between the two guys on our left.

Last but not least, the stories from the background….a guy walking, and two older guys seated, passing the time of day, inside a business probably, some place that needed a large doorway, maybe for deliveries.

Having Fun Yet?

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Old photo, circa 1920s – 1930s.

Price:  $8.00          Size:  About 4 and 1/4″ x 2 and 1/4″

Continuing on with a mini-theme of families or groups of people. This one is a stumper. Where were they? The major clue, if we can call it that, appears on our left….something Ranch. Had the camera been pointing slightly more in that direction (or the photographer further back), we probably could have figured it out. Maybe “something-or-other Ranch” was a restaurant. Do we imagine we see a small outdoor dining table there covered in white cloth? The other clue (for some ingenious person) is the out-of-place looking geometric metal? phone booth-ish (space ship, time portal, 😉 ) thing at the far right, that we only see a portion of. What the heck was it? Then the people depicted here….Looking like, I hesitate to say it, a family of con-artists. Maybe it’s the younger girl – the stony-faced look and the cool octagonal sunglasses, note her grip on her grandma’s arm (yes, we remember that smiling into the camera was not mandatory, like it pretty much is today – refreshing, really – scowl if you want to) and her sister – with that trick of the eye – one eye closed, the other squinting slightly, not a wink though, but different….how did the camera catch that? Now, the dark-skinned gentleman on our right, is he the dad of the girls and the (nice-looking) older brother? Dad sun-bronzed from years of outside work…..or are they a wealthy bunch and this man is their driver (but part of the family) and native to (imagining) Central America. Well, idiotic questions like these are in abundance. Notice, too, how the whole gang is dressed in white except for the matron of the bunch. Makes you think this snapshot was taken in one of the southern states, Florida or southern Calfiornia, perhaps? Anyway, every picture tells a story, as they say, and what this one tells is……open to impression….flashes of insight appearing and disappearing…..in the end, I’d say they’re a nice, very stylish family with a million stories to tell. Oh, and this photo had been in the family album for some time, as evidenced by some of the black paper still stuck to the back.

San Antonio, Texas, Circa 1929

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Old photo. San Antonio, Texas, Circa 1929 or early 1930s. Printer:  The Fox Company. Copyright by Carl D. Newton.

Price:  $10.00         Size:  3 and 7/16 x 2 and 7/16″

There’s a good story in this moment, for sure. The phrase, “a pointed look” comes to mind – that which the young girl is directing toward her…..would you say, older sister? If siblings, that might explain the hostility 😉 (Paraphrasing the judge from My Cousin Vinny.) Or, do you imagine, that the one girl is just very engrossed in what the older one is saying (is she talking?) Personally, I love these old photos from the ’20s and ’30s, with the front yards (if this is one, sort of) that were not expected to be showpieces and often with old hand-built wooden fences that are leaning. (Actually, that’s a very nice gate, but the fence is falling in, and the gate off-kilter.) Or, maybe if not a front “yard” this is a commercial or semi-commercial street view. I’m now imagining some sort of auto servicing business. When you enlarge the image you’ll see that there is a second car in this photo and then also a third person, who’s standing behind it. We’ll check with the experts on the Antique Automobile Club of America forum, for the make, model and year of the car in the foreground.

Update:  The response from the super sleuths at AACA, is that the car in the foreground is actually a 1929 Nash, and the one in the background a Model A Ford Coupe. Which means that the printer’s stamp on the back of the photo was not an updated one, since it’s showing 1927. Interesting!

Paul Jones Harrison And Friends

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Old photo, circa mid-1890s.

Availability Status:  SOLD          Size:  About 4 x 4″

A fun time with friends and siblings…..guessing this photo may have been taken around the mid-1890s due to the large puffed sleeves for some of the women, and from the following research, possibly taken near Socorro, New Mexico:

Just as I was about to call it a day search-wise, the Harrisons were found in records. (Funny how it can take you awhile to find the answer, and if it had been a different day, you’d find it right off the bat. A difference in mindset maybe. Interesting, though.)

Madge Harrison is Esther Matilda Harrison, born April 14, 1875 in Missouri. She marries Samuel C. Edwards. Her brother, A. Houston Harrison, was born about 1877, also in Missouri and their brother, Paul Jones Harrison, was born about 1883 in New Mexico. Their parents are Andrew T. and Julia Harrison. The family is on the 1880 Federal Census living in Trinidad, Las Animas County, Colorado and on the 1885 New Mexico Territorial Census in Socorro.

From the same 1885 census for Socorro, name spelled Wickam:  Anna Wickham was born about 1874 in Pennsylvania, and brother Andy, also a PA native, was born about 1876. Their parents are Joseph and Mary Wickham.

The Tingleys would be brothers, Albert Tinguely, born about 1864 in Nebraska and Samuel Tinguely, born about 1871 in Colorado. Parents Charles and Anna, were born in Switzerland. The 1885 NM Territorial Census has them in Polvadera, Socorro County.

Jennie Cook is possibly the Jennie Griffith that married George E. Cook. George later served as mayor of Socorro, 1924 – 1928. The names on the back of the photo may have been written later, since Jennie and George were married in November 1900. That is possibly Jennie on our right, just above left of the man who is clowning around in one of the girls’ bonnets (maybe he and Jennie exchanged hats). And could this person be George Cook?

Names on the back of the photo:

Paul Jones Harrison; Madge Harrison (Edwards); Jennie Cook; Price (surname or possible given name); Andy Wickham; Anna Wickham; A. Houston Harrison; and surname Tingley.

Sources:  Year: 1880; Census Place: Trinidad, Las Animas, Colorado; Roll: 92; Page: 54B; Enumeration District: 066. (Ancestry.com).

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington, D.C.; Schedules of the New Mexico Territory Census of 1885; Series: M846; Roll: 5. (Ancestry.com).

Indiana, Marriages. Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013. (Ancestry.com).

Year: 1900; Census Place: Socorro, Socorro, New Mexico; Page: 2; Enumeration District: 0135; FHL microfilm: 1241003. (Ancestry.com).

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington, D.C.; Schedules of the New Mexico Territory Census of 1885; Series: M846; Roll: 5

“The Cook –Griffith Wedding In Socorro, N.M., A Swell Society Event Attended By 200 Guest.” Richwood Gazette (Richwood, OH). November 29, 1900. Thursday, p. 4. (Newspaper.com).

Mayors of Socorro. https://www.socorronm.org/notable-local/mayors-socorro/ (accessed June 6, 2021).

E. W. Jackson, Photographer, Florida

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Edward W. Jackson, African-American, born in Georgia circa 1857, was the son of Alfred Jackson and wife Louisa. He died September 10, 1913 in Athens, Georgia.  Photo from James T. Haley’s compilation, Sparkling Gems of Race Knowledge Worth Reading, published in 1897. E. W. Jackson worked as a photographer in Key West, Orlando and Jacksonville, Florida, and was manager for a time for the Davis Photo Gallery in Jacksonville. See his Cabinet Card on this website for Willie Joseph Brennan.

E. W.’s short obituary below, referencing his well-known brother, was the key to finding out more:  A. P. Jackson was Albin P., born in Athens Georgia, two or three years younger than Edward. Albin’s unusual given name, helped greatly in locating the family in census records and thus determining that the E. was for (one would guess and be incorrect often, but in this case not – Edward. Most likely Edward was also born in Athens, Georgia.

Below, a timeline gleaned from the usual sources – city directories, census, historical newspapers and Google books:

1870 Federal Census for Athens GA, age 13, parents Alfred and Louisa. Siblings Camilla, Albin, Billie, Mary and Judy.

1880 Federal Census for Athens, age 23, working at a drug store. Father’s occupation whitewasher, mother, washer and ironer, brother Albin, barber, sister Bettie, washer and ironer and sister Judy, at school. Albin is about 3 years younger than Edward. Children’s and mother’s race listed as mulatto on this census, father’s as black.

1885 married according to the 1900 Federal Census. Wife Eva W., born in Florida about June 1854.

1887-1888 Edward W. Jackson, artist, 121 Market, Jacksonville per city directories – possibly correct for E. W. as an artist.

1896 – Jacksonville. Edward W. Jackson, manager at Davis Photo Gallery, 17 1/2 E. Bay, resides Clay near W. Ashley. Wife, Eva W. Jackson, dressmaker.

1898 photographer in Orlando, per the dated cabinet card for young Willie Brennan, see link above.

1900 Federal Census for Key West Florida, 617 Whitehead St. Photographer, married about 1885, born May 1855 in GA. Wife, Eva W. is listed as having eight children, all living. No children listed for Edward and none living with the couple so, it’s possible the children are from a prior marriage for Eva.

1908 moved his photography studio from Orlando to Jacksonville, as reported to a weekly photography publication.

1910 Federal Census for Jacksonville, renting at 417 1/2 Broad St. Married but wife not with him on this census. Photographer at gallery.

1913 Jacksonville City Directory. Edward W. Jackson, photographer, married. 417 1/2 Broad St., home, same address.

Lastly, of note:  Edward’s brother Albin P. Jackson, was written up in a nice newspaper article, “Story of A. P. Jackson is one of Success” from the Orlando Evening Reporter-Star, November 12, 1914. Albin, the manager of the San Juan Barbershop in Orlando, had saved for he and his wife’s future, and bought an orange grove and a pecan grove.

Sources:  E. W. Jackson. n.d. https://en.everybodywiki.com/E.W._Jackson (accessed May 22, 2021).

Haley, James T. (1897) Sparkling Gems of Race Knowledge Worth Reading. J. T. Haley & Company. Web:  https://www.google.com/books/edition/Sparkling_Gems_of_Race_Knowledge_Worth_R/UmU9AQAAMAAJ?q=e.w.+jackson+orlando+photographer&gbpv=1#f=false.

Year: 1880; Census Place: Athens, Clarke, Georgia; Roll: 140; Page: 279B; Enumeration District: 012. (Ancestry.com).

Albin P. Jackson from Miller & Mayfield’s Orlando, Florida city directory 1915-1916. p. 270. (Ancestry.com city directories).

Year: 1870; Census Place: Athens, Clarke, Georgia; Roll: M593_143; Page: 352A (Ancestry.com).

Year: 1880; Census Place: Athens, Clarke, Georgia; Roll: 140; Page: 279B; Enumeration District: 012 (Ancestry.com).

Vance’s Jacksonville and St. Augustine Directory and Florida Hotel Guide, 1896, Vol II, p. 153. (Ancestry.com city directories).

Year: 1900; Census Place: Key West, Monroe, Florida; Page: 4; Enumeration District: 0098; FHL microfilm: 1240174. (Ancestry.com).

Chambers, Frank V. and Bartlet, John, editors. Bulletin of Photography And the Photographers, Vol. 3. July – December 1908. p. 267.

Year: 1910; Census Place: Jacksonville Ward 7, Duval, Florida; Roll: T624_159; Page: 1B; Enumeration District: 0084; FHL microfilm: 1374172. (Ancestry.com).

R. L. Polk & Co.’s 1913 Jacksonville City Directory, Vol. XIV. p. 686. (Ancestry.com city directories).

The Orlando Sentinel, September 13, 1913. Saturday, p. 5. (Newspapers.com).

“Story of A. P. Jackson is one of Success” Orlando Evening Reporter-Star. November 12, 1914. Thursday, p. 5.  (Newspapers.com).

Willie Joseph Brennan, May 1898, Orlando, Florida

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Cabinet Card. May 8, 1898, Orlando, Florida. Photographer:  E. W. Jackson. “Ivory Finish.”

Price:  $10.00           Size:  4 and 1/16″ x 6 and 1/2″

Seemingly, the last name for this handsome lad is Brennan. (It’s so easy to scribble names when we know them.) Other possibilities were tried. Nothing showing up for him online, like his possible sister, Gertrude Brennan, in our prior post. Unusual, since we have his full name and that he was born in June of 1884. Both cards were found together in an antique store in California. City directories for this time period in Orlando are not available (in a quick search). Nothing showing in census and newspaper records, death records, etc., at least without getting into hours and hours of searching.

Some info and a photo (!) was found on the photographer, E. W. Jackson. He’ll be upcoming in the next posting…(well, almost next).

Gertrude Brennan In 1894

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Cabinet Card taken October 13, 1894. Photographer: Howard. “Enameled Ivoryette.” Orlando, Florida.

Price:  $10.00           Size:  About 4 and 1/4 x 6 and 1/2″

A beautiful, young lass of Irish descent:  Gertrude Brennan, taken in Orlando, Florida on October 13, 1894. We’ll do some research this weekend for her. The next post will be a possible relative, a portrait of a young lad, Willie Joseph Brennan. They are possibly siblings but we’ll find out. Just getting this one up quick-like for Saint Patrick’s Day.

Well, very surprisingly, nothing was found for Gertrude in the usual search places online (census, city directories, newspapers, etc.) It’s possible, too, that the date on the back is Gertrude’s birth date, rather than date the photo was taken, but a broad search under dates was tried. Also, tried with potential brother, Willie or William Joseph Brennan (see next post). The photographer, Howard, is possibly Clarence E. Howard, born PA, about 1858. City directories for this time period in Orlando, seem to be unavailable. (This is just in a general, quick search.) And maybe the Brennan head of household exists in directories that are not digitized, at Orlando libraries, perhaps.

Source:  Year: 1900; Census Place: Orlando, Orange, Florida; Page: 11; Enumeration District: 0116; FHL microfilm: 1240175.