Old photo, white border. Circa 1899 – 1905
Price: $15.00 Size: About 2 and 5/8 x 4 and 1/4″
Mazie, a gorgeous girl wearing a large, dark-hued bow which is blending with her hair. Love that smile!
Only Mazie’s given name appears on the reverse, and no location. But by chance, something with the printing, “Indian Head Mills” had been laid face down on top of the photo and this wording transferred onto the image (appearing sideways on the wall to our right). Here’s a crop right side up, along with its mirror image via Photoshop. The much lighter printing is the same lettering reversed, so some family member at some point flipped the item over, the print being dark enough to still make a faint impression.
The Nashua Manufacturing Company of Nashua, New Hampshire had two Indian Head Mill locations, the original in Nashua and a second added in Cordova, Alabama, in 1898. (See link in sources.) Of course, the Mazie in this photograph doesn’t have to have been connected with either area, but we did find a Mazie Louise Jones, born 1889, who married Monroe Wesley Akins. He was born in Cordova, and his WWI Draft Registration in 1918 shows he and Mazie were there, farming.
Below, a couple of articles from Alabama newspapers in January 1898:
Sources: “A Walk Through Time – Indian Head Mill, Cordova.” 78mag.com. (Accessed July 4, 2023.)
Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/34014225/mazie-louise-akins: accessed 02 July 2023), memorial page for Mazie Louise Jones Akins (21 Sep 1889–Oct 1956), Find a Grave Memorial ID 34014225, citing Union Chapel Cemetery, Union Chapel, Walker County, Alabama, USA; Maintained by Ed Stallings (contributor 46921758).
Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918. Registration State: Alabama; Registration County: Walker County.
“Indian Head Mills.” The Vernon Courier, January 27, 1898. Thursday, p. 1. (Newspapers.com).
“Making Cloth For China – The Cloth’s Name.” The Birmingham News, January 25, 1898. Tuesday, p. 5. (Newspapers.com).