Wedding Wednesday - Elegant 1930's (Art Deco Era) Wedding Party

For today's Wedding Wednesday here is a great photograph of a very fashionable and sophisticated 1930's wedding party.  The bride and groom are in the middle; not sure which couple are the maid of honor and best man.  The bridal bouquet is made of Calla Lilly's which were very popular in the 1930's.  Her veil and the long train are a work of art!

The photographer was Damoff Studio of 37 Monroe St., Passaic, N.J.  I was unable to find much information on this photographer.  This appears to be Herman Damoff  born on  15 Sep 1891 and died in October of 1978 in New Jersey as per this 1930 Passaic, NJ City Directory entry:

Wedding Wednesday - Beautiful 1920s Newark, NJ Bride

Unknown 1920s Newark NJ Bride

This beautiful young bride from the 1920's had her photograph taken by Silver & Steinberg located at Springfield & 15th Aves. in Newark, NJ.  She is wearing a white wedding gown with a scooped neck and sheer sleeves.  I love her bridal  cap with the Greek-like floral arrangement and the veil/headdress with the unusual trim along the edges.  She is wearing a pearl necklace and is holding a large bouquet of red roses and white carnations. She seems to be very young, probably a teenager.  I wish we could have seen a picture of her groom.

I found a few other pictures taken by the same studio, but had no luck finding any further information on the photographers.  This photograph was placed and preserved in a decorative Art Deco style folder, which although a bit stained, has held up over the years and is still very attractive.

Wedding Wednesday - Early 1900's Hoboken, NJ Couple

This unidentified, young married couple had their photograph taken sometime between the turn of the century and 1910 by photographer W. Manewal of 520 Washington St., Hoboken, NJ.  The bride is wearing a simple dress, perhaps gray in color, fitted at the waist and it has a high neckline.  There are small, tiered layers on the hem and midway up the skirt and the bodice has an unusual ruffle in the middle. The sleeves are more fitted on the upper arms and billow down to the cuffs which match the neckline.  Her beautiful headdress is floor-length and she carries a lovely bouquet of white roses.  If you look closely it appears she moved slightly as the bouquet is a little out of focus.  The groom is quite dapper and simply dressed and sports a small boutonniere.

The photographer is a true American success story.  He was William Manewal who was born 6 Sep 1872 in Wörrstadt, Germany and immigrated to the United States in 1890 at age 18 on the ship Rhynland which sailed from Antwerp, Belgium   I found numerous hits for him on Ancestry.com including a listing in the Jersey City, New Jersey City Directory 1893 in which he listed his residence as 807 Hudson and his occupation as photographer.  Ten years later in 1903 according to the same city directory he was practicing his occupation at 520 Washington St. in Hoboken, NJ where this photograph was taken.  On 18 May 1903 he applied for a US Passport and listed this additional information:  wife Albertina (Wassner) Manewal, two children William 9 years and Adelfed 9 months, he became a naturalized citizen of the United States on 9 Mar 1900.  Manewal was 5'8" tall, had brown hair, blue eyes and had a light complexion.  By 1930, Manewal and his wife were living in Teaneck, Bergen County, NJ where he still earned his living as a photographer.

I also found a number of his photographs on Google as well as a short biography written by William Nelson (see source below), which described him as "a leader in his particular field of art" and "he is regarded as an expert in his art.....his patronage comes to him from far and wide." According to the author, Manewal studied in Paris, France and Venice, Italy before immigrating to the United States where he opened a photographic studio in Hoboken upon his arrival.  He became extremely successful and was a member of a number of organizations including the New Jersey State Photographic Art Association, Hoboken Lodge, Benevolent and Protective Order of the Elks and the Hoboken Academy.

Source:  Nelson's Biographical  Cyclopedia of New Jersey, Volume 2 by William Nelson, 1913, publisher Eastern Historical Publishing Society, New York.

Wedding Wednesday - 1920's New Jersey Wedding Party

This wonderful 1920's wedding photo was taken by the Art Photo Studio, 32 Ferry Street, South River, New Jersey.  None of the members of the wedding party are identified, but all are quite well-dressed and beautiful.  I particularly like the two little girls, probably flower girls, who are each flanking the bride and groom on small stools.

Those Places Thursday - Victorian Bathers at the Boardwalk?

This tintype photo  of an unidentified father, son and two daughters shows them wearing what seems to be turn-of-the-century bathing costumes.  I'm assuming this photo was taken at a boardwalk somewhere.  

Tintypes were in usage between 1850's - 1930, most popular during the Civil War when soldiers visited the itinerant photographers who followed the troops.  The soldiers could send these photos home in the mail without worry of damage.  Tintypes weren't actually made of tin but were thin sheets of iron; they most likely got their name because the photographers used tin shears to cut the multiple photos on the sheet.

Between 1875 and 1930 photographer began taking their equipment anywhere people gathered such as carnivals, boardwalks, etc.  Some permanent locations were established in places such as Asbury Park and Atlantic City, NJ and had painted backgrounds that suggested the locale.