Sentimental Sunday - Women with Hats - 1880's (Victorian Era) Vermont Woman in Feathers & Fur

This fabulous photograph was taken sometime in the 1880's of young woman in Bellows Falls,VT.  I am always curious when I see these old photos of subjects wearing their winter coats.  I wonder why they chose to be photographed this way instead of in a lovely dress or suit. In this particular case, she is wearing what appears to be a two-toned fur coat with matching fur hand muff.  The fur scarf has dangling balls which I have never seen before.  Her hat has several things going on as well with the bill jutting out at a jaunty angle, white, wispy feathers and a satin bow at the top.  I also see some thin white things - not sure what they are - sticking out of the top of the hat.  

I think she is quite proud of her ensemble, but alas, she is not identified on the back of the cabinet card.

The photographer is Blake, Frederick Joseph Blake of Bellows Falls, VT.  He practiced his profession in that area between 1880 to the early 1920's.  He was born 3 Dec 1853 to Seth and Martha Jane Blake.  He died in Bellows Falls on 1 Feb 1923. 

Sentimental Sunday - Women with Hats - Stylish 1909 (Edwardian) Woman - Bernice Clark

This young woman, identified as Bernice Clark on the back, sat for this photo on May 1, 1909.   She is wearing a stylish suit and hat and has a serene expression on her face.  The white flowers give the hat and the scene just a touch of needed whimsy.  She appears to be in her early twenties.  She signed the back of the card and addressed it to her Uncle Fay.  This is an unusual sized cabinet card (4" x 9") that unfortunately does not have a photographer's name or mark so makes it difficult to narrow down her identity further.

Sentimental Sunday - Women with Hats - Two Young Edwardian Era Women in Big Hats

This picture postcard showcases two attractive young women from 1905 - 1910 in very large hats.  They are both dressed very sharply in fitted dresses with inset  bodices and high necklines.  The girl on the left is wearing eyeglasses and a locket that is pinned, not worn on a chain.  Alas, once again they are sadly unidentified.

Women with Hats - Two 1890's Edwardian) St. Cloud Women

I've been away a very long time.  I have excuses....work, my spouse's health issues, my own laziness, etc.  I've missed looking at old photos and more importantly doing the research to find what I can to determine the who, what, when, and where they occurred.  My first foray back into the mix will be simple with this photo of two 1894 St. Cloud, MN women wearing hats and coats.  I always find it interesting that people wore coats in their formal photographs.  In this particular photo on the back it says, " Dec 21th, 1894, Jane Whitelsy Mitchel & Mary."I could not find any trace of  Jane Whitelsy.

The photographer was Fritz who had an address on Germain Street.  If you look closely you can see embossed on the right side, "Fritz, St, Cloud.  This is most likely John J. Fritz, born in July 1868 to Andrew and Mary Fritz. Both parents emigrated from Germany.  He married Anna Hammerell whose parents also came from Germany.  They are seen in the 1902 St. Cloud census with children Willfred, Hugo, Robert and Margaret. He died on 28 Jul, 1918 at the age of 50.

Photographers were experimenting with different types of photo presentation in this period.  This particular one is about the size of a CDV and has saw-tooth edges on each side.    The back side shows the names of the subjects.

Sentimental Sunday - Women with Hats - Feathery Hat on Columbus, O. Woman 1880's (Victorian)

This very stylish young woman had her photograph taken by photographer Pfeifer in Columbus, O. in the late 1880's.  I am putting the date around 1888.  She is wearing a fashionable bustled dress with beautiful pearl-like trim.  One tiny drop earring is showing and a hoop bracelet appears on her right wrist.  She is also wearing a large corsage with white flowers to offset the darker color of the dress.  I wish I knew what color is was; possibly gray or brown?  Her hat is stunning of course with the large feathery plumes and I see a dark satin bow on the right side.

1888 Columbus, Ohio Woman

It's hard to tell from this scan, but this cabinet card has gold-gilt beveled edges which was one of my clues in dating the photograph.  The photographer was John A. Pfeifer of Columbus who had a photography business in Columbus for many years. I found him listed in the city directory up until 1887 at the address on the card.  In the 1889 directory he had moved his business to a different address. He was born about 1858 in Ohio to German immigrant parents. I also found him listed in the 1920 census living in a boarding house, a widower and still working as a photographer.

Sentimental Sunday - Women with Hats - Stylish Nebraska Woman

I have very little information about this week’s Woman with Hats subject.  This unidentified woman from Lynch, Nebraska was most likely photographed in the late 1890’s or very possibly early 1900’s.  Her hat is quite a treat to behold and note the pin at the base of the front just above her hairline.  Her high-necked dress has a lacy insert and the sleeves are just a bit poufy which leads me to believe this is late 1890’s.

This photograph was quite intriguing as the photographer was a woman which was not the norm.  I am quite frustrated as I cannot make out her name.  I have tried numerous Internet and Ancestry.com searches in hopes of finding her but to no avail. It appears to be Mabel C. Co____ or Mabel G. Go____.  I’m hoping someone can provide me with some insight to her identity. Regardless of her identity the subject creates quite a lovely picture.

Sentimental Sunday - Women with Hats - Edwardian Era Michigan Woman with Felt Hat

I have been shamefully absent from my blog for a very long time for multiple reasons.  These include a new job, spousal health problems and just plain burnout, but it has been calling to me lately so today I return with this young woman from the turn of the century.

Anna Budd

I am estimating this photograph, which was taken in Portland, Michigan, to have been taken circa 1900. The young woman is identified on the back as Anna Budd.  She looks quite serious in her dark starched dress with white neckscarf.  She is wearing some type of pin on the scarf and her hat is tam style with a small pom on the top.  Underneath her hairstyle appears to be the fashionable for the time Gibson Girl style.  I found a few Anna Budds on Ancestry.com, but was not able to conclusively identify her.

The photographer was F. B. Rhodes of Portland, Michigan, most likely Frank Bartlett Rhodes who was born about 1865 in Michigan and died 10 November 1921 in Gaylord, MI.  He had several studios in the state including one in Portland in this time frame.

Portland, MI City Directory 1903

Sentimental Sunday - Women with Hats - 1890's Nashville, TN Woman

Sorry I haven't posted much lately, much going on personally, but wanted to share this photo of a young woman from late 1890's Nashville, TN.  The quality of the photograph is not great, in fact it is a little blurry.  I like it for a several reasons; some of my ancestors came from that area, she is sporting a great hat and if you look closely you can see she is wearing eyeglasses.  I'm not sure what you call that thing around her neck, maybe a boa or just the collar of her coat, but it is wonderful as well.  I tried really hard to make out the photographer's name which is embossed right above the location at the lower right hand corner with no luck.

Sentimental Sunday - Women with Hats - 1860's (Victorian Era) Illinois "Scarlett O'Hara-like" Woman

There is something about this photograph that reminds me of "Scarlet O'Hara."  I'm sure it must be the young woman's stylish hat, but it could just be her expression.  While nowhere near as striking as Vivien Leigh, this young woman, identified only as "Lizzie" was still quite lovely.  This CDV was probably taken between 1864 - 1869 so is indeed in the right time frame as Gone With the Wind.

The hat is a small boxy thing with a brim covered with what looks like little flowers and is secured under the chin with satiny ties.  It covered with some type of lace and the right side appears to have something like a feather protruding up over the top.  I tried to blow up the photo, but could not get a good view of these items.  One other item to look at, she is wearing what appears to be a wedding ring and I have to wonder with the dark hat if she was not in the latter part of mourning.

The photographer was E. Cummings of Elgin, Illinois.  I did not have much luck finding any information on Cummings although I did find an E. Cummings, photographers in the U.S. IRS Tax Assessment Lists on Ancestry.com who listed his address as Elgin and occupation as photographer in 1865.  I also found an Edward A. Cummings of Elgin who enlisted in Company I, Illinois 127th Infantry Regiment on 5 Sep 1862 and mustered out 20 Jun 1865.  His death was listed as 23 Aug 1922, Illinois death rolls.  I suspect this is the same person.  

Sentimental Sunday - Women with Hats - Two Ladies Strolling in Berlin ca 1890

These two lovely ladies, possible sisters, are wearing nearly identical hats, dress styles and are posing with matching umbrellas.  The photographer was Pflaum & Co. of Berlin, Germany.  These unidentified ladies probably posed for this photograph about 1890.  I did not have any luck finding any information on the photographer.

Sentimental Sunday - Women with Hats - Lovely 1900's Woman with Hat & Fur Muff

An unknown turn-of-the-century woman, she is wearing a coat, probably made of wool, leather gloves  and a fur boa with matching fur hand muff.  And what can I say about her fabulous hat except that it is just that, fabulous!

Sentimental Sunday - Women with Hats - 1900's Woman with Fur Boa & Large Hat

Unknown woman w/Large Hat

This unidentified turn of the century woman is wearing a walking suit, fur boa, large hat and is holding gloves in her hand on her lap.  The young woman probably posed for this photo sometime in the late 1890's or early 1900's.  This photo was cut down for some reason, most likely to place in a photo album and it appears there may have been a photographer's mark on the lower right hand corner, but it was cut off.

Those Places Thursday - Fairlamb Home, Fairmount, PA Late 1880's

Fairlamb Home - Fairmount, PA ca late1880's L-R Retta Fairlamb, Oscar Fairlamb,
Stella Fairlamb, Mary Fairlamb, Bob Walker, Mary Diller, Annie Fairlamb

Last week for my regular Women with Hats post, I ran the picture below of Retta Fairlamb in the large hat.  I recently bought a large lot of photos, over 175 in all, and am finally getting around to going through all of them.  Retta in the flowered hat was one of the first ones I pulled out of the box. I was quite pleasantly surprised to find several more with the name Fairlamb identified on them including two more with Retta so I decided to post them here today.  I realized after I looked at these that the information I posted originally about Retta was incorrect, she was not Margaretta Fairlamb, she was Maretta Vernon Fairlamb (25 Mar 1869 - ?) and if you take a look at the original post you can see the corrections.  Interesting enough both Rettas were music teachers.  

I originally wanted to date the photo above in the early to mid 1880's, but have changed my estimation to the late 1880's due to the type of card this photo is mounted on.  I have cropped it above, but the last photo below shows the entire photograph.  These type of over-sized pictures on natural finished cards were not seen until the very late 1880's and most usually in the 1890's.  Using the Fairlamb girls' ages I am sticking to a late 1880's date as the absolute latest date possible.

Retta Fairlamb Apr 14, 1889 Age 20

Retta Fairlamb Oct 1, 1898 Age 29

Here are two photographs of Retta's older sister Mary Fairlamb 6 Sep (1862 - 5 Dec 1926) who married ? Harkness.  She is in the very middle of the large photograph above in the black dress leaning against the tree.

Mary Fairlamb Nov 1887

Mary Fairlamb Harkness Late 1880's

I also have another photographer identified on the back as Annie Fairlamb (1865 - ?) with a question mark and the date of 1888, but I question it validity as the dress dates it well into the 1890's.  She has a definite resemblance to the other women.

Annie Fairlamb ? 1888

 


There are a number of people with family trees listing the Fairlamb girls, I will contact some of them to see if there is interest in these photographs.

Fairlamb Home Fairmount, PA late 1880's

Women with Hats - 1890's Hopkinton, Iowa Woman Seated in Wicker Chair

Ca 1895 Hopkinton, Iowa Woman with Large Hat

This young woman from Hopkinton, Iowa with the extremely large hat sat for photographer MacArthur sometime in the 1890's, most likely around 1895 +- a year or so.   She is  wearing a dark colored dress with the obligatory large sleeves of the era and if you look closely on her lap around the knee area she appears to be holding a fur hand muff.  She is sitting in a white wicker chair which was a common photographer's prop in the 1890's.

Her hat, her glorious hat from what I can tell, is made out of fabric, both light and dark and has feathery white puffs as well as real feathers sticking out of the top.  I almost thought that there was an artificial black bird on the front, but I am not convinced that is what it is, it may just be dark fabric.

Initial research did not give me any insight on the identify of the photographer.

Sentimental Sunday - Women with Hats - 1898 Woman with Big Hat!

Woman identified as Retta Fairlamb photo dated October 1st, 1898

*UPDATE:  This photo was purchased in a huge lot of 175 photographs and now that I have had a little time to look through all of them I have discovered more photos of Retta Fairlamb and other family members.  In doing so, I have realized that the information below is incorrect.  This woman is Maretta Vernon Fairlamb born 25 Mar 1869 in PA to Samuel E.  (1818 - 1892) and Frances (Kreider) (1829 - 1912) Fairlamb.  She would have been about 29 years old in this photo, not 22. 

In the 1900 Philadelphia Ward 7, Philadelphia PA census she was living with the Charles Carver family and interesting enough listed her occupation as music teacher as did the Margaretta Fairlamb mentioned below.  I suspect she lived with the Carvers as a nanny.  Mrs. Carver (Emily) must have died before 1908 because on 30 Apr 1908 Maretta Fairlamb married her employer Charles Carver as is evidenced in the Pennsylvania Marriage Index and the 1910 Philadelphia census.  Therefore she was not the woman who married William Compton.

This photograph which measures 3' x 4 1/4' was taken by Broadbent Co. in Philadelphia and is dated on the back October first -98.  The subject is identified as Retta Fairlamb who is actually Margaretta Fairlamb, born in January of 1877 in Hinkson's Corner, PA to Joseph and Eliza (Knight) Fairlamb.  Inn the 1900 Glenolden, Delaware County, PA census she listed her occupation as "Music Teacher."  On 10 Apr 1901 she married William Vance Compton and they had a son Joseph Wilbur in 1903.

In this photograph Retta Fairlamb would have been about 21 or 22 years old.  She is quite lovely in her white high-necked dress with large bow and her hat was probably quite the style at the time.  It appears to be made out of straw and is sporting a number of large flowers including roses.  Very chic, Miss Retta!

Sentimental Sunday - Women With Hats - Five 1870's Parisian Women

For this week's Women with Hats you get five for the price of one!  This wonderful, but somewhat faded CDV of five young, fashionable Parisian women was taken probably in the late 1870's.  I can't even begin to start describing their ensembles, they are just too delightful!  The skirts alone of their dresses with the ruffles, trim and diagonal designs have my eyes darting back and forth over  the photo.  The woman in the rear right has on the most lovely and stylish coat.  And of course, let's not forget the hats! Each of them is wearing an entirely different hat and each is totally stylish in its own right.  

The photographer was Hermet, perhaps Joseph Hermet, who reportedly appeared on the Paris photography scene sometime around 1872. About 1875 he bought the studio of Eugène Maunoury, a well-known artist and photographer.  I unfortunately do not know French, but using Google I believe the back of the photograph says that he sells portraits in oil, watercolor and miniatures, a collection of celebrities contemporaries. 

Sentimental Sunday - Two 1890's Women with Hats - Tintype

This week's Women with Hats features a tintype of two 1890's women posing behind what appears to be a gate of some sort and a chair - a very odd posing set up.  The one on the right is wearing a white dress with large ruffles on the bodice and typical 1890's style hat.  She is also wearing fingerless mitts.  The woman on the left is wearing a dark straight skirt with striped ruffled blouse.  Her hat is  plain, dark and unadorned, I'm not sure what this style of hat is called, I need to do some research.

Of course, as is usual with tintypes, both the subjects and the photographer are unidentified.

Sentimental Sunday - Women with Hats - Early 1900's Motoring Couple?

I just love this photograph of an unidentified early 1900's  couple from Johnstown, PA!  The woman's attire makes me think that they just drove their sporty new motorcar to the photography studio.  I can just picture them both driving along wearing those goggles you always see in old pictures and movies.  She and her husband look quite proud in this photo.

With the advent of motorcars women's fashion had to change and in the early days of motoring, for practical purposes, women began to wear huge linen dust coats over their dresses, tied down their hats with scarves and hid their faces behind goggles.  Of course, owning a motorcar was the latest thing and the fashionable woman was constantly looking for a way to project this by making her motoring outfit a calling costume of great fashion.  The woman in this photograph appears to be quite concerned with her appearance, note that she has made her hat quite lovely with the white flowers and frothy veil material.   One interesting detail I notice is that her husband's pant legs are rolled up the bottom in a rather haphazard fashion.

The photographer was Leander George Hornick born in Pennsylvania (6 March 1877 - 8 Sep 1952) a son of John and Margaret Hornick.  He was a veteran of the Spanish-American War serving in 1898.  In the 1900 census at age 23 he listed his occupation as photographer.  According to Johnstown city directory records he had a studio on Main Street from 1903 to at least 1920.

Sources:
 History of Costume
Victoriana Magazine

Sentimental Sunday - Women with Hats - 1910 Woman with Big Hat & Husband

1912-1913 Couple

This young attractive couple appear to be somewhat well-off by the appearance of the their clothing.  I'm not sure if this is a wedding photo, most likely as they are both prominently showing their wedding rings. The woman appears to be wearing what I believe was called a walking or traveling suit so perhaps they were about to leave for their honeymoon. Her hat is quite impressive with the round base and large feather plumes.  Her suit is lovely, with wide trim and large buttons and she has on a colorful blouse with frothy lace at the neck.  Her groom is quite spiffy in his suit and holding a bowler hat.

This photo measures approximately 5 x 7 inches and is inside a brown cardboard folder, but I have cropped it to make it easier to see. Unfortunately, neither the couple, the photographer or the location are identified.  I estimate this was taken about 1912 - 1913.

Sentimental Sunday - Women with Hats - 1870's Woman Wearing Straw Hat

This lovely young woman in a white dress is wearing a straw hat decorated with some type of dark trim, most likely velvet.  She is leaning her left hand on a dark lacy parasol and is resting her other arm on a fake column.  She appears to have short hair although it is possible it is pulled back at the nape of her neck.

This cabinet card, while quite faded and peeling in places, still manages to show the beauty of this unidentified subject.  I have actually enhanced the photo you are seeing here as it is even more faded in person. Additionally, it seems the unknown photographer did not take into account her white dress against the white brick wall and the photo was over-processed.  I think he would have been more successful using a darker background.  For example, check out this prior post showing a woman in a white dress:  http://forgottenfacesandlongagoplaces.blogspot.com/2012/05/sentimental-sunday-women-with-hats-lady.html

I still love this photo as the subject has the most serene look on her face and is very captivating.  Due to the thick gilt border I believe this photograph to have been taken in the late 1870's or very early 1880's.