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.

Wedding Wednesday - Enchanting 1920's Newlywed Couple from Fall River, Mass.

This 1920's wedding photograph of a young newlywed couple looks just like something out of an old Hollywood movie. It is one of the more intimate and unusual poses I have seen to date.  While I cannot see the full face of either of the unidentified subjects, I am totally drawn in by the beauty and sensuality of the pose and can feel the love and affection of this couple.  The photographer, J. A. Bello, was quite gifted at his craft, creating lifetime memories for his clients.  Bello was located at 226 S. Main St., Fall River, Mass.  The 4" x 6" photograph is enclosed in a beautiful, Art Deco style, embossed cardboard folder .

The photographer's full name was Jose Augusto Bello born in Azevo, Pinheil, Beira Baixa, Portugal on 28 Jul 1879.  He immigrated to the US in November of 1913 arriving at the port of St. Albans, Vt.  By 1925 he was working in Fall River, Massachusetts as a photographer at the Main Street address.  In the 1930 Fall River census he listed his marital status as widowed.  In 1940 he was living in East Providence,  RI where he continued his photography business.

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!

Sepia Saturday #169 - Snapshots of Our Lives

The more I delve into this crazy hobby of mine, collecting old photos, I have come to realize more and more that despite all of our differences we all have so many of the same basic interests; home, family, love, travel, fun, humor, grief and despair to name a few. Since  man has been able to transfer these emotions and memories to some sort of medium, he (or she) has done so in many possible ways.  I myself, have dabbled in a few; scrapbooking  quilting,  collage, and while I have no drawing or painting talent I have for many years been the family photographer and historian.  This week's Sepia Saturday theme centers around this very subject and so I chose a few snapshots from a large box of photos that I purchased some time ago. They appear to have been from the same family from Michigan and Oklahoma and the owner may have been Beulah Miller who appears at different ages in many of the photos. I decided to get a little creative this week and created a collage using some of her family photos. 

Click on collage to enlarge

Although a little hard to see, a couple of the men in these photos are holding camera bags; take a look at the man standing to the left of the airplane and the man on the rocks at the bottom middle. Photography has been an important part of the human experience since the mid 1800's and is now an important part of the day to day life of each of us with the simple use of a cell phone.

For more great images and stories go to Sepia Saturday.

Fashionable Friday - Five Stylin' 1860's Guys

I always show photographs of lovely women on Fashionable Friday so today thought I'd change things up a bit and post pictures of some fashionable and debonair gentlemen from the 1860's.

This first gentleman with the dark suit, vest and long waistcoat was probably taken in the early 1860's.  He is holding his hat in his hand and he looks quite serious.  The back of the photo is blank and no photographer or location was listed.

Unknown man, 1860's

This next young man, sporting impressive mutton chops, had a bust pose taken so all we can see is part of his jacket, his white shirt, a little bit of his vest and his tie. On the back in pencil is written "S. B. Culver Sandy Hill, N.Y."  This is most likely Stephen Berry Culver born July 1841 in Sandy Hill, New York and died in 1902.  The photo was taken by W. Nims, Photographer, East Street, Fort Edward, N.Y.  The mutton chops suggest an early 1860's date, but I am leaning to perhaps a later 1860's date.

S. B. Culver 1860's Sandy Hill, NY

 

Young man number three is wearing a light colored suit, also a long waistcoat and is posing with his hand on a chair.  He looks quite young, probably early twenties.  This CDV photo was most likely taken between 1864-1869.  The photographer was O. A. Taft's Gallery, Opposite Post Office, Middlebury, VT.

Unk, 1860's NY man

 

Next we have Uncle Sidney Morse as evidenced one the back who posed for photographer C. H. Clark in Union Village, N. Y. probably between 1864 - 69.  I found a number of subjects in the New York area with this name.  I'm not sure what a good estimate would be for this particular Sidney's birthday.  How old do you think he looks here?  Thirty-five?  Forty?  Older than that?  I don't believe that he is as old as he appears at first glance.  His suit is very stylish and the vest appears to be made of a satin-like material.

Sidney Morse, NY 1860's

 

Last, but not least, is a young gentleman who it appears has the initials, "J. N.T."  Not much help there!  This picture is actually dated March 9th, 1870, but I thought it would be a good way to end out the 1860 decade.  The hair on his head and face are very clean-cut as was more common in the late 1860's and early 1870's.  He is sitting on a velvet fringed chair with his elbow on a small table which is holding a book.  His pants are a little unusual; I believe I have seen them before, they almost look like uniform pants.  This CDV like some of this others was trimmed at the corners to fit into a photo album.  The photographer was A. Corden located at the Cor. Fourth and River Sts., Troy, N.Y.

Unknown man documented Mar 9, 1870