Missouri

What to do?  As can be seen, the second photo is pasted onto part of an old envelope.  I had two choices, breaking out the alcohol and matte knives and try and separate the two, possibly harming an already damaged  print, or leave things as is and save the photo.  In the end, despite the fact that there is info on both the print and envelope, I left things as they were.  On the print, I can make out part of a word, "loy," and the bottom half of a studio mark, "DAY AND NIGHT STUDIOS."   And on the envelope, a bit of postmark, '8-PM, 1947, MO."  Also, a typed address, "Mr. W. F. Rages, Smithton, Missouri."  I think, based on it's position, that it's a return address.

The top print has a studio mark, complete, and easy to read.  "Kodak Prints, 3 cents Each, Young's Studio, Sedalia, Mo."  Sedalia and Smithton are both in Pettis County, south of the Missouri River, just west of the center of the state.  Both towns were founded by George Rapeen Smith, a railroad promoter.  As of the 2010 census, Sedalia had a population of 21,476 and Smithton, 570.  Mr. Smith chose the wrong town to name after himself.  Surprisingly, Sedalia is the home of The Daum Museum of Contemporary Art.  I visited their website, but for some reason, I couldn't bring up images from the permanent collection.  I will try again latter.

I did a web search for William, Wilma, Willard, and half a dozen other names starting with a W, but couldn't find anything about W. F. Rages, but did find a Mildred and a Charles.  Too, I suspect that the envelope was a much latter addition to the print.  I've seen too many dated photos from the 1920s where the little girls had those bobbed haircuts.  1947, I think not.