Charlie Puleo

 

No, I haven't started collecting sports cards, and if I were to, I wouldn't buy one in such lousy condition.  I was out riding my bicycle today, and there it was, lying on the street, and clearly the worse for wear.  Anyway, I have an appreciation for players like Charlie Puleo.  He played in parts of nine seasons, had 387 strikeouts, which isn't all that bad.  Also, a so-so 4.25 career ERA, and a 29-39 record.  He played for the Mets, Reds, and Braves.  He was born in 1955, he is still alive, and while he never became a star, he has nothing to regret, either.  Let's hear it for the journeymen. 

Faded Friends

 

I have a few more faded prints in the box, but I'm going to move on for a bit to other things.  I think, but I'm not sure, that at least some of this series come from the same source. 

Faded Ladies

   

Returning to the faded photos series.  I think youngish ladies, though the image is so faded I can't be sure.  

Easter Clothes

 

I have this stack of faded photos I was going to post in a series, but I got distracted, so before I go back to faded photo land, an Easter themed photograph. 

Written on the back, "Easter 1954 Mike-6 1/2 yrs.  Linda-4 1/2 yrs.  Green dress, white shoes, socks, purse & gloves.  Blue suit, brown shoes, white shirt and brown bow tie."  I guess the parents were worried that they wouldn't remember what their children were wearing. 

Faded Intense Stare

 

Continuing with this brief series of faded, old photos.   Anyway, I buy the occasional lot of photos, usually an envelope, where I want a couple of photos and end up with a few extras.  This is one of those extras, and like the next couple I'm going to publish, it was printed on cut up real photo postcard stock.  

Faded Rumfords

 

It looks like a faded picnic with a sign off to the right that says, "RUMFORD."  Did the Rumford clan reserve a table in the local park?  Probably.  

A Faded Couple

 

I buy a fair number of photos as lots.  I'll buy an envelope, usually to get two or three prints, and while many of them are interesting, I wouldn't buy them as a stand-alone purchase.  Anyway, I have a few faded prints that have been sitting in boxes, and not in the queue for publication.  What fascinates me about fading prints is the symbolism of people and history disappearing in plain sight.  

Ethel Raebel

 

That's the name that's written on the back of this wallet sized photo.  Whenever I have a name on a photo, I do a quick Google search just in case I can find something out there.  I found two Ethel Rabel's, one married in 1907, and since it was rare for women to keep their maiden names back then, well, it's possible, but unlikely that the Ethel Raebel from Wisconsin is the woman in this picture.  The other Ethel Raebel, from South Dakota was married in 1940.  Anyway, the hair and clothes look like they could be from the 1930s, so a possibility. 

It's a Dog!

 

This is a fairly small print, and when I just looked at it, I wondered what the woman on the left was holding.  Then I scanned it and blew it up and got a good look.  It's the family dog.  

4 on the Face

 

As a former professional black & white photo printer, I can say that black marks on a print are where white light is getting through the negative, and white is where light is being blocked.  It looks like there were some slashes in the negative's emulsion, and the white part on the "4" and that squiggly white line below the other black slash is where bits of the emulsion is still attached to the neg, just not where it should be.  

Sunday Best

 

I'm a lifelong atheist, but as a child I was forced to go to church.  Back then, people wore what was known as Sunday best, clothing that wasn't worn any other day of the week.  

A Vacation In Hamburg 11

 

The penultimate post in this series.  I'm not going to write a lot about this selection of true found photographs.  All I'm going to do is recommend that those who are curious, to click on Hamburg Vacation Collection in labels, to see the first 10 posts, and to read about how I actually found these photos on the street.  I don't know when I'll get around to the final chapter of this series, so be patient. 

Forklift Girls

  

I purchased this photo from the same antique store and at the same time as the previous post, and while I can't be sure, I'm going to go out on a limb and say it was taken by the same photographer.  There's nothing on the back to confirm that, but from Aubrey Studio, La Puente, California.  Does anyone out there know what those things are in the background.  And once again, going by the hemlines and hairdos, probably from the sixties. 

Pull My Plunger, Please

 

Why is the woman holding up a toilet bowl plunger to one of the models?  Maybe she was Miss Plumbing Supplies.  Anyway, I've been picking up a few photos, either taken by a professional photographer or an advanced amateur.  In the case of this photo, a pro.  Stamped on the back, "AUBREY STUDIO, 120 N. First St., La Puente, Calif., 91744" I went online and ran variations of Aubrey Studios, La Puente, and came up with nothing.  Going by the hairdos and hem lines, I'm guessing the swinging 60s. 

Polaroid, Old Style

 

This reminds me.  I need to go to the camera store and buy some Polaroid film.  I wish Impossible Project hadn't stopped making Spectra film.  I liked that format.  Anyway, this really is an old-style Polaroid film that required a paper cover to be peeled off the image to complete processing. I'm fairly certain this is a Polaroid Series 20 film, made for the Swinger camera model made between 1965 and 1970.  Of course, the film packs were manufactured long after the Swinger went out of production, so this photo could have been taken after 1970, but the well-groomed hippie beard on dad screams 1960s.  

Majorca

 

Just a nice photo of a sunny Mediterranean Island for all those who are snowed in.  Written on the back, "57 Porto Cristo."  Porto Cristo is a fishing village on the island of Majorca, one of the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean, and an autonomous part of Spain.  

Desperately Finding Susan

 

Does anyone out there get the movie reference, or is it too old?  Anyway, I've written about this before.  If the title of this blog were 100% honest, it would be Recently Purchased Photography.  Almost every picture I post was bought somewhere. Flea markets, antique stores, thrift shops and on-line.  This photo is that rare exception, a true found photograph.  I was walking around L.A., there was a box full of books on the sidewalk.  "Free Books" written on the side of the box.  I started thumbing through some of the books, and I found this Fuji Instax wide photo of Susan who is fresh off of something. 

More Life Aboard Ship

 

A month or so ago, I bought a picture of a couple of ship's officers that had been cut out of a larger photograph.  Anyway, I was at the same antique store where I found two more pictures of maritime officers.  The first photo I found had them in dress white uniforms, so I was thinking an ocean liner.  Of course, they could have been from a cargo ship, or for that matter, a coastal steamer.  It looks like the same hat badge from that earlier photo, but different people.  I'm still thinking ocean liner, so click on that in labels or just scroll back.    

A Big Family

 

Some people have legible handwriting, some don't.  Two people have written on the back of this print; one had good, readable handwriting, the other, not so much.  So, the not-so-readable first.  "Breyding House-Durand, Mich.-Vera born here."  I have no idea if I've deciphered what I assume is a family name, but Breyding is my best guess.  I really couldn't make out the town name, but I was sure of the first and last letter, so I scrolled through Michigan town names online, and the only one I found that made sense was Durand, a township with a 2020 population of 3,507.  There's no date on the picture, but late 19th century is about right, so how much did the population change in 130 years?  

The readable part, "Mother, Vera, Father Roy, Emma, Grandmother, Otto, George, Grandfather."  

The Cut Down Cabinet Card

 

I hate it when people do this.  Someone at some time cut up a cabinet card.  Maybe it was so it would fit in a frame, or a wallet.  In any case, a bit of history has been vandalized.  An unimportant bit of history, perhaps, but a piece of the past, nevertheless.  Not all, but many cabinet cards will have a photographer's studio logo on the back.  There's just a bit of one left on this picture, but not enough to be worth scanning.