The Final Melvine Album Page, The Other Side

Take a look at the whole Melvine collection, and the question that comes to mind is this.  Why the emphasis on Melvine?   There are other children in these photos, Mom, Dad, and Nell, but Melvine dominates.  Was she the only child, the favored child, or the child that died?

Captions, from top to bottom, 1. "Joan-Melvine Bev." 2, 3 and 4. "Melvine."  5. "Mom & Melvine." 6. "Nell-Mel." 7, 8 and 9. "Mel." 10. "Melvine Mom." 11. No caption. 12. "Fran-Mel Mom Nell Blanch Hal." 13. "Mom-Melvine." 14. "Norma Nell & Mel Teen & Joan." 15. "Larry Dean Melvine  16. "Pete Twiller" 17. "Melvine Jerry Baggelo."

Click on Melvine in labels to see the rest.

The Final Melvine Album Page

This is the third, and as of right now, the final Melvine album page.  Melvine was a little girl from Buffalo, Wyoming, at some point moved to a suburb of Seattle, and eventually ended up in the military.  Other than that, I don't know anything about the lady.  Click on Melvine in labels at the bottom of the post to see the other two pages.

Anyway, it's kind of hard to read the white grease pencil captions, so top to bottom of the individual photos. 1. On the side of the image, "New Years Day In Buffalo." and underneath, "Nell & Marie."  2. "Larry Fritz Bud Hal."  3. "Melvine Marie Nell." 4. "Dad Mom." 5. "Dad Mom Buffalo Wyo." 6. "Mom & Dad Buffalo." 7. "Melvine" 8. "Jerry Melvine Larry Bev." 9. No caption. 10. "Aunt Mae & Uncle Ray."

Another Side of Another Melvine Album Page

It looks like Melvine joined the army.  The hand tinted photo is captioned "Jerry And Melvine" and the others, you guessed it, "Melvine."  Clearly she was the apple of someone's eye.

Click on Melvine in labels to see more.

Another Melvine Album Page

Since I've been complaining about antique sellers cutting up photo albums, I might as well continue with the theme.  Awhile back, I purchased an album page built around a little girl named Melvine.  I've found two more pages from that album, I'll be putting up both sides of one page now, and save the other one for latter.  Click on Melvine in labels at the bottom of the post to see the other page and read something about her home town, Buffalo, Wyoming.

This time, I took the time to look up Melvine and Buffalo, Wyoming.  What I found was about a Melvine not pictured on this page, but it's such a unique name, and since Buffalo is such a small place, they've got to be related.  That Melvine died in 2015 at the age of 106.  She was born in Verdel, Nebraska.  When she was 4 years old, she and her family moved to Idaho.  In 1919, in a pair of covered wagons, they moved to Wyoming.  Melvine began her work life at a young age, as a cook, and continued preparing food for a good portion of her life.  She even wrote a cookbook.  What was really fascinating, at her death, she held the world's record for the longest survivor of breast cancer.  She was diagnosed at the age of 49.  Quick math, 57 years survival.  She was one of five children, the mother of two, the grandmother of five,  she had 14 great grandchildren, and three great great grandchildren.  Of course, that count was at the time of her death, and there may be more of the great great variety by now.   Time to state the obvious, one of those many family members is the Melvine of this album.

The four wallet photos in the right hand column are labeled, "8th, 9th, 10th, 11th"  Clearly class photos.

Melvine's Album Page, The Other Side

I looked it up, and couldn't find a Roxbury Heights in Buffalo, Wyoming.  I did, however, find one in Seattle, Washington.  The last post found a first and third grade Melvine in Wyoming. in 1940 and 1942, the year before and the year after America's entry into Word War 2.  On this side of the album page, Mel is twelve years old, so probably around 1946 or 47.  I suspect the war moved Melvine and her family from rural Wyoming to war work at one of the aircraft factories or shipyards around Puget Sound.  The war is over and there's no reason to return to small town life.

My father, a World War 2 veteran thought the war was good for a lot of Americans.  His reasoning was that both the war and the great depression forced people, content to live small town, isolated lives, into the greater world around them.  Of course, he survived.

For those having trouble reading the captions, in order, "Mel & Penny," "Bev Ron Marie & Judy,"  "Mel-12 yr old," "Birthday party 12 yr old Roxbury Hgts,"  "Mel,"  "Mel & Baby Ann Peirson," "Mel," and "Mel at Ann Butlers."

Melvine's Album Page

I often complain that too many photos albums lack labels.  Not this time, though I'm not sure I'm all that better off.    For those who are having a problem reading the captions, the top strip of images, all separate photos by the way, not multiple images printed on the same piece of paper, "Nell At Hunting Camp 1939"  And then, "Melvine 1st Grade Class" and then "Melvine 3rd Grade Class."  The next post will have pictures of Melvine, aged 12.   I'm not certain, but I think first grade Melvine is top row, far left.  Third grade Melvine, second row, five in from the left.

Buffalo Wyoming is a fairly small town.  The 1940 census listed 2302 residents though like most rural town schools, locals living beyond the town border would have also attended the local school.