California Rooms

As a rule, I wouldn't buy photographs of unoccupied rooms, but I think these two pictures go with an ongoing collection of images that I've tagged SGV family in the labels section at the bottom of the post.  To recap, every so often I go through a tray of old snapshots at a local antique mall.  Constantly replenished, from time to time, I've found photos, all the same format, same weight paper, same era, and the outdoor ones, the same type landscape, and while I can't be sure, probably the same family.

From the first photos I found, it's been clear that there was some prosperity to this family.  Going by these two pictures, I would say that they were in a moneyed way.  Not wealthy.  But well off enough, that comfort wasn't an issue.  Nice furniture, carpets, plenty of bric-a-brac, and electric lights.  Yes, when these pictures were taken, lots of people were still lighting with oil lamps and gas jets.  Of course, there's still an oil lamp too.  After all, in the first decade of the twentieth century, electricity didn't always work.