The Army Hospital Album 18

Wow, the woman in the first picture looks severe.  I've long felt that the army hospital was a psychiatric facility,  and her demeanor makes me wonder if she was shamed by a husband with emotional problems.  The second picture was taken somewhere in northern California.  I couldn't pinpoint an exact location, but I've seen enough images from the redwoods that I'm confident in my conclusion.  And that presents an interesting possibility...Fort Hunter Ligett in Monterey, south of San Francisco?  Is that where the army hospital was located?  And the last picture, a base entrance or a small town?

There'll be a few more photos from the hospital, but this post starts the family and travel images that will dominate the rest of the album.  As usual, click on army hospital collection to bring up the lot.

The Army Hospital Album 17

This guy is all over the first half of the album.  He must have been a friend, or someone admired.

Click on army hospital collection in the labels section to see everything.

The Army Hospital Album 16

I'm beginning to feel like a prisoner to this collection.  There is a lot more to go after this.  Anyway, two of the four photos in this post are labeled.  Image number 2,  "Miss Willums"  Image number 3, "Sargent Dieze"  I've got a feeling the person who owned this album was not the gentleman reading The Atlantic.

Click on army hospital collection in the labels at the bottom of the post to bring up the whole lot.

La Tourista

What other explanation could there be for this outfit?

Coloring Within the Lines

By the time I started my photo lab career, hand coloring photographs was no longer a required skill.  It's kind of a pity.  A well done tint job has a technicolor, candy box feel that's so different from an actual color print.  And let's face it, it never hurts to have another way of seeing the world.  Anyway, someone was practicing with these four snapshots.  I hope they got better.  They couldn't have got much worse.

And for those interested, it's still possible to buy dyes used for hand tinting of black & white photographs.  Live in Los Angeles?  Freestyle Photographic Supply in Hollywood carries Faber-Castell oil pencils and Arista liquid oils.  Ink jet paper used for digital printing is different and needs to be treated with gesso, just like the canvases used for painting.  Of course, it has to be a clear acrylic gesso, since it goes over a printed image.  And no, I don't work for Freestyle or get a kickback.  I buy my film, chemicals, printing paper, and the occasional Holga there.

I like the foreshortened, man hands effect on the third print.

Oh My Goodness, She's (Not) Naked!

I always think it a bit weird when I find an old photo that has some elements tinted, and others left in glorious black & white.  I suspect that the tinted pink swimsuit was a bit flesh colored, and in the final print, the young lady looked ever so naked.  A bit of color, and modesty is preserved.

Now, take a close look at the "lady" on the right.  The straight up and down waist line, the jaw line, the hair line.  I may be wrong, but I think she is a he.

Written on the back, "Lois &"

Granny's Killer Roses

There is a thin line between science fiction and horror movies.  I look at this photo and I think a nice sweet granny who is actually an evil scientific genius who has created a blood sucking, night stalking hybrid rose.  It sends it's tendrils through the night, only to ensnare a hapless passerby.  It's thorns, inject it's deadly toxins and then sucks the blood  of it's victim.

"See my pretty roses, my dear.  My beautiful, blood red roses. Come close, and inhale it's scent."

Baby Pictures

Call me a terrible person, but I've never understood the appeal of babies or baby pictures.  If these hadn't come with the envelope of hand tinted pictures I just bought, well, I would never had purchased them separately.  The second photo in the column may not look like it belongs, but look closely, and just a hint of pink has been added to the cheeks.  No dates, names, locations, or any other identifying labels.  And yes, the first and third photos are faded.

Instructions Included

I've just purchased an envelope of hand tinted photographs, some of which are related, the rest, just random images bundled together by the seller.  So, no collection designation on this one.  I'll put up some in the next week or so, then dribble out the rest as time and mood permits.

This one's an interesting place to start.  Of all the hand tinted pictures in my collection, this is the only one that has tinting instructions written on the back.  "Hair-dark bro., Eyes-Grey, Suit-Grey, Tie-dark-red & sobite."  It looks like the colorist disregarded the tie instructions, and what the hell is sobite?  Really, I want to know.  I've looked up the term online, and went through my collection of dictionaries, including the 1925 Webster's.  Nothing.  My best guess is that it's a trademarked name of a specific red tone.

On the Sea, On the Sea, On the Beautiful Sea

And I can't remember the next line from the song.  With the open deck seating, this has to be a photograph of a ferry.  Purchased in southern California, it's probable that it's a Catalina Island run, but it could be from the bay area or even the east coast.  Also, take a look at the pier in the background.  The steel pillars in the upper left corner could be some sort of amusement ride.  I know ships docked at the Santa Monica Pier, and at one time the water, that close to shore, was so clean that boat passengers would throw coins in the water, and kids would dive for them.  At least that was a story told to me by a very old man which may or may not be true.  I want to believe it, but I have my doubts.

Walton Studio-Oakland

This one came in a plain, creme colored folder, with a very tiny label, "Walton Studio-Oakland."  I assume that's Oakland, California, but who knows.  They look very young, so perhaps it's a prom photo, a college cotillion, (Do they still have those?), or a fraternity mixer.  I have to admit, I'm a bit of a slob in a very casual age, so this world of fancy parties is one Iv'e never known.

In Africa

My first thought, on seeing this photograph, was the military.  Then I realized that what looked like a uniform lacked emblems of rank, unit, or nationality.  It's that hat that has me confused. I've seen soldiers wear them, but never a civilian.  Perhaps he's a member of some sort of social organization, religious charity, or NGO.  What I'd really like to know in addition to an exact location...Was this picture taken during Africa's colonial period, or after independence.  And, I love the guy's camera.

For those interested, Saturday, January 25 is the annual Museums Free-for-All program.  Check your local museum for info on free admissions.  

Mountain Climbers

I bought this one because I like hiking in the mountains.  Too bad I'm so broke I can't afford to drive out of the city.  I picked this one up in Pasadena, California, it looks like the Sierra Nevada, so I'm going with that.  They've got rope, but I don't see any other climbing gear, so the rope may be for emergency, show, or some other reason.

Rivers, Lakes and Oceans, The Travelers Collection

I admit to a certain amount of OCD in my personality.  The fact is, every time I buy one of these small collections, there  are a few less than interesting photos.  But in the end, it drives me crazy if I don't publish every last image.  So some generic scenery.

The top photo is dated, "June 1950"  Number two in the column, "1956 Iowa, Clear Lake."  The rest are all complete mysteries, so if anyone can identify the locations, I'll be grateful for the help.

It's time to leave this collection for awhile.  Sooner or latter I'll return to it and add some more photos.  As always, click on travelers collection in labels to bring up everything to date.

Baseball, The Travelers Collection

I'm going to make a connection between this photo and the image in the previous post that may or may not be correct.  Stamped on the back, "AMERICAN PHOTO SERVICE, (unreadable), MINN.  SEP 10, 1956"  

I'm sure there a lot of people out there who have heard of someone looking "mid-western."  So, what exactly does that mean?  The mid-west, especially the upper mid-west, was heavily settled by Germans and Scandinavians.  A mid-western look leans toward sandy brown or blond hair, blue eyes, and a lean body type.  Yesterday's post was a family portrait from Sweden.  Today, kids playing baseball in Minnesota, home to plenty of Swedish immigrant families.  Not all of the photos in this collection are travel images.  I'm guessing that these photos were all owned by some Minnesotans of Swedish descent.  And that's how they are connected.

Click on travelers collection in the labels section at the bottom of the post to bring up the lot.

Sverige, The Travelers Collection

To recap, a few months or so ago, I bought an envelope of prints.  The dealer told me that they all came from the same source.  Going through the photos, I noticed that this family did a lot of travelling, so it's designated the travelers collection, and, of course, can be seen in total by clicking on travelers collection in the labels section at the bottom of the post.

Written on the back, "Tommarp-Sverige"  Sverige is what the Swedish call Sweden.  Tommarp is a small town on the very southern tip of the country.  In 2010, it's population was all of 284.  I think Tommarp must have been the ancestral home of our travelling family.  I can't think of any other reason why anyone would have gone there and taken this picture.  I'd love to know if that car is an early Volvo.

See The USA....

...In Your Chevrolet.  I always liked that ad campaign.  Too bad they don't use it anymore.  Anyway, the license plate is from Minnesota, the photo was purchased in California, so some how or another this image saw a bit of the USA.  I like the idea that it was taken in California, rather than being mailed to some friend.

Mission Boys

Written on the back, "Some of the stuff we work with: Remy and Florian and Michael-who, with Raphael the Novice, make a quartet that is hard to beat intellectually and spiritually-in India.  ASPS  22/8/53"

I'm not real big on missionaries.  Yes, I do understand that many of them provide health care, food, and education in countries where many people go without those things.  But the way I figure it, if someone wants to switch religions, they'll do it without outside interference.  

Anyway, I'd like to recommend a book.  Head Hunting In the Solomon Islands by Caroline Mytinger.  And no, it's not what you think.  It's a very vintage, probably out of print, travel book about two young American women who bum their way to the south seas, earning money painting portraits of the local colonial grandees so that they can also paint portraits of the native islanders.  (At least Caroline paints.  Her companion Margret plays the ukulele.)  The book has it's fair share of racial and ethnic insensitivity, par for the course for a book written in the 1930s and published in 1942, but it also has some interesting insights on the British colonials, and their odd sense that the islands and their peoples were property to be used and exploited as needed.   I'd check thrift shops and used book stores.  So much more satisfying than Amazon.  Remember, Jeff Bezos is not your friend.  

Two In the Country

A very battered print.  Mother and daughter from the twenties would be my best guess.

Romeo and Juliets

The woman on the left looks like she's having a good time.  The woman on the right looks like she'd rather be somewhere else.  From the twenties would be my best guess.

The Army Hospital Album 15

It's time to leave the army hospital album for awhile.  I wonder if the kid was happy to be visiting dad, or was he terrified seeing him in a hospital?

Click on army hospital collection in labels to bring up the lot, and look for more from this collection in the next three to four weeks.

The Army Hospital Album 14

My eyes hurt!  I was out riding my bicycle, got an eyeful of dust, and it took a couple of days for my eyes to flush out all that grit.  It's a good thing I wasn't in the army hospital.  All that second hand smoke would have made things worse.  Just think, way back in the 1950s, doctors and nurses would offer a smoke to a patient to make them feel better.  How things change.

Click on army hospital collection in labels to bring up the lot.