Women, Early's Kodak

The writing on the back of the photo was a bit smeared, and I had some problem making out the bottom couple of lines, so have at it.  I like the idea of Early and our model roaming around the country side, Kodak in hand, taking pictures.  I'm intrigued by the idea of her friend, posing with a big doll.  And, how do arms look comical?  Old photos usually have more questions than answers.

Women, Thumbnail

For those too young to remember film, or those not photographically inclined, proof sheets are the thumbnails of conventional image making.  In a nutshell, a roll of film gets cut into strips, laid on top of a piece of photographic paper, a sheet of glass, turn on a light, and biff, bam, boom, you've got a quick reference print of every frame of film.  Someone cut out this very tiny frame from a proof sheet.  No doubt, from a commercial photo shoot.

Women, Affluence

Because of the fur coats.

Written on the back, Feb, 12, 1945 " Junie's wief between Margit & Me."  And I thought I was a poor speller.

Women, Waterfall

I know.  It's a lousy photograph.  But the idea that a woman would dress up to take a walk in the woods is so foreign to me that I had to post it.  Let's hope the waterfall was close to a road.  Let's hope that she wasn't navigating a rocky trail in heels.

Women, Stella's Vera

Written on the back, "Aunt Stella's Vera."  Very curious wording.  Why not cousin Vera?  Am I reading too much into this?  I keep thinking that Vera was Aunt Stella's special friend.  We'll never know.

There's also a very faded stamp.  "REGAL MAGIC-EYE ENLARGEMENT FEB 23 1945 QUINCY-MASS"

Women, In the Arbor

Arbor isn't a word much heard anymore.  An arbor is a shelter created by tree branches.  They can be made by creating a framework that directs tree growth, or they can be created more naturally by pruning errant branches.

Women, Cool Shades

Love the vintage sunglasses, but I do wish the photographer hadn't posed this lady against a brightly lit white wall.  It's not impossible to get a good print, but it's not easy, either.

Women, Question Mark

Women standing.  Women sitting.  Women looking into the camera.  I've got a backlog of photos of women, posing for the camera, so I'm going to post some of them over the next week or so.  Written on the back, "Easter Sunday, 1943."  Check out the question mark brooch.

Farm Women

Every so often I'll buy a collection of random, unrelated photographs.  When I pulled this one out of the envelope I thought, "Well, they can't all be worth the money."  But, as time passed, I began to like this image. I wonder about the woman with the styled hair.  Did she think of herself as trapped?  Did she dream of the city?  She seems so out of place in this photograph.  

Picking Daddy's Nose

This is a very small photograph, and when I  first picked it up, I thought that the little girl was sticking her finger in her father's nose.  Then I got it home, scanned it, enlarged it, and saw that she was actually going for his mouth.  Oh well, not as good, but since I only paid fifty cents for it, not a bad buy.  Labeled, "May 30, 1946.  19 Mo."

The Plot Thickens

"We have to make it look like an accident," she whispered into his ear.

Grandpa and his younger bimbo plot to kill Grandma so they can steal her money and run away together.  Bad bimbo, bad.  Bad Grandpa, bad.

Scotland 1926

It's not a postcard.  I know it looks like one, but it isn't.  This is one of those photographic mysteries that a photo collector runs into from time to time.  It looks like a commercially produced image for sale to the tourist trade.  But then again, if this was a pro shot, wouldn't the photographer have removed the clothing thrown on the ground beside the child?  And wouldn't he have moved the parked car out of the frame?  Then again, even in 1926 Scotland, which is what's written on the back of the photo, how often would a person run into a scene like this?  Perhaps mom took a picture of husband and son on the way to the Highland games.

A Group of Grannies

What can I say?  With one exception, it's a group of grannies.

Sailing In Iowa

I almost never post the backs of postcards.  As this example shows, there's a lot of bad hand writing out there, and if I can make it out, and spare visitors having to suss out what's actually there, I type it out.  But this card has a bit too much info and I can't make it all out so have at it.   I know there's someone at Lake Okoboji, they're hungry, and hoping to fatten up.  How often do you hear that complaint?  The postmark is half gone, but it didn't take a lot of detective work to identify Arnold's Park as the location.  The clue was Lake Okojobi of the Great Lakes of Iowa.  Yes, I found great lakes and Iowa a bit of an oxymoron, too.  In any case, Spirit Lake, East and West Okojobi Lakes in Dickson County are an important resort area in the northern part of the state.  Arnold's Park lies between West and East Okojobi Lake.  The 1910 census, two years before this card was mailed, listed a population of 273.

Tour

Today is the first day of the 2014 Tour de France.  This lady is not entered.  Now, about the photo.  The dealer who sold me this photo told me it was his grandmother.  When I asked him if he needed money, he said no.  He was a dealer and dealers sold stuff for a living.  Kind of depressing.

70 Years Ago Today

Written on the back, "Hilda Lillie Boykin Made 4th July, 1944 in Hollywood."

The Severe Family

Did this family ever laugh?  If they were asked to smile for the camera, they failed.  There is a very faded stamp on the back.  I can't make out all of it, but I've got "ROLLINS STUDIO" and "SEDALIA."  Presumably Sedalia, Missouri.  I suspect Mr. Rollins did the processing and printing rather than taking the picture.

Oink

The human tongue can detect four basic taste sensations. Sweet, sour, bitter and salty.  Umami, the savory sensation from meats is sometimes included on the list.  Among the basic food groups, only bacon appeals to all the basic taste sensations, and that's why people love it so much.  Other basic food groups include, peanut butter, Kentucky Fried Chicken, ice cream, peach cobbler, chocolate, and potato chips.  And that's why America has the healthiest people in the world!

There's a stamp on the back of the top photo.  "BARD'S DRUG STORE IS THE ONLY AGENCY FOR RICKEY'S QUALITY KODAK FINISHING.  PRINTS 3 CENTS EACH.  FREE  ENLARGEMENT WITH EACH ROLL."