Going to the Gym, Really Tired

Believe it or not, there was a time when it was against postal regulations to write anything on the back of a postcard, except the address.  Not wishing to be so limited, people wrote their messages all over the front.   I'm not sure how easy it will be to read this, even if you click on the image and bring it up in a bigger window.  In a more things change the more things stay the same, the sender of this card is complaining about being tired after going to the gym.  I doubt it was a spin class.

Addressed to "Miss Mae E. McGovern, Lowville, Lewis Co., New York"  Postmark, "NEW PALTZ, OCT 26. 7 AM, 1905, N.Y." 

Dinner Party

The room looks too big for someone's home, so I'm guessing this was taken at a banquet hall, and this is probably a company party.  Management only, of course.  From the fifties would be my guess.

The Bulgarian School Boy Album 15

The bottom picture is a shot of school boys and a few school girls, but the top photo is clearly an adult in an army uniform.  Why the suitcases?  Going to the front or fleeing the Germans, or Russians?  Click on The Bulgarian School Boy Album to see more.   I'll b e going back to regular programming in the next post, and will finish up things in a month or so. 

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The top photo really suggests some big questions.  Dated April 1944, it looks like Stara Zagora was spared the ravages of World War 2.  The city looks untouched and the two gentlemen in uniforms seem rather happy and self satisfied.  In April of 1944, Bulgaria was still an ally of Germany, but the Soviet army was just five months away from tossing out the Germans as well as the fascist  government.  Were these two young men  happy to be living in a Nazi state or were they looking forward to liberation, as short-lived as that turned out to be?  Of course, they may have been thinking about the two ladies in the second photo.  I almost didn't scan the back of the second photo, but I thought it might be a local way of  writing a date.  February 9, 1942, or perhaps September 2, 1942.  Then again it might be a notation that only the owner of this album could understand. 

Click on The Bulgarian School Boy Album in labels to see more.

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Bulgarian girlfriends more like it.  At least we know that the top picture was from Stara Zagora.  My basic knowledge of Cyrillic script allowed me to do that one phonetically even if I can't translate anything else.    As always, click on The Bulgarian School Boy Album in labels to see more from this collection.

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It looks like the Bulgarian school boys are all lined up for inspection.  I'd love to know if this album is from a military school or are we dealing with ordinary kids who had to wear uniforms in school. 

There is some writing on the back of the top photo, but it's so faded that I didn't think it was worth scanning, but I could make out the date, "1941."  The bottom photo shows both boys and girls, all in some sort of uniform.  Both scans are from the back of that print, just separated  into two parts for easier viewing.  The logo is from Leonar Werke, a German photographic supply company that was founded in 1893, in Hamburg.  It started manufacturing printing papers for home use in 1907 and quickly became one of the major suppliers in Europe.  In 1943, their factories and offices were destroyed when Hamburg became a target of allied bombing.  After the war, Lenar rebuilt.   In 1964, they merged with Agfa and the brand name was retired. 

Click on The Bulgarian School Boy Album in labels to see more.

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Well, I haven't posted anything for awhile.  I haven't given up, I just haven't felt like it, and since my life is a bit on hold right now with the ever darkening cloud of federal jury duty hanging over my head, I decided to return to the Bulgarian school boys.

There's nothing written on the back of the top print, but a lot of info that I can't read on the bottom print.  Someone wrote a date, 1938, over the original writing, and then someone came along and put some sort of mark over the eight.  There is a fairly large range of dates on the prints in this album and 1938 is one of the earlier ones.  Take a look at the boys and they look really young.

Just a reminder, click on The Bulgarian School Boy Album in labels to see parts one through ten.

Me and a bunch of other people.

Written on the back, "Marvin, June, Gene, Me, Bud, 1945"

B.A.B.B.

Written on the back, "Don, B.A., B.B., Willard at 7333 Lindell, Easter, 1948-MDS."  I have to wonder, were any of these four a doctor?  If it were still 1948, I would have wondered if Don and Willard were doctors and if B.A., and B.B were nurses. 

Juggling Sombreros

I've decided I'm just too lazy to translate the back of this card, so have at it for anyone who cares.  The real question is who would be entertained by hat jugglers?  It looks like their agent is from Leipzig, East Germany, from what I've read, a fairly dull country, so perhaps tossing sombreros in the air was a big deal to the communist proletariat.  No rock and roll for you! 

Hiking In Suits and Skirts

They have their hiking sticks and it looks like they're walking along a river.  The photographer must have been the guy on the right's girlfriend. 

The Concatenated Order of Hoo-Hoo

The Hoo-Hoos were founded in 1892 by a small group of men associated with the wood products industry.  They wanted to form a fraternal organization that was both unconventional and unregimented.  Unlike other lodges they were a lot more interested in having fun and tended to avoid the good works of other groups, though they did plant trees.  Their original membership requirements, apart from some association with wood products, was white males over 21.  Now, the racial standard is gone and the age requirement has been lowered to 18.  I'm always surprised that fraternal organizations are still hanging on, though I suspect most will be gone within the next 50 years or so.

There's a photographers stamp on the back.  "PHOTO BY Robertson and Fresh, TAMPA'S COMMERCIAL PHOTOGRAPHERS, 504 E. Lafayette st., Tampa, Fla."  William Vernon "Red" Robertson was the photographer while Harry Fresh was the lab man who processed the film and made the prints.  They were in business from 1932 to 1960.  The University of South Florida has a large collection of their negatives.  Sadly, many of those negs have disintegrated because of high levels of acetic acid coupled with high humidity.  The yellow tinge of these two photographs shows that Mr. Fresh showed little interest in an archival wash for either their negatives or their prints.  To see the images in the USF collection, go to digital.lib.usf.edu/robertsonandfresh/all. Quite frankly, it's a lot easier just to go to Google and type in Robertson and Fresh photographers Tampa.