A Whole Bunch of Women

 And one person didn't make the cut.  I hope there is another version of this where the photographer handed off the camera and got to be part of the fun.  I wonder how many of them fit into the car in the background? 

That Stripe!

What's going one with the woman in the middle?  Has she shaved the center of her head?  Or has she dyed a blond stripe down the middle?  Hard to tell, though a better question might be why.

What's Mrs. Sperry Doing?

Good question.  What is she up to?  Obviously Mrs Sperry and her friend are building something, but what?  And by the way, "Mrs Sperry" is written on the back which is how I know she's in the picture.

Music To My Ears 5

Stamped on the back, "PLEASE CREDIT Kerr 43 west 51st street new york, n. y. eldoarado 5-3178."  And yes, they did use lower case letters as I've typed them.  Well, I did find a bit about The Kerr Studio.  It was opened in 1951 by husband and wife team, Justin and Barbara Kerr.  Originally they specialized in theatrical portraits, but by the late 1950's they began restoring and photographing pre-Colombian artifacts from Mexico and Central America.  I dug up a bit on Barbara, but nothing about Justin.  Barbara went to the Pratt Institute and died in 2014.  As I wrote, a bit.  This collection isn't finished yet, but I'm going to shelve things for awhile and move on to other photos.

Once again click on Music To My Ears to see other posts from this series.

Music To My Ears 4

This one's a bit of a mystery.  Another picture of the same woman, at least I think so, with yet another name.  So, is it Mary Reagan, Ann Parker or Penny?  In any case she loves Bill.  Stamped on the back, "MAX MUNN AUTREY, M. Ph.  Photographic Artist 7009 Sunset Blvd.-Hollywood 28, Calif."  There's also the stamp on the lower left corner of the print.  I was able  to find a bit about Autrey on line.  He was a successful photographer, both at his own studio and as the official photographer for Fox Studios in the 1920's.  I'm about to put some of Autrey's portraits on my Fair Use blog.

Click on Music To My Ears in labels to see more.

Music To My Ears 3

A studio portrait but from her Mary Reagan or Ann Parker period?  Stamped on the back, "Photo by ATLANTIC STUDIOS 1901 ON THE BOARDWALK ATLANTIC CITY, N.J."  Very likely she was performing at an Atlantic City nightclub.  Atlantic City, the lungs of Philadelphia. Click on Music To My Ears in labels to see more.

Party Time

This one's going to the last from the throw-in file for awhile.  So, there's a clock on the wall, it's ten after eleven, it's dark out, so it's P.M.  Too late for dinner, so it has to be a party.  The color restoration setting really worked well on this one.

Two Women, One Man

Dated "1947," around two years after the war.   Another from the throw-in file.

Two Ladies in the Garden

What were they keeping in the cage in the background?  A rabbit hutch?  There's no detail in the younger women's dress but the lines look off.  White rabbit?  Another from the throw-in file.

Church People

More from the throw in box!  The color restoration setting really worked well on this one. 

The Graduate

No, not the movie.  Another of the throw in pictures.

Clara Cofy

Another from the throw in pile.  Labeled "Clara Cofy, 1945"  Good year, the war ended.

Two People Sitting On The Couch

Every so often I'll buy an envelope full of photographs.  I've noticed that, more often then not, there's a breakdown where I really like about a third of the pictures, I kind of like about a third, and the last third are sort of throw ins.   It's not so much that the images are completely without interest.  If nothing else, they show how people dressed and carried themselves, but few collectors would ever buy them individually.  Anyway, from time to time I'll post some of the throw ins.  I'll probably do five or six and then return to things a bit more interesting.  I can't decide if the color restoration setting on the scanner made things better or worse.

In the Backyard With Grandpa

Or maybe a creepy uncle, I can't tell.  Dated SEPT 1958.

Music To My Ears 2

Well, Ann Parker sure looks a lot like Mary Reagan from the last post.  It also looks like Leverne Reagan has made an exit from the act.  Once again, I've dated this clipping from the movie ads on the back.  Mr. Skeffington, starring Betty Davis, was released in 1944.

Again, click on Music To My Ears to see more from this collection.  I'll be taking a break from this and going to other things for awhile before returning with some studio portraits.

Music To My Ears 1

Time to start another collection. But who is it about?  Well, that's a bit of a mystery since I have pictures of the same woman though she seems to have taken a stage name.  Leverne and Mary Reagan and Jerry Hilliard are featured in the photograph from this story from the entertainment pages of the Los Angeles Examiner.  A sister act, most likely, appearing in "Music To My Ears" which looks to have been a successful show at the Troopers Theater on Las Palmas in downtown Hollywood, L.A., California.  There are still lots of venues in that area, but I'll have to actually head over to Las Palmas to double check the address, and to be honest, it's not something I'm planning on in the near future.

Mary is the sister that shows up in other photos which is not surprising since her name is underlined.  Some of the captions on latter photographs mention "Mommy & Daddy"  and I'm moderately certain the Dad is Jerry Hilliard.  Anyway, I scanned the back of this clipping because it's how I dated the article.  Ride 'Em Cowboy, Sleepytime Gal, The Male Animal and Ghost of Frankenstein were all released  in 1942.  The Vogue Theater mentioned in the one article is still there, though no longer in use.  With all the development going on in Hollywood, I suspect it's days are numbered.

Obviously Musics To My Ears will be the tag in the labels section at the bottom of the post that eventually will pull up the whole collection.  For the time being, I'll be starting with a couple of press clippings before taking a break when I'll be posting other things.   And before I forget, I did run Leverne and Mary Reagan through IMBD as well as some of the other names used by Mary.  Nothing for the sisters though there are two credits for Jerry Hilliard.  The Red Skelton Hour form 1953 credited as supporting character and Jimmy Wakely's Jamboree from 1954 credited as himself.  It was a musical short so that makes sense. I have no idea if it's the same Jerry Hilliard.

Los Angeles via Hurricane, Utah 7

This is the last from this collection and it's a fitting end.  As I noted in the first post from this lot  these pictures from 1930s Los Angeles were found in Hurricane, Utah.  Now, photographs travel and I have no idea how this particular album page got from L.A. to Utah, a long way in the pre I-15 era.  However, this last row of images clearly are not from southern California.  The cold weather clothing is a dead giveaway.  A good guess, a family from Utah sent some photos to their family members who were trying their luck in Los Angeles. 

Click on LA Hurricane in labels at the bottom of the post to see both sides of the page.