For Ella

 

Written on the back, "for Ella, Judy 4 1/2 years old."  Well, it's some kind of costume.  

After Church

 

Over the years I've seen enough photos that can be proved to be from Europe that I think I have a good feel for a European local.  I can't prove it, but I'm guessing middle Europe, Germany, Austria, or perhaps Czechoslovakia. 

Out of Africa

 

It looks like it's from Africa.  

Burch

 

"Burch" Well, that's what's written on the back of the print, and I'm assuming it's a name.  Interesting bunch of people.  The two women in the back look like they have hairdos from the forties or fifties.  The other people look more fifties or sixties.  Throw in the wine-bottle candle holders, the potato chip bag, and the striped shirt, derby-wearing guy looking into the camera lens, and it must have been an interesting gathering. 

Alway's Raquel

 

It looks like Raquel is on a stage, so I'm going with a theatrical photo rather than a costume party.  Too, that's a great kick.  Written on the back, "To Dear Leo, Sincerely your's Raquel."  

Trouble Makers

 

Are they throwing water balloons?  I think they are. 

Once again, Pike's Peak or Bust

 

A companion piece to yesterday's post.  It's not the same photo, but clearly from the same angle.  This time a postcard that was never mailed.  The caption, "520-STREAMLINE COG TRAIN AT THE FAMOUS OLD SUMMIT HOUSE-SUMMIT OF PIKE'S PEAK, ALT. 14,110 FT. ABOVE THE SEA."

" The cog road, famous the world over and unique among railroads, has carried passengers to the Summit of Pike's Peak for over 40 years.  Beginning in 1938 streamline cars began replacing the unique old steam train.  Literally millions of people are able to say that they have stood on the top of this famous peak and beheld the widespread views over hundreds of miles of plains and jumbled mountains." 

I wonder if the view is still the same.  Denver's growth came with increases in pollution.  Is smog what's visible? 

Pike's Peak or Bust

   

Written on the print, "SUMMIT, PIKES PEAK STREAMLINE COG TRAIN" Yes, it's still running and if I ever get back to Colorado, I'll take the ride to the summit.  That little "7" in the lower right corner makes me think that this photo was part of a commercially produced set made for the tourist trade.  

Mystery Name

 

Written on the back, "Altu Dondok 4/41" So, is that a name or some sort of notation?  I started doing some research, and I came up with Altu as a Turkish name meaning prince, but it's a surname rather than a forename.  I gave Google Translate a try using the detect language function and that gave me Corsican for high, and Turkish for six.  Prince in Turkish, according to Google Translate, is Prens, so that's a bit confusing.  Now, about Dondok, it's a Russian, as well as a Malaysian surname. Once again, I used the translation setting and nothing came up at all.   So, if anyone has any ideas, I'm open to suggestions. 

Mr. Sensitive

 

 

About six or eight months ago my computer died and with it, my old, yet quite good scanner.  Basically, it wasn't supported anymore so I couldn't download the software off the web, and so it went in the garbage.  Anyway, I got a really good deal on a new one.  In other words, free.  Unfortunately, apart from being free, it also doesn't have a color correction setting, so this is what the print looks like. 

So, Mr. sensitive, the guy with the guitar that all the girls loved, which means that all the other guys hated him.  There's a processing lab stamp on the back, just the standard "KODACOLOR PRINT" logo, plus a date, "MAY 67PA" I don't know what PA stands for.  
 

Jo and Lucy From Italy

 

There's some Italian writing on the back of the print and after running it through Google Translate, I've come up with a meaning, though there was one word I had trouble working out.  So, after trying dozens of possibilities, I'm going with the only wording that makes sense.  "Jo and Lucy collect the balls and Tesy on the porch takes them."  Bocci ball?  It's like lawn bowling.  I grew up in a small rural town that had an Italian-American Club that was about a hundred or so yards from my back door. The old men who always seemed to have a game going would chase me away when I stopped to watch.   

She Knows How to Pose

 

I think the movies taught people how to pose for photographs.  This image was taken in a backyard, but she struck a pose that could have been called for in a Hollywood movie studio publicity department. 

After the War

 

There is almost always an odd number of subjects in group shots because someone has to take the picture.  So, three couples and a woman with the camera?  One of the things I've noticed is that there are usually more women, indicating a male photographer, but not this time.  Anyway, there's a lab stamp on the back, "GUARANTEED Linnprints LINN CAMERA SHOP INC., Lansing, Mich." And a date, "JUN 7, 1946."  Also, a handwritten notation, "'46" And, written on the front border, "George, Me, Randy, Eunice, Willis."  So, which of the five people in this photo were old enough to serve in the military during the war?  It's impossible to tell. 

By the Sea

 

Why are there so many photos of three people out there?  Someone had to take the picture. 

The Vogels of Artesia, New Mexico 3

  

The last of the Vogel collection, but this one is a bit different, and the reason why I bought these three postcards.  While the other two cards were from 1942, the first full year of America's involvement in World War 2, this one is from 1945, and while the postmark is a bit smudged, so I'm not sure of the month, 'TACOMA WASH. 8 PM, 1945."  It was probably from after VJ-Day.  Too, it wasn't from Ray Vogel, but "Pvt. Robert N. Stark,38709913, Co. B, 161st MTG., Ft. Lewis Washington" It also wasn't mailed to Dorothy Vogel but to "Mr & Mrs J. M. Vogel, Artesia New Mexico" Even though there is no post box or street address, it must have been delivered.  It's the message that's interesting, "Hello Vogels: Hows everybody?  We are all well maybe I should have said all wet. It rains 8 days a week here. Ha. Gay went fishing the other day where the water is real deep caught four fish too.  Will probably be down to all you folks in N.M when I get back from Japan. Nelson"  

So, occupation duty by the sound of it, which is why I think this card was sent after the Japanese surrender. Anyway, there are a lot of photos and cards from World War 2 out there, and I always wonder if the people depicted survived the war.  Was Nelson a friend of the Vogel family or was he a friend of Roy who didn't make it?  

Click on The Vogel Collection in labels to see all three posts. 

Colonial Drag

Costume party?  I looked at it with a magnifying glass and the grain is a bit soft, so it may have been shot out of focus, but it was also printed that way.  Anyway, because it's less than sharp, I'm not going to do any more than advise people to look at the chin lines of the two adults.  In the male costume, the chin line looks female.  In the female costume, it looks a bit male to me, though because of the focus and angle, I'm not going to give an opinion.