Bad Weather, Everywhere. King of the Hill.

 

I've run out of snow photos.  Written on the back, "Jan. 1948."  

Bad Weather, Everywhere. Three Couples in the Snow.

 

I like the lady on the left.  She has chosen style over winter warmth.  Now that's commitment. 

Bad Weather, Everywhere. Freezing the Toddler.

 

Well, I don't really know if the weather is bad everywhere, but it is bad in Los Angeles.  I can't make up my mind.  Does this kid look happy to be outside in the snow? 

Bad Weather, Everywhere

  

There's bad weather over most of the United States.  Is the man in white trying to blend in?  A hunter, perhaps.  I feel sorry for the cat that's following him through the snow.  Dogs will go anywhere, but the poor cat was probably wondering why he wasn't inside, curled up somewhere warm. 

A Vacation in Hamburg 9

 

I sometimes wonder about my fascination with other people's photographs.  I kind of get the really old stuff, but these street snaps from Hamburg, Germany are from 1989.  Hardly antique scenes.  Anyway, more true found photography.  From a street in Los Angeles.  Click on Hamburg Vacation Collection in labels to see the rest of the photos from this lot and get some more info on them.  The photographer seems to be interested in the Beer Dorf, or Beer Village, in English.  Right next to a Chinese restaurant. 

Lightning! It was a Dark and Stormy Night

 

More true found photography.  It's amazing what you can find on the streets of Los Angeles when you walk everywhere rather than drive everywhere.  Both prints are a bit scuffed up, but what do you expect from something on the sidewalk.  When I first saw these two prints I was thinking postcard, but when I picked them up and looked at the backs, well, they weren't.  Very likely from a digital camera, and ink jet prints.  But where they taken by a professional photographer or an amateur? 

Two Gals Standing in Front of a Building

  

I tried.  I really did.  I just couldn't come up with anything clever to go with The Two Guys post from yesterday.  The line in the upper right corner is a crease in the photo. 

Two Guys From Out in the Middle of a Field Somewhere

 

No, they're not selling pizza or whatever the two guys from Italy sell.  My best guess is that this picture was taken before World War 1, but after the turn of the century.  From the days when men wore suits for almost everything. 

Thumbnail

 

Not in the way we use the word now.  This photo of Grandma reading the paper is about the size of my thumbnail.  It's a bit out of focus, and if blown up, wouldn't be readable. 

Cut in Half

  

This is another one of those photos that has been cut down from a larger image.  I always wonder why.  An ex-boyfriend, how about an ex-husband?   Maybe it just needed to fit in a frame.  Written on the back, "Mon. Jan 2, 1939."  An interesting year.  The Great Depression was winding down, and U.S. involvement in World War 2 was only a few years away.  

Somewhere in Europe

 

Good Germans between the wars?  I have no idea where this photo was taken, but it's printed on Gevaert Ridax paper, manufactured in Belgium from 1905 to 1959.   

Judy's Baptism

 

Written on the back of the photo, "Judy's Baptismal Day.  Carleton & Judy Pak." 

Where will he be deployed?

 

There are a lot of photos out there of men in uniform.  From the clothing, my best guess is that this photo was taken around the late 1920s to early 1930s.  Did this young sailor hope for deployment in Hawaii or the Philippines?  Plum assignments before the Japanese attacks that brought the United States into World War 2. 

Three Daughters And A Million

 

Sometime in the last few days, I went over one million individual page views.  And no, considering how long The New Found Photography has been up and running, I have no idea if that's impressive or not.  Anyway, an older couple sharing a couch with three younger women.  Daughters?  That's my guess. 

A Vacation In Hamburg 9

 

Time for a little bit of color from some true found photography.  I'm not going to bother with typing out all sorts of info on part 9.  Click on Hamburg Vacation Collection in labels for the back story and to see more images from this lot.  

Wings

 

He's wearing wings on his uniform, so he must be a member of the Army Air Corps.  But is he headed off to war or getting home, having survived combat missions over Europe?  Clearly from the World War 2 era. 

A Real Old Car

 

This car was probably the pride and joy of this couple.  Mobility, nothing beats it. 

Cut Off His Head

 

It occurs to me that there are those out there who don't understand old-fashioned film photography.  That bar at the top of the print is where the film didn't advance far enough in the camera.  

Proof Sheets

 

I spent decades working in photo labs, specializing in black & white.  I processed tens of thousands of rolls of film and made proof sheets from them.  A proof sheet is made by placing the negatives directly on a piece of paper, then adding a sheet of glass to ensure good contact, and finally exposing them to light.  It looks like someone cut these two frames from the proof, and I think, 127 film. 

En Garde

 

Fencing class.  The pads should add some protection, but does it still hurt when struck by the tip of a sword? 

August Vacation

 

Written on the back, "Commenc Aout 34."  French for begins in August.  Or at least, that's what Google Translate says.  From what I understand, the French take off almost all of August for a national vacation.  Did they do that in 1934?  I know a few French people who live here in California, and they love dogs.  Were the French dog crazy in 1934?  

The Family That Stares Together, Stays Together

 I've mentioned this before.  I didn't start this blog to share my found photography collection with the world; I started it because it was scattered all over the place and had become too large to easily view.  Anyway, I found an old box of photos while cleaning out a closet and wasn't sure if I had already posted them.  I have, after all, been at this for more than 15 years.  So, I laid out a dozen or so of them on the table and went back and had a look at everything that's been posted.  It took a while.  The idea was that if my small sampling hadn't been added to The New Found Photography, I'd assume that none of them had.  None of them had, so the good news is that I don't have to buy any more photos for at least a few months.  And no, I don't think this trio is on something.  

Sitting Around Outside

 

Just a pretty young woman sitting around outside.  My best guess is from the late teens to the mid-1920s. There's a stamp on the back.  "ASK FOR (VELVET SHEEN FINISH)"  

The Staff

  

Who are these guys?  With their pocket protectors and their numbered identity badges, well, I think we can say they are not high school teachers.  I can't be sure, but I think a couple of guys in the back row, the ones without ties, might be military.  Some secret research project, perhaps? 

Let it Snow

 

It's hot out, and I wouldn't mind some cool weather.  Not snow, but lower temperatures.  I can't make out what's written on the front.  

What's Happening?

 

What is he, or is it she, doing?  Is it some sort of job, or is he just washing up?  It looks like a field has been cleared, but for what?  

Tourists

 

Probably from the late 19th century, or possibly the very early 20th century.   It looks like someplace with a tropical feel.  The Caribbean, Hawaii, the Philippines.  

The M2 Light Tank

  

I've tried to do a bit of research on this photo, and while I'm not 100% sure, I think this is a photo of an M2 Light Tank, made by the Rock Island Arsenal Company that went into production in 1937.  It was equipped with a 37mm M5 gun and machine guns.  Mostly, it was used for reconnaissance.  It was under armed for serious combat operations.

Cut Down

 

This slim photo has been cut down from a larger photo.   There is some writing on the back, but like the picture itself, some of it has been lost to the scissors.  "Dec. 20/4."  So, from the 1940s.  And, "Taken in Ge."  Perhaps Germany and a soldier on occupation duty.  Or, then again, maybe Georgia, though there isn't that much snow in Georgia. 

Don't Forget the Dog

  

Written on the back, "July 1952  Ruth, Clint & David, Clint's son."  A farm family?  Perhaps a house right on the edge of the new, post-war subdivision?  Was Clint a widower or divorced? 

Crazy Looking Women

  

I'm not sure what these angry-looking women are standing beside.  An old water trough, perhaps, though with a very visible hole in the bottom.  One woman in the back looks like she's holding a book, perhaps a Bible.  A baptism delayed due to a lack of water?  Who knows.  I don't. 

The Governor's Palace, Algeria

  

I found a bag of old photos in the mess that is my closet.  I don't think this image has been posted before, but if it has, my apologies for repeating myself. 

Written on the back, "Governors Palace Algeria."   So, there's a lot of information about this building and Algeria out there, so just the highlights.  The governor's palace was built during the Ottoman era, between 1798 and 1805.  After Algeria became a French colony, it was used as an army barracks between 1830 and 1846.  In 1865, it became the summer residence of the French governor.  After the successful Algerian revolution that won independence from the French, it was renamed the People's Palace and became the seat of government.  After a coup in 1965, the seat of government was moved to the El Mouradia Palace.  If you want to know more about Algerian history, don't be lazy.  Look it up yourself. 

Greenwood Cemetary

 

A bit of an apology on this one.  Stereoview cards have a curve to them.  The card stock on this one is thick, and so even after putting a couple of books on top, I still couldn't get the card flat, so the focus isn't as good as it should be.  

There is a caption on the back, "The widely known cemetery is situated on Gowanus heights and covers an area of 474 acres.  The number of bodies interred up to July, 1896, was 290,000 or an average of about 5,000 per annum since it was opened."  

The Keystone View Company was founded by B.L. Singley in 1892 in Meadville, Pennsylvania, and finally went under in 1963.  Keystone originally specialized in humor and entertainment but eventually pivoted to educational imagery. 

American Views

 

I've been cleaning out a closet and found a box of old photos that may or may not have already been posted here.  I'm fairly certain that this very faded and cheaply made stereo card hasn't been posted before. 

Summer Is Coming

  

And with summer comes swimsuit season.   Is it just me?  Are they on a golf course? 

Standing Up in a Rowboat

 

Not the safest and sanest way to propel a rowboat.  It looks like they are about to capsize.