Big Hat Collection 7

The last of the Big Hat real photo postcards and this one has a lot of info written on the back, some of which is covered by black photo album paper so I'll do my best to cobble things together.

 "Dear Mother, 5-6-15  (Obscured) just decided (Obscured) last to have "out siders" to the App Ball & have changed the date to the 14th So Be sure & come Thurs. if not sooner.  Hope Maye & Babies all are fine.  Excuse card as was best I could do now.  (Obscured) us a card & let us know when you can come, Love E.E."  Mailed to "Mrs. F. M. Baker,  1111 Glendon Way, So. Pasadena, Cal." 

In an earlier post I speculated that Elliot Baker might me be the son of Fannie Baker despite a mere 16 year age difference.  That card lists an E.F. Baker, but then again if was written in a different hand, and E.F. could be mis-written or poorly written.  In any case, as noted above, this is the last of the collection and all can be seen by clicking on Big Hat Collection in labels.

Big Hat Collection 6

I cropped the large white bar at the bottom of this card.  I mean, who want's to look at that.  As usual, click on Big Hat Collection in labels to see the rest.  Or, since I'm posting these without interruption, don't be lazy and just navigate back to see what's already up.

Big Hat Collection 5

There are some identifications on the back of this one.  "Maye Blake age 33, Fannie age 30, Maye Baker age 16 Taken Feb 23 1..., Redondo Beach, For Maye to keep."  As far as the year taken goes, there's black album paper glued to the back, and I didn't want to damage the card to uncover the exact year, especially when it wasn't necessary.   The second card in this series has Fannie age 36 taken in 1911.  Subtract six years and we've got 1905.  I suspect Fannie and Maye Blake are sisters and Maye Baker?  Well that's a tough one.  If Maye is Fannie's daughter that means Fannie gave birth round  14 years of age. (Perhaps 15 depending on birthdays.)   Not unheard of, especially in an era when women were more likely to wed at younger ages, but still very young.  Perhaps a sister-in-law or cousin. 

As usual, click on Big Hat Collection in labels to bring up the whole collection.   

Big Hat Collection 4

This one looks more like Los Angeles than Guthrie, Oklahoma.  Again, click on Big Hat Collection in labels to see more.

Big Hat Collection 3

She looks a lot like Fannie Baker from the last post.  She is not, however, in Guthrie, Oklahoma.   This postcard has an embossed studio name in the bottom right corner.  "Mitchell, 619 SO BROADWAY, LOS ANGELES, CAL."   The only thing I could find about Mitchell Studios was an ad in Camera Craft, from 1913.  Mitchell Studios was looking to sell some used equipment and buying new.  So, I guess, at least in 1913, they were successful enough to upgrade. . 

And of course, click on Big Hat Collection in labels,

Big Hat Collection 2

There is actually some useful information written on the back of this one.  "Taken Fri. Apr. 21-1911, Fannie M. Baker age 36, Elliott F. Baker age 20, Guthrie, Ok. For Maye Baker"  Oklahoma became a state in 1907 so the photo used to make this real photo postcard was made just a few years after statehood.  I couldn't find any information on these two which isn't to surprising.  I have to wonder, mother and son?  Step mother?  Siblings?

Click on Big Hats Collection in labels to see more.

Big Hat Collection 1

I recently bought an envelope of real photo postcards featuring women (And some men.) in biggish hats.  A couple of them are clearly related.  They have writing on the back, and  some same names.  They all have bits of black album paper, and my strong suspicion is that the seller ripped them all form the same photo album.  I hate that!  Anyway, since there aren't that many of them, I'm going to post them without a break and I'm also going to crop out any white borders lacking writing.  Click on Big Hat Collection in labels at the bottom of the post to bring up everything.