A Big Family

 

Some people have legible handwriting, some don't.  Two people have written on the back of this print; one had good, readable handwriting, the other, not so much.  So, the not-so-readable first.  "Breyding House-Durand, Mich.-Vera born here."  I have no idea if I've deciphered what I assume is a family name, but Breyding is my best guess.  I really couldn't make out the town name, but I was sure of the first and last letter, so I scrolled through Michigan town names online, and the only one I found that made sense was Durand, a township with a 2020 population of 3,507.  There's no date on the picture, but late 19th century is about right, so how much did the population change in 130 years?  

The readable part, "Mother, Vera, Father Roy, Emma, Grandmother, Otto, George, Grandfather."  

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. 

Merry Christmas From Rosalie and Kenneth Lee

 

 Odd choice for a Christmas card?  Anyway, I did a quick search for Kenneth Lee in Battle Creek, Michigan, and found a lot of people named Kenneth, middle name Lee, then a lot of different last names.  My guess is that this Kenneth Lee is one of those Kenneth Lees. 

Momie, Ruth, and Helen

Written on the back of the second photo, "Detroit River, summer 1938.  Momie & Ruth." The third picture, "Detroit River, summer 1938.  Ruth & Helen."

The Detroit River connects the not so great Lake Saint Clair,  Detroit, and Lake Erie.  (The Saint Clair River connects Lake Huron and Lake Saint Clair.) It also separates Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, Canada.  In 1938, it was one of the most polluted waterways in North America, so if these three ladies were actually swimming, they risked at least a few weird  infections.  More likely, they were headed to Lake Erie for a week of sailing.

1938 was near the end of the great depression.  In a few years, World War 2 defense spending would make Detroit one of the wealthiest cities in the world.  After the war, with no real competition from foreign car makers, Detroit continued getting richer and richer.  If this family could afford a sailboat during the depression, they probably were in a position to really cash in during the war and the post war boom.

And yes, who ever wrote the message on the back of the photos did spell it Momie.

The Here, There, and Everywhere Collection,-Dearborn

As can be seen on the full album page, this one is dated "Jan.- 1944."  I've actually written about this before, but here it goes again.  During World War 2, millions of young American men were in the service.  There were women in the military, of course, but their numbers were far fewer.  In other words, there were millions of American women, on the home front, with no male companionship.  When I find pictures from the war years, especially mid 43 through late 45, I'm never surprised when there aren't any young men in the photos.

There are no pictures on the back of this page, but it's labeled "Dearborn-Sept-'43."  I've known about Dearborn, Michigan for years, but I have to admit, I've always assumed it was Deerborn.  I figured some early pioneer had founded the city where he had seen a doe and her fawn.  Well actually, I never thought about it all, but I did think it was Deerborn.  It turns out the city was named after  Revolutionary War General Henry Dearborn.  Who knew?

Click on The Here There and Everywhere Collection in labels to see more photos and for information on the lot.

Swedes In America

Are there any Swedes out there?  I'm not even going to try and translate this one.  I assume it's in Swedish because it was mailed from the United States to Broby, a town in southern Sweden.  I'm not even sure from where in the U.S.  The image is from southern California.  The publisher is M. Rieder, a company in business from 1901 to 1915, located in Los Angeles, but the postmark....well, I think it's from Michigan, but I'm not even sure of that.  Did a Swedish immigrant pass through L.A. on his way to Michigan and send a card to those he left behind at home?   I would say that's most probable, but it's not the only possible explanation.  Los Angeles is a seaport, and there are also ports on Lake Michigan that service international shipping.  So, perhaps, a sailor.  Then again, the sender of this postcard might have been a tourist.  1906 seems far back in time, but like today, there were plenty of international travelers who just roamed for the sake of seeing the world.  And that's why I need someone who can decipher the handwriting and translate it into English.  It's the only way I'll know the who and the why of this message.

We have a partial translation from J'lee.  Click on  comment at the bottom to read what she has found out.  It seems Nils, in Wallace, Michigan is trying to send something to his sister Sigrid, in Sweden.  Whatever it is, it has to be well packed.  Wallace is the name of two occupied places in Michigan.  One on the southern, upper peninsula, and one not.  And I've double checked.  The entire card is visible on the post.

Los Angeles Civic Center

Yet another linen postcard of downtown Los Angeles.  Take a close look at the the very tall building, the Los Angeles City Hall.  The original photograph was  in black & white and it looks like it had some separation problems.  The tower is white and against a sunny sky, white objects in black & white photos have a tendency to merge into the background.  One way to solve that problem is to draw in an edge line.  Click on the image to bring it up in a larger window and it's obvious that the person who added  color to the image also drew  a black line around the building.

The Los Angeles City Hall was designed by John Parkinson,  (The designer of the Rosslyn Hotel from the previous post.) Albert C. Martin, and John C. Austin.   It opened in 1928 and at the time, at 32 floors and 457 feet,  was the tallest building in L.A.  Until the late 1950's the L.A. City Charter limited building to 150 feet, excluding decorative towers.  City Hall was the tallest building in the city until 1964.  Today, the 73 story U.S. Bank Tower,  at 1018 feet,  is the tallest building in Los Angeles City, Los Angeles County, and the state of California.

The message on the back, "Well, here journey's end where to go from here?  Arrived here 7:00 A.M. Wed. still raring to go, don't want to stop anyplace. Spent a day in Frisco, had to leave, too cold.  George"  Mailed to "Bob R. Sudnick, 52 Piquette St., Detroit, Michigan"  And the postmark, "10 LOS ANGELES CALIF, AUG 6 12 P.M. 1941"  

What a date.  The middle of 1941 meant one thing to  American men and  women.  The last few months of peace before Pearl Harbor.  George was enjoying his trip.  Who knows.  It might have been his first chance to travel.  Six months latter and he was probably off to a military base and then Europe or the south Pacific.  When I read the messages on these old postcards  I always wonder if the writer survived the next five years.

Polarine From Standard Oil

Even though this postcard is of a Detroit city bus, it was mailed from and to Kansas City. The postmarks, for sending and receiving are both "KANSAS CITY NOV 5 1911" The times are "7-PM" and "8-PM" Mailed and sent to the same post office. It's addressed to "Mr Raymon Walker, MC book" No street address or city name, so it might have gone to a box in the building, or it was for counter pick up, or the mail man knew everyone on his route. And the message, "Mr. Walker, Dear friend thank you verry much for your remembrance towards me. Will leave KC November the 6th for Va by the way of Atlanta, Georgia. Your G. McWilliams" Mr Walker, Dear friend, a strange mixture of the formal and familiar. And he misspelled dear friend's first name. Very strange.

A Carte de Visite Album 2

Continuing with the carte de visite album. Most of these either are in the album, back to back or have no studio identification. The two children with the hand colored sashes, "Coatsworth, Photographer, Opposite Wyoming House, Scranton." That's Scranton, Pennsylvania in the Wyoming river valley. And the final child, "R. D. PALMER, PHOTOGRAPHER And Portrait Painter, Huron Street, East of Cook's Hotel, Ann Arbor, Mich." In the first post from this album, I speculated that this family might have moved from Scranton to Sioux City, Iowa, but another explanation is an extended family with branches here and there around the country. Or at least the states that had been admitted by the end of the civil war. Click on the woman with the braids. Didi she make a necklace from her hair.