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.

The Here, There, and Everywhere Collection-The Page With Articles on the Back

Over the years, I've learned to take the claims of sellers with a certain grain of salt.  One of the things I've noticed is that when I ask if a collection I'm purchasing is all from the same source, they almost always say absolutely, local estate sale. So, taking the man at his word, I've just purchased an envelope of photographs from an eBay dealer in Wisconsin who assures me that they're all from a local estate sale. I haven't counted up everything yet, but there's a fair amount of images to go through.  Needless to say, I'm going to break things up, so who knows how long it'll take to post the lot.  So, click on  The Here There and Everywhere Collection in labels to see things as they unfold.

So, why I'm I titling things Here There and Everywhere.  There are few album pages, and a lot of loose photographs.  Some are labeled, and some are not.  There are a lot of different locations mentioned.  In this first post, Massachusetts,and  Alabama on the front page, and in the article, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Connecticut, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Illinois, and Ohio.

And for those who can't make out the labels on the photographs, the little girl is "Virginia Lee Stockam," though I suspect that should be Stockman.  Right under the photo, "Birmingham, Ala."  And the house, "9 Wedgemere Ave.  Winchester, Mass."  And under the photo, "Residence Vivian B Whitcomb Winchester, Mass."

Remember, you can always click on an image and bring it up in a larger window.  It'll make it easier to read the article.

A Fragment

I'm really fascinated by this one.  To start with, it is, as the title of the post states, a fragment.  It 's cut from a larger picture.  It was so faded, that I abandoned my usual attempts to get a scan that looked as much like the original as possible, and went the opposite direction, trying to dig out as much detail as was there.   So what did I get?  It looks like a black woman in the fifties, surrounded by white men, walking along, not just carrying a newspaper, but displaying one.  I know that the headline may be about an air show, but I think this could be a photo of some sort of civil rights demonstration.  The front page of that newspaper may also have a story about a lunch counter sit in, attempts to register black voters, or perhaps even a lynching.  I know it's easy to read things into photos that aren't there.  That's part of the fun of collecting old photos.  But, I'm standing by that guess.

Three By John W. Wilson

While I have a preference for old snapshots, it's nice to pick up some professionally done photos for the collection from time to time. Stamped on the back of each, "AUG 10 1949 PHOTO BY JOHN W. WILSON L.A. Times Staff Photographer" Fashion, society, or something from the movie community? If anyone out there recognizes either of these people, please leave a comment.