The Bronx Is Up 3

I'm telling you right now,  the kid in picture number four grew up to be a boxer.  Look at him.  He was born a pug.  

The first two photos are labelled, "Vernon Ave. Oct. 1920."  The last, "Bronx Park  May 1924."

The Bronx Is Up 2

Perhaps I should have paid some attention to the order these photos came out of the envelope.  It's clear that today's first photo goes with yesterday's final image.  Oh well, let's call it a bridge between posts.  I wonder if the guy was posing in front of the wall because the graffiti had some meaning?  And why did the owner of this album chop off the heads in image number four?  It was done with scissors, not the camera.  Only the first two images have captions.  Number one, "Bronx NY June 1924."  Number two, "Vernon Ave. 1922."

The Bronx Is Up 1

The Battery's down. The people ride in a hole in the ground.  New York, New York.  It's a wonderful town.  For all you Gene Kelley fans out there.  And Vera-Ellen fans too.

It's time to put up another collection.  This time, no interruptions.  There will be five posts of pictures, all ripped from the same family photo album.  (I hate it when dealers do that.)  I won't be trying to put these up in any particular order.  They'll be put up in the same sequence they came out of the envelope.  There aren't any names written on any of the images, but there are some dates and locations.

Written on the first photo, "Vernon Ave. & B'way 1922."   The third photo, "Bronx Park May 1924."  And the final image, "Bronx N.Y.  June 1924."

More Biking In California

I do love my bike photos!

I purchased this one from the same dealer, at the same time, as yesterdays post.  They aren't the same people, but the landscape looks similar, plus, I've been to Sonoma County, so I have some first hand knowledge of what it looks like.  I can't be sure that this photo is from the same person as the last entry, but I'm going  out on a rather short limb and state my opinion that it is.

I've long known that the Russian River Valley and Sonoma County have been getaways for the well-to-do of San Francisco; they built their country houses, had their rustic weekends, and found a refuge from the cold bay area, while avoiding the heat of the central valley.  I've also been informed that, in the thirties and forties, big bands played along the Russian River.  I can imagine these people, packing up their car, driving over the newly opened Golden Gate Bridge, spending the day riding their bikes along  dirt roads, soaking in the river, then cleaning up and dancing (outdoors?) the night away to some regional, society band.   For those who could afford it, it must have been a sweet life.

Biking Along The Russian River

Two women, two bikes, but only one camera?  So what's a lady to do?  Why hand off the camera, of course.  But why did each woman pose on the same bike?  I am puzzled.

What's really puzzling is how I knew  these photos were taken along the Russian River in Guerneville,  Sonoma County, California, when theirs nothing written on the prints.  Well, that took some figuring.  I started with the building in the background.  It didn't take too much to figure out that the sign was for the Henry Hess Co., Lumber and Building Material.  I was pretty surprised when a Google search brought up some info.  And not just info, but a photograph of the same building, damaged by a 1937 flood of the Russian River.  The building was located on Ca. Route 116, at the intersection of River Road and Gravenstein Highway North.

Good old Henry was a bit of a local tycoon, owning the lumber yard, some logging interests and a shipping company.  I couldn't find out what kind of shipping, but my guess would be either cartage, or local ferries, or maybe even some coastal steamers.  In any case, he was successful enough that he could build a summer lodge near the Hacienda Bridge, overlooking the Russian River in the 1920s.  At some point Henry lost control of his business.  How, I couldn't determine.  I do know that Giuseppe "Joseph" Bacci got a job there after World War 2.  He stayed with the lumber yard through several ownership changes, and along with two partners, bought it in the 1970s.  All that from Giuseppe's obituary.

Anyway, going by the hair does, I'm guessing sometime in the late thirties through early forties.  If anyone out there knows when the roads were paved, that could narrow things down a bit.

California Carroll

To recap.  Every so often, I go to an antique mall and thumb through a tray of old photographs.  I've been finding a collection of snapshots, all the same format, paper weight, from the same era, and the ones shot outdoors all seem to be from the same area.  I can't be certain, but I'm pretty sure that they're all from the same family.  So far, I've found several with the same lab mark, "PRINTED BY MERICK REYNOLDS, Jr. 222 So. BROADWAY, LOS ANGELES, CAL."  including this one.  This image is the first I've found with writing on the back.  "Carroll W. Parclier six months old."  Finally a name.

Click on SGV family in the labels section at the bottom of the post to bring up the whole collection.

Yet Another Cabinet Card

Unlike yesterday's post, this one has a studio mark on the border, so I didn't crop to the image.  I wasn't able to find much about Henrici's Studio.  Herman Henrici was in the Philadelphia city directory as a photographer as early as 1865.  He was also listed in 1867 and 1868.   For those interested, the information comes from langdonroad.com a list of nineteenth and early twentieth century studio photographers.  I haven't scrolled through the site, so I don't know how comprehensive it is.