Who Were They?

Lost and forgotten photos from the past

May Day

Mrs Marvel

20 comments

April 27, 2012

No, not “mayday, mayday” this is May Day, both capitalized. In honor of the first of May, which is coming in a few days, let’s look at a lovely photo of young people prepared to dance around a May Pole. First – you knew this was coming – a little history. :-)

In Europe and the British Isles, May Day was traditionally celebrated with great gusto! The old religions recognized May 1st as a turning point of the year. Beltane was the celebration of new growth and yes, fertility. The crops were planted and they hoped for a bountiful harvest. The lengthening days of spring warmed the earth and signaled the coming of summer. When the Romans entered Europe and Britain, they celebrated at similar times of year and co-opted many established local holidays as their own. This happened with Beltane. They turned it into the festival Floralia, a three-day romp to honor the goddess Flora – goddess of flowers. Timing couldn’t have been more perfect, because May flowers are bright and beautiful pretty much wherever you are in the world. In many parts of England and Europe, May Day and maypoles, maypole dances and festivals continue to this day.

America was founded by Puritans, which was a huge bummer if you weren’t as strict as the colony leaders were. May Day and all its rituals was frowned on as impure, not honoring God, nasty. There is some speculation that the maypole and its dances were tied to fertility rites. (Come on, a bunch of young men and women dancing around a big pole sticking up out of the ground? No way is that phallic!) So the Puritans did everything they could to discourage May Day celebrations. There is a citation from 1628 when Plymouth governor William Bradford wrote scathingly about some indentured servants who broke their service agreements and started a new colony. Those people dared to set up a maypole and dance around it. By the way, this little colony of brash servants was called Mount Wollaston but the dancers changed the name to Merry Mount. It exists to this day, now known as a little burgh called Quincy, MA. Two early presidents of the US were from that town, and also a statesman you may have heard of….John Hancock.

So, in America we tend not to celebrate May Day with any sort of fanfare. I can remember making little bonnets and baskets of flowers for the elderly, but it wasn’t until I was in my 20s and visiting a Renaissance Fair that I saw an actual maypole. The photo above is anonymous, in that no one is named, not even a location noted on the back. The young women are all wearing nice dresses and each is holding the trailing end of a streamer attached at the top of the maypole. If there was music played, or even just if there was singing, the women would have danced a weaving dance around the pole, winding their streamers in and around one another.

In recent American film, a maypole is seen in the kingdom festival scene of the Disney movie Tangled, at which time Rapunzel and Flynn arrive in the kingdom and dance together.

This post is part of Sepia Saturday where the theme is generally maypoles, and be extension, May Day, dances, celebrations, etc. Click over to experience the virtual celebration of May Day, spring and the coming of summer.

Dance of the internet

Eustace…something

Mrs Marvel

no comments

April 26, 2012

This photograph is a cabinet card, but larger than the standard 4×6 that is so common. It’s more like a 6×8 but in all other respects it is identical to typical cabinet cards. The gentleman is pictured in a nice profile, showing his mustache, firm jaw and high forehead to his advantage. His suit is a natty plaid and his neck cloth is striped. Today we’d call him “bold” I think.

On the back in pencil was written “To Uncle [something] from Eustace [something].” Unfortunately, the pencil on the dark maroon card combined with age made it impossible to read the entire inscription.

The photographer was Thomson in Kansas City, MO.

Early Middle Age

Mrs Marvel

5 comments

April 25, 2012

This is the final image from the Red Velvet album, and depicts a woman in early middle age. She looks a bit tired, but cleaned herself up for the sitting. It is unusual that she is quite over weight. While people certainly had the ability to become obese in the 19th century, it wasn’t as common as it is today. Just chores around the house could be a chore – cooking required wood for the stove (chopping & hauling), iron pots and skillets were quite heavy and there were no electric appliances to chop or mix. Cows required milking, gardens required tending, and going to the store was an experience in itself. If the family had a horse & buggy, someone had to take the horse from the barn and hitch it to the buggy, drive the buggy, find parking, etc. then there was walking all around town for goods. The department store was not as prevalent as it is today, so vegetables came from the produce stand, meat from the butcher, bread from the baker, shoes from the shoe maker, dresses from the seamstress, hats from the milliner, etc etc etc. Depending on how far from town the person lived, they might save up all their shopping for one day.

This photo dates from the 1860s, as evidenced by the gold line and square corners, as well as the size and shape of the image (round or oval, in the center of the card). Also, the clothing is consistent with 1860s fashions for women.

I have found a great nephew of Franklin Francis Ford, our one firmly identified photograph from the album, and I’ve asked if they would like to own the album on the chance there are other Ford photographs within. I’ll keep you all posted on how that goes.

So many cute babies

Mrs Marvel

1 comment

April 24, 2012

Yet another unidentified baby from the Red Velvet Album. This one appears to be a boy seated on a chair with the hint of a smile on his face. Hopefully it is a hint of a happy personality.

Garden party

Mrs Marvel

12 comments

April 20, 2012

Garden parties are really a phenomena of the past, when girls in long white dresses played croquet on expansive lawns and men smoked cigars. These days we have barbecues and the kids want a bounce house. Well, back when garden parties were among the most enjoyable form of family gatherings, many photographs were taken outside because of lighting. Early cameras in the 20th century did not have the abilities our modern cameras have, and so, exposures indoors were often dark and lacking in detail. The cameras could not “see” enough light to catch the finer details, but outside under natural light, people’s faces and clothing was much more clear and the camera could capture those details for posterity. Following are several photographs of gardens, surely redolent in the natural sunlight.

Starting things off, a courtyard garden or park, with a building in the background, benches in the foreground. This is on an AZO real photo postcard with the triangles pointed up, so it dates from 1904-1918. I would enjoy sitting on the bench and reading a book.

Here is a large family posed in front of what looks like a camellia bush. Mother, Father and eight children! They look like a very happy family. It’s also an AZO real photo postcard dating from 1904-1918.

This snapshot shows stair step kids, six of them, with the youngest looking like a toddler of maybe 1 1/2-2 years of age. Had I found this a few weeks ago, it would have been perfect for the “Scouts” Sepia Saturday as it shows not one but two scouts – a boy scout and a girl scout! The back yard there reminds me of my grandmother’s garden for some reason. Perhaps it is the low chain fence that allows you to see all the way over to the neighbor’s house.

This is a young garden, you can tell by the very thin trunks of the trees. Our young lady looks happy and is possibly showing off her new dress or hat, but I’m just imagining she is quite proud of all the work she and her new husband have put into the back garden, dreaming of all the fruits and vegetables they will harvest for their family.

Now this little fellow is stereotypical cute! He is wearing overalls and a hat – no shirt, no shoes. Remember the days when you ran around bare footed and walked through soft, warm dirt? He looks as though someone stopped him in the middle of an adventure and said “here, Billy, pose in front of this bush, Mama will be so proud of you…” but he’s already thinking of where he will get off to next.

Is this even a garden? I don’t know, but I rather like how the boy is not quite as big as his bicycle. I bet he was proud of that machine and rode it everywhere!

Finally, a garden of a different type…a cactus garden. I believe I see aloe right there in the front, a barrel cactus just behind the man’s shoulder, prickly pear, there are probably others I cannot see as well. Behind it all in the right of the image you can see their car. I’m no expert on cars, so I’ll just say it’s old.  :-)

These gardens have been brought to you as part of Sepia Saturday, which links up bloggers from all over the world, showing off their sepia images, telling stories, and saving memories. Click the button below to jump over to Sepia Saturday, then follow the links to the gardens of imagery you’ll find there.

Garden party time

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