Who Were They?

Lost and forgotten photos from the past

J. K. Emmet, Vaudevillian actor

Mrs Marvel

20 comments

January 27, 2012

Son of a famous yodeler

Looking through my photos for a theater themed photograph, I came across this one, a mystery cabinet card labeled J. K. Emmet. The slightest amount of research identified J. K. Emmet as a popular vaudevillian actor from the 1890s through the 1910s, with a more famous father Fritz and a less famous son J. K. Jr. How could I pass this up? Fritz Emmet was a famous yodeler, cited in numerous magazine articles for his songs and acting in the 1890s. J. K. was also well known, but apparently not quite as well as Fritz, as he was noted in 1912 to have sung some of his father’s yodeling songs during a one-act show entitled A South Dakota Divorce. The few references to J. K. Jr really only are that his father was more famous than he.

The photograph itself is quite interesting, to say the least. J. K. Emmet appears to be wearing wooden shoes and leather (?) gaiters of some type, a puffed sleeve blouse and possibly even bib overalls, all while strumming the guitar and looking fondly upon the young child in the center of the photo. Yes, I did compare the profile of the man to two known photos of J. K. Emmet and by the nose, it’s him. The set they are on is quite cluttered and messy, with a picnic basket, hanging coats in the background and some sort of odd mess to the left. Could this be depicting the stage of their show, whatever it may have been? Surely it was Dutch themed, which would explain the shoes, but beyond that, I have no clue what is going on there. However, it was popular at the time to stage a vignette from a current musical show and sell the photographs, much like modern trading cards. This particular card is fairly rough, and at some point had been glued into something, maybe a photo album or frame, as there is a large splotch on the back. No photographer was named. The photo is on loan from my friend Pauline and it was found among numerous other unidentified family photographs from the 19th century. Someone in her family history liked vaudeville actor J. K. Emmet, apparently.

UPDATE: Be sure to visit the comments where a site reader has posted a youtube recording of Emmet’s Cuckoo song from A South Dakota Divorce. Fabulous!!

How I would love to attend a musicale that featured yodeling! For more theater themed photos and probably some interesting stories, click the link below to Sepia Saturday!

For the love of the theater, click it!

Two by Harrington

Mrs Marvel

4 comments

January 24, 2012

 

Today I will show you two CdVs of young men, both taken by Harrington, both at his new gallery.

 

Both images date from the 1870s or 80s. I have several photographs made by Harrington that I will gradually post for your examination. Unfortunately all my resource sites have no information on this photographer! How is that even possible when I have so many photos? Regardless, it appears that the photographer relocated from *somewhere* to his new gallery with improved French light on the ground floor, just one door south of Barnett’s Dental Rooms. Imagine getting an advertisement today noting the location of another business in its direction! My guess is that the lower photograph was made before the cards for the upper photograph came in, necessitating the stamp.

A doll of a girl

Mrs Marvel

18 comments

January 20, 2012

For Sepia Saturday I am featuring a “doll of a girl.” This sweet little one is posed on a bench at the photographer’s studio, showing off her beautiful dress and giant hair bow, all while clutching her stuffed animal toy. While you might be tempted to date this photo in the 1910s, it is a little earlier, perhaps 1907. This little girl is my grandmother Hennie, and the photo was graciously scanned by my dad’s Cousin L – who scanned all the old photos a few years back. Hennie was the oldest of seven, so there are quite a few family members – plus the family loved photos. Our cousin may not know how much I appreciate her time and efforts at scanning all these photos and then ensuring the originals went on to descendants to keep custody of them. This is my way of letting her know!

For a family such as ours – with many members all over the country and a great love of photos – the boxes of old photos may seem insurmountable. Who are these people? What years were the photos taken? What should be done with the photos? Cousin L took it upon herself to identify, catalog, scan and distribute hundreds of photos. I expect that lots of families do not have someone like Cousin L, because of the great number of old photos found in antique shops, on ebay, and sadly, in trashcans.

Lest we fixate on the number of old photos which beg the question “who were they?” please enjoy this photo and more by clicking through to Sepia Saturday, where the prompt is dolls. You never know what will turn up and the journey is always interesting!

Click for sweet baby dolls and more

Oh so retro

Mrs Marvel

3 comments

January 19, 2012

  

For some reason when I look at this young man’s face, I see the 1950s, not the 1890s. His deep eyes, high cheekbones and slicked back hair remind me of some of the early country music singers and the rock a billy boys who loved their music. Alas, he is much older, looking to have been in his twenties in the 1890s. The photographer was Y. A. Kroneberger in Chester, PA.

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