Who Were They?

Lost and forgotten photos from the past

Family

Mrs Marvel

4 comments

November 25, 2010

This is a group of CdVs found in the big bunch off ebay, and they are certainly a family. All the backs are marked as on the last image. According to Photo Tree, the absence of a border on these CdVs suggests they are from 1860-1862. The woman’s dress is certainly a lovely representation of a Civil War era dress, with lots of embellishment across the chest and down the sleeves to give the rounded look that was so popular at that time.

UPDATE: As I was studying the image of the two boys together, I wondered about the feet of some sort of table behind each boy, and then I realized they are positioning stands! Since the exposure time was long and a person had to remain still, body positioning stands were sometimes used for the best quality photo with no blur of movement. I’m excited to see evidence of these positioning stands. I believe there is also one in use in the photo of the man and the boy – look between the boy’s feet.

Here in America, today is Thanksgiving, a day we spend with family and celebrating all that we are thankful for. I hope that if you find yourself on Who Were They? today, you will know that I am incredibly thankful for your patronage and interest in this project, and hope to see you again soon!

Alma’s Confirmation

Mrs Marvel

7 comments

November 23, 2010

This lovely photograph is of Alma on the occasion of her confirmation in the Lutheran Church. I myself was confirmed as a Lutheran at about age 16, but I went through the classes later than my friends. So I am guessing Alma is between 14-16 years old here. The photographer was J. A. Hayden or Layden of Lincoln, NE.

Alma’s dress looks to be a white batiste or lawn creation with pleats and tucks everywhere. This type of dress was popular between about 1905 – 1920. The big bow in her hair is suggestive of the teens.

Lovely girls

Mrs Marvel

3 comments

November 21, 2010

Again looking for treasures at Keepers, I found this large portrait of a family. The presentation card is actually much bigger than my flatbed scanner surface is long! They really knew how to present a photo back in the day, didn’t they? So, while continuing to dig, I then found the photo below, which is just the three girls, leading me to believe the fourth child is a son. The girls’ photo is on a photo postcard and it was torn in a couple places. Fortunately digital restoration can make such a difference and we can now enjoy their pretty faces for all time. You’ll notice that all their dresses match in terms of trims, and probably match their mother’s dress as well. I’m saying lavender dresses with white stockings and black shoes.

Anastesia & Paul Kroll

Mrs Marvel

16 comments

November 19, 2010

This beautiful wedding photograph is of Anastesia Czech, who may have married her cousin, or may have been first cousin to the  original owner of the photo. Her husband was Paul P. Kroll and they married in 1917 when she was 19 years old. They had 7 children, all of whom have passed away. However, they do have living grandchildren, and I’m trying to contact them. Let’s hope that one of their grand kids would like to have the photo!

This is a proud Sepia Saturday post. Please click through to Sepia Saturday #50 and view some of the other photos from around the world!

UPDATE: This photograph is the grandparents to a distant cousin of poster Paula Bieniek, who will get in touch with the family for me. I’m so excited to possibly reunite this photograph with the rightful family!

Mom Edna Mark Hoyse

Mrs Marvel

11 comments

November 17, 2010

I found this cabinet card in a box of many other photos at a local curio shop called Keepers. There was actually a duplicate of this photo in similar condition but I chose this one because the names of the children are written on the back. The girls are Mom (center) and Edna (right) and the boys are Mark (left) and Hoyse (center). Mark appears to be wearing a photo pin, which were popular as a death memento or mourning piece. The back may have had a lock of hair of the deceased person, which appears to be a woman. While digging through the box for other treasures, I found the photo below.

These are certainly the same children a few years earlier than the photo above. The scalloped/deckled edges were popular in the 1890s, so I am dating the younger photo as 1895 and the second photo as 1900. The photographers were Sharp in Cardington, OH and Mahr’s or Mahrl Studio of Ashley, OH.

UPDATE: After studying the writing, I have come to the conclusion the name is Hayse.

Blog at WordPress.com.