The past few years I have been exploring two old albums that my dad had rescued from a house that he was tearing down. The albums are of relatives of the family that had lived there. but the family that lived there is a mystery itself. The house had been abandoned 16-20 years maybe even longer.
The photos are of ancestors I believe of the family. I did disccover items that told me those who lived in the house were related to the Websters that owned the funeral home in Osceola, Iowa. The wife could have been a sister or a daughter from the Webster family. But actual names that I have found on photographs do not help me out much. We all know that the family tree extends forever. The albums could be from in-laws a couple of generations back. The questions I still have are unanswered so the two albums are still full of unknowns.
The couple are dressed in garments that remind me of my grandparents wedding photo. It has to be in the late 1800s.
They are all wonderful photos and the clothing of the day does give me a little bit of an indication of the time period. I am not very good at dating them like some of my blog friends are but I am certain we are in the middle of the 1800's for sure and then on into the early turn of the 1900's. When I think about it the albums are old so when you see older people in the photos that makes them at least a half generation older than the others in the books.
The backgrounds of the unknowns are sometimes fancy murals and they pose their people on fancy furniture. I have other photos of this guy who is standing in uniform for a lodge picture.
Moving away from the album collection I have another one of my unknowns. This group shot of my father's company that he was place in when he was in the Washington D.C. area. My father is in the photo but look at all the other families that are represented in the photo. My dad did eventually get sent over seas and he did return as a survival of the Battle of the Bulge.
A point of interest to me was the mascot dog that was in the photo. The guy either is petting the German shepherd or he is protecting his eyes for the camera flash. Unknowns who are ranked higher than my father were all sitting in the front center. Most all of these men would be in their upper 80's and 90's if there are still alive.
I found this mystery photo among my mom's photos and all is unknown to me. I did see that there is an outhouse in the background so it must be a school photo. My mom could of been the teacher at this school but I don't really think so. She taught in 1937- 40. I can't believe that the photo from that era would be that aged and yellowed from that time.
The students are all lined up showing the population to be very much farm children and their ages really don't seem to be too spread out for kindergarten through eighth grade. One guy in the middle looks older as if he is standing on his knees. I wonder if my mom and her two brothers are in the photo, which would have been in the 1920-30s, but I just don't know.
Visit others who are sharing in the posting of blogs on Sepia Saturday Unknowns can be seen by clicking here.
I looked into my past posts and found that I started Sepia Saturday on February6, 2010. I have been busy the past year and haven't blog regularly, but it still has been my pleasure to be included in such a creative and knowledgeable group. I would never have thought that I would be involved for three years. Thanks to all my blogger friends for such a great ride. I will try not to slide behind so much in the future.
11 comments:
Wow...I feel like a real newbie having only just discovered Sepia Saturday this year. Such beautiful albums that your Dad found huh?
A great mix, Larry, with all the standard unknowns - children, soldiers, and wedding couples. I like to think there might be 120+ copies of the army photo, and each veteran only remembers one name - his own!
Your army group really made me think. I have no army shots but do have many sports teams only a few of which name the members. I should set about identifying the others before I forget who they are. School photos are even worse, but with a faded one like yours it would be an impossible task.
I like the picture of the couple in which the lady is wearing a skirt and jacket that appears to be crushed velvet. Her outfit is stunning.
My favorite has to be the school photo - always am drawn to those.
I enjoyed them all, but the school photo caught my eye. I think that it could have been easily been around 1937 or so; the dresses were short. Some of my Dad's photos are like that from that time, faded and yellowed. Maybe it has to do with the quality of the camera and the quality of the photo paper.
I enjoyed your post very much.
Kathy M.
A lovely set of photos, and such a variety too! I have to wonder sometimes about the clothes too, like in the school yard shot. Often I think children wore what clothes their parents could get, or hand down, and some may be getting a bit short for the style of the day, or perhaps they were too long because that's all they had. Sometimes it's so hard to really put a date on some photos! Even cars. Where my hubby grew up the cars were much older than in the big city, so when we thought it was possibly 1930 it was much later! Aren't photos so cool!
Good to have you back with us again Larry and what an interesting array of photographs you brought along to share.
Too bad the teacher wasn't included in that school photo - at least you'd know if your mother was the teacher. I have several posed school pics like that because my grandmother was a teacher in Mystic, Iowa for several years. Same yellowing, but hers date around 1920.
Larry, if I remember rightly you were one of the first Sepians and you have been a loyal and creative supporter ever since. It is always a pleasure to see your name on the list, I know there is a fascinating post awaiting me. This, of course, was no exception.
The well posed studio portrait of the couple was, judging from the sleeves of the woman's dress, taken around 1890-1893.
What a find. Those old photo albums are beautiful and the photos are so interesting.
Nancy
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