PORTRAIT OF A LOVELY YOUNG WOMAN IN MAYVILLE, NORTH DAKOTA

 

A well dressed pretty young woman poses for her portrait at the Dahl Brothers studio in Mayville, North Dakota. The woman is displaying a pretty smile and shows an air of confidence. She is wearing a locket on a long thin chain. In the book “An Illustrated History of Lyon County, Minnesota” (1912), by Arthur P. Rose, the author reports that Julius T. Dahl (1874-?) was operating a photo gallery in Marshall, Minnesota. Although born in Minnesota, Dahl moved to North Dakota with his family at an early age and lived with them on a farm. He stayed on the farm until twenty-five years of age when he learned photography and opened a gallery in Mayville. He operated his business there for three years and then opened a gallery in Kindred, North Dakota which remained in business for four years. In 1908 he began his photography studio in Marshall. In 1897 Dahl married Carrie Fatland. Wikipedia states that Mayville was founded in 1881 and named after “May Arnold”. What was May Arnold’s claim to fame? Apparently, she was the first white child born in the vicinity of the town. Not much of a claim to fame in my book but the 1880’s were a different era and a time characterized by more overt racism than today.  (SOLD)

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Published in: on June 30, 2017 at 11:35 am  Comments (3)  
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INCREDIBLY CUTE GIRL AND HER TEDDY BEAR

This little girl is one of the cutest kids that I have ever seen featured in a real photo postcard; and I have seen lots of real photo postcards. She has a terrific grin and engaging eyes. She is sitting on an attractive fabric covered bench and holding a teddy bear. She is leaning against an interesting pillow with a bow and arrow type design. The child’s and the photographer’s name are not identified and the location of the studio is unknown.

Published in: on June 26, 2017 at 4:56 pm  Comments (1)  
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PORTRAIT OF TWO YOUNG CHILDREN: THE BABY IS SMOKING A CIGAR

 

This vintage real photo postcard captures two siblings posing for their portrait. They are standing in front of a doorway of what appears to be a business. There is a “closed” sign on the door’s window. The older sibling is a little girl wearing a flower topped hat and holding a dainty purse. The younger sibling is sitting in a stroller of some sort and appears to have a cigar in his/her mouth. The baby is holding some sort of stick and is strapped into the stroller. There are some hints to the identity of these children. Below the image are the names “Russel and Leone Lannier”. On the reverse of the postcard is the name “Clayton Allen”. This evidence was not enough to facilitate a successful identification of these children. The stampbox on this postcard shows the logo “Kruxo” which indicates that it was produced sometime between 1908 and the 1920’s. Kruxo photo paper was made by Kilborn.  SOLD

Published in: on June 25, 2017 at 12:00 pm  Leave a Comment  
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“NOW I LAY ME DOWN TO SLEEP” PORTRAIT OF A LITTLE BOY PRAYING

This vintage photograph features a young boy wearing night clothes deep in prayer. He has a far away look as he kneels and looks toward heaven. The photograph was taken by the Schriever studio in Emporium, Pennsylvania. The reverse of this photograph has an inscription with the name of the subject “James Speltz”. The name is difficult to decipher and I may be incorrect about the exact name. The inscription also reveals that the photograph was taken in 1897. James Beniface Schriever  (1868-1943) was a noted Pennsylvania photographer. He began his career in 1888. His original gallery was in the town of Kane. In 1890 he took his talent and went to work in Emporium. Between 1900 and 1937 he conducted his photography business in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Wilson’s Photographic Magazine (1900) announces the opening of Schriever’s Scanton studio and it appears that he was a talented in marketing. Music was played at the opening and invitations were sent to the public in the form of a legal summons. In 1900, Schriever was the President of the Pennsylvania Photographers Association. He was a 1906 member of the Scranton Board of Trade. He is reported in a “Rootsweb,com” entry to have photographed more than 130,000 people in Scranton during his career. He trained his nephew William G. Bair in the art of photography and sold the business to him in the early 1900’s. The business became known as the Bair Photo Studio. It burned down in the 1930’s. Schriever was also noted for his founding of the “American School of Art and Photography”. The school was actually a correspondence school that utilized the “Schriever System” to teach photography by mail. The course was entitled “The Complete Self Instructing Library of Practical Photography” (1908).  Schriever apparently was an innovator and an entrepreneur.The cartoon below is a caricature of J. B. Schriever from the book “The Story of Scranton” (1914) by Bill Steinke.    ADDENDUM: A visitor to this site left a comment that led to the likely identification of the child seen in this photograph. The commentator skillfully deciphered the inscription and posited that the name written is “James Keltz”. Research revealed that a James DeCoudrey Keltz (1888-1953)  lived in Emporium and nearby communities his entire life. The 1910 US census reported that he was working as an apprentice mechanic in a factory. His World War I draft registration papers revealed that he lived in Emporium. The 1920 US Census found him living in Shippen. He was married to Nancy Miller who was nine years his junior. They were married in 1918. He was working in the coal mines and the couple lived with his parents. The 1930 US census found Keltz living in Canton and working is an enamel room of a hanger factory. He died in 1953, at age 65, and was survived by his wife. His death certificate indicates that he died from “Circulation Black Pulmonary” disease due to asthma. It is my hypothesis that he died from Black Lung Disease related to his working in a coal mine in his younger days.

 

Published in: on June 24, 2017 at 4:58 pm  Comments (10)  
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PORTRAIT OF AN ADORABLE POUTING LITTLE BOY IN CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

Photographer Adolph Westphal photographed this wonderful carte de visite portrait of an adorable pouting little boy in Chicago, Illinois. Westphal (1835-1913) was a photographer in Prussia before he opened a photography studio in Chicago in 1864. He also bought a tavern which included a dance hall and beer garden. He eventually closed the tavern and began bottling beer. Wesphal’s son continued the carbonated soft drink business after his father died.                                                                                                              SOLD

Published in: on June 17, 2017 at 7:26 pm  Leave a Comment  
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THE MOST ADORABLE LITTLE BOY IN ASHLAND, KENTUCKY

An adorable little boy is featured in this cabinet card portrait from the Schmidt studio in Ashland, Kentucky. This cute child is wearing overalls, high top shoes and a terrific wide brimmed hat. Judging by his outfit, one might hazard a guest that he is growing up on a farm. The photographer of this photograph was John William Schmidt (1859-1943). He was a photographer in Ashland and at least at one time, his studio was located at 110 Greenup Avenue. His name can be found in Ashland directories including 1912 and 1930. He is listed as a photographer. He is also listed as a photographer in the 1910 and 1940 US census. Schmidt was born in Ohio and he was married to Alice Schmidt.   SOLD

Published in: on June 16, 2017 at 12:00 pm  Leave a Comment  
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PORTRAIT OF A HANDSOME WESTERN MAN IN SPOKANE, WASHINGTON

A handsome man poses for his portrait at “Casper’s Studio” in Spokane, Washington. An inscription on the reverse of this vintage real photo reveals that the gentleman’s name is Vincent Vergel Matson (1885-1978). Matson dressed up for this photograph. He is wearing a western vested suit and western hat. Matson was born is South Dakota. The 1900 US census finds him living with his family on the Blackfoot Indian Reservation in Teton, Montana. The 1910 census lists him as living in Edwards, Montana and working as a farmer. By 1920, he moved again. This time he was residing in North Bonners Ferry, Idaho and working as a laborer. He was still working as a laborer at the time of the 1930 census and he was living in a Boarding House in Spokane. He was living in Kalispell, Montana at the time he registered for the draft in 1942. He was listed in the 1943 Kalispell directory as a laborer. At the time of Matson’s death in 1978, he was living in Beaverhead, Montana. My research did not find any record of Matson ever marrying. One has to wonder if Matson was a bit of a drifter. He appears to have moved around a lot, not letting the grass grow under his feet. He had no wife or kids, and could take on labor work wherever he lived. This postcard has an AZO stamp box indicating that it was produced between 1904 and 1918.   (SOLD)

Published in: on June 15, 2017 at 12:00 pm  Leave a Comment  
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PORTRAIT OF A YOUNG GIRL WITH LONG HAIR IN BRUNN, GERMANY

A solemn young girl poses for her portrait at the Mayssl studio in Brunn, Germany. The girl has very long hair. A name is written in the top right corner of the cabinet card. The name likely belongs to the child seen in this image. The photographer, Mayssl had advertising printed on the reverse of the cabinet card. Included in the advertising are drawings of six medals that he had won in various photographic exhibitions.Included are London (1871), Vienna (1873), Paris (1874). The dates of these awards indicate that this cabinet card is likely from the 1870’s. There is also a German phrase on the back of the cabinet card that roughly translates to “Professor of Characters Art” (thank you Google Translate). Perhaps Mayssle was a teacher of photography.

Published in: on June 14, 2017 at 12:00 pm  Leave a Comment  
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MEET THE PIN BOYS: OCCUPATIONAL SNAPSHOT TAKEN AT A BOWLING ALLEY

 

This snapshot captures three pin boys as they work at a bowling alley. Pin boys, also known as pin setters were stationed in a sunken area of a bowling alley which was located behind the pins. The pin boy removed pins after they were knocked down, replaced pins each frame, and returned the bowlers ball. The day of pin boys is long over as automation and computers became employed in bowling alleys. At least two of the young men in this photo are smoking while they are working. The pin boys are wearing tee shirts, presumably because they were exerting themselves in a hot environment. Being a pin boy doesn’t look like a fun job.

Published in: on June 12, 2017 at 9:59 pm  Comments (2)  
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BEAUTIFUL GERMAN ACTRESS: HELI FINKENZELLER

This vintage real photo postcard features pretty German film actress Heli Finkenzeller (1911-1991). During her career she appeared in more than 80 films and television shows between 1935 and 1991. Among her films, she was known for Emil un die Detektive (1954), Teorie und Praxis (1962), and Unser Pauker (1965). She was married twice, to an actor (Will Dohm) and than to a film director (Alfred Bittins).  She is the mother of Gaby Dohm, an Austrian actress. During Finkenzeller’s youth she hoped to become an opera singer. She had an excellent voice but it was too weak for opera. Instead she became an actress. She was discovered for film by director Karl Ritter in 1935. She was popular in films for UFA. a German film company. Later in her career she became active as a stage actress. This postcard was produced by Verlag and is part of a series (no. A 3958/1). The photographer was Star Foto. The logo for Tobis Film appears on the front of the postcard. Tobis was a German film production and distribution company founded n the late 1920’s. The company was discontinued in 1942 when the Nazi controlled government combined it with three other studios (Terra Film, Bavaria Films, UFA) to form a single state controlled film company.

The duet below is from Boccacio (1936) and it features Heli Finkenzeller and Willy Fritsch. One source states that Finkenzeller got “help” with the singing from Rosl Seegers.

 

Published in: on June 10, 2017 at 12:00 pm  Comments (1)  
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