School daze

I know i'm quite late for back to school, but better now than never. Im not quite sure if these young men are related, however both of these photos came from the same lot, so its a good possibility.

I'll never grow up

This photo has one of the best shadows i have ever seen. I love how both the photographer and the woman's shadow seem to tower over them. It feels just like peter pan. For them, it was probably just a side effect, they were more interested in the dress.

A man on each arm

Such a great freeze frame of some of the fashion of the era. I just adore the sailor themed outfit the girl is wearing. It must have been pretty muddy out, as they appear to have rain boots on. There is nothing on the other side to tell where in the world we are. Maybe its better to just guess.

Death

Some photos don't need words on the back to tell a story. This one looks to be at a funeral or hospital. The whittled flowers make it all the more sad. It's one of the smallest photos in my collection.

Ain't she sweet

Even though this is a minuscule photo, less than an inch, it has amazing clarity. On the back, written in fountain pen is:

Ain't she sweet. Incidentally, the spots on my face belong to the veil, not my face                                                            July 1939.

I love this caption. I wonder why she had that veil. Perhaps she was at a funeral, but I feel this was a happier occasion. The background gives us nothing else to go on, but it seems to be chosen carefully. The photographer looks to be somewhat skilled. Or, it as just a fluke. Who knows.

Tiny

One of the defining features of found photos is the size of them. There are very few large no  professional photos. most vernacular ones are no bigger than 6" by 4". Anything more than that is an enlargement. Amateur photography wasn't meant to be large and filled with detail. It was just supposed to document a person or place or event. In the same way as he telephone was only clear enough to hear another voice the consumer photograph was meant to show just enough to get a rough idea of what happened. This one is on the smaller end, measuring less than an inch. However, this one looks to be cut from another, larger photograph. How big it was originally is a mystery.

Two of hearts

These two photos came in a large grab bag on ebay (you can see others by using the 300 tag). Sometimes when you have more photos you get more clues, like where they are, what they are doing and even who they are. Other times, it just raises more questions. Is that woman the babies Mother, or a relative, or someone else? Is the photographer the dad, or an uncle? Where are they? There are no clues on the back, only some prices on the back from an antique store. I guess sometimes things have to stay a mystery.

Smile for grandma; grandmas already smiling

It looks as if the dark room cropping didn't go so well, but it was still a nice thought. Im going to guess Thats its the boy developing this in his basement or garage, but I could be wrong. From the paper, Id guess this was mid 40s to early 50s, but thats just a hunch. This is from an eBay lot I bought So if its from there I'll put 300 In the links.

Joan

Here is Joan. That is all we will ever know about her. Thats unfortunate, but that is the case. However, there will be more of her coming next week. This photo was originally sepia, but due to scanning issues this is the best you'll get. This photo was originally an inch by half an inch. In other words, its tiny! But even with that, you can still see that Mona Lisa smile.