We recently acquired this fabulous 8 x 10 photo at a local flea market.  A talented amateur photographer back in the 1940’s was able to combine a shot of a pretty girl with a shot of a typical five and dime pulpy paper mache jack o’lantern.  The result is an image designed to make one do a double take.  If only such a jack o’lantern in that size really existed!  (Alas, in reality, he is probably only about eight inches high.)

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The corners of the groom’s mouth are slightly upturned.  Not so the bride’s.

She looks like she might still be a teenager.  He looks nearly old enough to be her father.  The facial expression and body language speak volumes.

No one looks particularly happy here.  The flowers are quite beautiful, though.

Someone must have made a pass at a girl who wore glasses but she doesn’t seem happy about it.

Both bride and groom look desperately like they want the photo session to end.

Hopefully the photographer did not tell the bride to think of her husband-to-be as he snapped the photo.

This petite bride seems to be pondering how she’s going to tell her lanky groom to find another hair stylist.

Stiff and formal but certainly not ecstatically happy.

Standing next to his beautiful bride, the groom appears to stoically accept his fate.

Of course, it’s natural for brides and grooms to be nervous and apprehensive on their wedding day.  Most likely, they are dressed in the most expensive clothes they will ever wear with dozens upon dozens of family members and friends looking on.  It’s an occasion that calls for a certain amount of solemnity and gravity.  No one knows, at this point, what the future holds.

But what about the couples who are celebrating their golden anniversary?  Surely fifty years of working together as a team leads to happiness and gratitude…doesn’t it?

This couple looks slightly happy – or at least bemused – about the fuss generated by their golden anniversary.

In this case, the wife has seemingly enjoyed those five decades of marriage, but the husband is clearly worn out.

It doesn’t get much happier than this.  Could they be any further apart?

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I don’t know who these people are.  Random family photos like this turn up in my possession all the time.  Clearly this is an important meal, and judging by the gigantic turkey on the table, I’m going to assume it’s Thanksgiving sometime in the late 1930’s or early 1940’s.  I wonder why Norman Rockwell didn’t paint this family scene; it’s Americana at its finest.  Please note as well the stacks of plain white bread prominently displayed on the table.  Where are the Pillsbury Crescent Rolls?  You may laugh, but a buttered piece of white bread was usually an accompaniment to my holiday feasts as a child in the 1950’s, too.  We can only imagine the scintillating conversation going on here based on on the lone man at the table who is about to doze off.  That’s the great fun of collecting old photos.  You try to imagine who these people were and the kind of lives they led.  One thing I can’t figure out, though.  Why was this photo blown up to a gigantic 11 by 14 size?

HAPPY THANKSGIVING FROM ALL OF US AT COLLECTORGENE!

Collecting enriches our lives, and we are very thankful for that.

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This trip did not yield as many photos as I wish it had, but I’m sure Jim would say that I found enough.  Here are some of my favorites.

These two snapshots were found in the same bowl and were priced at a quarter each.  I suspect they came from the same family and possibly the same trip.  I love the guy standing next to the giant ox/long horn steer.  We found several giant tourist attraction statues on this trip, particularly in North Dakota, so I could relate to this snapshot.  The second photo shows some sort of cheesy tourist trap.  I wonder what the shrunken body inside the building looked like?  Was it a real deal or some fake thing?  I also love the old Coca-Cola sign.

I like family snapshots if they tell a story.  Both of these fit the bill.  The top photo of the dad and his two sons is dated 1960 and appears to have been taken on Easter.  Everyone is very nattily dressed, especially Dad.  You have to wonder if he was ever seen in public again wearing that coat.  The second photo is a genre that I have several examples of – people holding birthday cakes.  I’m wondering why there are two cakes here.  It must have been a big party.  I like the look of pride on both the boy and the grandmother.

This little boy looks happy enough to be dressed in his sailor suit and Mary Jane shoes, but he sure wouldn’t survive a minute in today’s world.

This is a real photo postcard with no identification whatsoever.  It’s a beautiful family portrait from the early 1900’s.  You can’t help but wonder how life turned out for this family.  The little girl is so sweet and serious about posing nicely for the photographer.

This is a large sepia photo that measures 7 1/2 by 9 1/2 inches.  It was found in a shop in Helena, MT priced at $3.  It was taken by a photographer from North Columbia, California.  North Columbia was a gold rush town in the Sierra Nevadas.  This photo probably dates to the 1880’s.  The house looks sturdy and somewhat prosperous.  I suspect the three people in the center are a married couple and their young son.  I wonder if the young man on the left is their other son.  The other three gentlemen could be relations or workers who board with them.  Clearly, everyone is dressed in his/her finest clothes and there are several pocket watches and/or fobs on display.  If only photos could talk, what stories could they tell?

This wedding photo from Sumner, Iowa was found in a shop in Montana.  Having been to Iowa and knowing that Iowa was settled by immigrants from European countries like Norway and Czechoslovakia, I was intrigued by the bride’s elaborate wedding veil, clearly an indication of her ethnic origin.  Unfortunately, I don’t know what that is.  To me, the photo is a visual reminder of the many people who came to the United States looking for a better life, with marriage being the real starting point for a family.

Last, but not least, here is the photo that I can most relate to.  I call it “The Barbie Girls.”  These young ladies are probably about two years younger than me because they are posing with their new bubble-cut Barbie dolls.  I never got to that point with my Barbie “collection.”  I had one and only one doll, and she was a ponytail version.  The bubble-cuts came out in 1961, so I believe this photo dates to about that time or possibly 1962.  Note that a couple of the girls even have shirts that match Barbie’s black and white striped bathing suit.  Also note that one poor girl who doesn’t even show in the photo is holding a fake Barbie!  My heart goes out to her.  This little snapshot was one of my favorite finds at the gigantic Gold Rush Days Flea Market in Oronoco, MN.

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I spent my Mother’s Day doing what I enjoy most – antiquing with my family – and I turned up this circa 1880-90 photo at a Pennsylvania flea market earlier today.  This looks like an immigrant grandmother cuddling her young grandchildren.  Note the antique doll – and grandma’s warts!

This hand-tinted photo from the 1930’s shows a proud grandmother with her decidedly uncomfortable grandson.  The facial expressions and body language say it all.  Based on grandma’s spring coat and corsage, this most likely was taken on Easter, but it could have been taken on Mother’s Day as well.  Look carefully and you’ll see grandpop with coffee cup in hand, too.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there.  Maybe next year I’ll show lovely young mothers with their beautiful babies, but ferreting out photos like these is much more fun.

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It’s October, the month when grown men do crazy things like this.  This vintage photo, most likely from the 1960’s, is from my collection.  It’s hard to say why these men are in costume, but let’s assume it’s a Halloween party at the local American Legion or men’s club.  The guy who’s supposed to be Mr. Clean REALLY looks like Mr. Clean.  My favorite is the “house frau” on the right.  Note that the youngest guy has the lamest costume.  One of the best parts of getting older is not caring what others think.  By that measure, I’ll bet the man in the coconut bra is the oldest!

Get your costume on.  Halloween is coming!

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This photo was a recent addition to my collection.  How can anyone view it without smiling at least a little?

These men, who look to be about sixty years old – give or take a few years, are obviously good buddies.  They  visited a photography studio in Atlantic City and commemorated their vacation with this photo.

Are the bathing suits studio props or their own suits?  I guess we’ll never know, but I’m sure, based on other photos and postcard views of the era, that this is, indeed, what men in the early part of the 20th century would wear to the beach.  Made of itchy wool that clung to the body when wet and took forever to dry out, those early bathing suits seem like torture devices to us.  But in an era when even the wealthiest person sweated in the heat and humidity of summer without benefit of air conditioning, a trip to the beach and a dip in the cool waves of the ocean was a welcome respite.  And as silly as those suits look to us today, I’m sure they felt comfortable when compared to the long sleeve shirts, stiff collars, and long wool slacks that every man wore no matter how hot it was.

How do I know for sure that this was taken in 1911?  Here’s what it says on the back of the card:

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