These lovely portraits of Pearl Leora Waterson were found with family photos that once belonged to Pearl’s sister, Fern (Waterson) Hardenburg. The image above is my favorite. I feel as if Pearl is looking right through me. Pearl was born in Olivet, Michigan on Feb. 7, 1889, and was the oldest of three children born … More Pearl Leora Waterson
How many faces do you see in this moody 1870s Victorian portrait? I’ll provide my answer at the end of the post. This antique cabinet photo features the Sturges siblings; Wallace, Eva, and Clara, as well as Eva’s husband Frank Watson. According to writing on the reverse Frank and Clara are standing. Click Image to … More Many-Faced Portrait
This photobooth image and the newspaper clipping below were found together on eBay. According to the unsourced article, “Albert Meadows, 28, of 78 Lagrave-av., S.E., was fatally injured near Mancelona when the car on whose bumper he was standing was struck by another automobile. Meadows died in Petoskey hospital.” Albert Dean Meadows was born November … More Fatally Hurt
This sitter’s intense gaze is what caught my attention. He is identified on the reverse of this carte de visite as Mr. L.G. Fisher. From the other notations (see below) it appears this image was sent to a photographer to be enlarged. I suspect it was for use at his funeral. Born in 1836, Linas … More Foot Soldier
In 1901, George Wenham was a boarder in the home of William Juby in Picton, Ontario, Canada, and based on the photo’s mounting style, as well as the girl’s dress, it was about that time that he sat for this photo. The photographer was W.F. Johnson of Picton. The writing on the reverse reads “Uncle … More The Lodger
This is a cabinet card photograph, identified on the back as “Mabel F. Greene, 5 years old, 1883.” The photographer was W.C. Foote of Flint, Michigan. I was attracted to the image because I’m a knitter, and the little girl is wearing knitted mittens. I imagined the mother, a grandmother, or maybe an aunt, knitting … More She Wore Mittens
I fell for this cabinet card the second I saw it in The Wurdeman Studio shop. The matching dresses, the doll, the girl pointing towards the sky, combined with the fact that the sitters were identified, pushed me to hit the add to cart button. The Frey sisters, Leah Adda (10) and Bessie J. (8), sat … More The Hope of Heaven
Sarah Jane “Jennie” Gregory first said “I do” when she was 64 years old. She wed Theodore A. Collier, 62, in Pontiac, Michigan, on February 27, 1912. It was his first trip to the altar, as well. As strange as this late-in-life marriage may seem, what makes it all the more interesting is that the … More Secret Lovers
I admired this cased ambrotype, along with a smaller, cased tintype (shown at the end of this post), for at least a year, as they sat listed on etsy. The seller mistakenly identified the sitter as William Wallace. He overlooked the next word, which I came to discover was the surname of Hungerford. William Wallace Hungerford … More Living with Hoboes
During a trip to a local antique mall, I was excited to see quite a few newly offered antique photo albums, tintypes, ambrotypes and daguerrotypes. That excitement grew by leaps and bounds when I flipped through the albums and discovered that they came from the same family. It was a dream find!
the rescued photo 