Time to share some more old photos.
I've been scanning a stash of old photographs of my stepmother's family. Many were taken in Scotland. I hope some of you will have more oldies to add to this thread.
My stepmother's parents, Bob and Mary in NYC, with their firstborn, Bobbie, in 1909. They became U.S. citizens in 1906.
Glasgow, Scotland: I recognize Bob's sister Jean at far right. Perhaps the others are the rest of his sisters.
Bob on the streets of NYC in the 1920s.
He (center) was a very skilled bricklayer who worked on mosaic art in the original Penn Station. He never bragged about it; his daughter found out when they were at the station and she commented on the beautiful designs. I can't identify the building below.
My stepmother, Marion (3), with her brother, Bobbie (4), visiting Scotland in 1913.
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Today's photos - some new some old.
Comments (7)Yes, Bill, it's a mystery why some p*lants grow and some don't. I think that it is just so much more complicated then we can see, how plants thrive. Yet it appears to us that p*lants grow so simply. Quite the conundrum. That is very interesting about your lilac. I never had anything growing under it, so maybe I will try that some time. Claire, I am putting Thalia on my list for the fall. I think I am going overboard on daffodils lately. [g] They look so small when you first plant them, but they really fill out into large patches after a few years. I moved a patch into an area with not enough sun in the fall and it had no blooms at all on it this spring. So I think I am running out of enough sun. The Haweras are very cute and not so much dying foliage to put up with either. I did see the plant support and wondered if you had it in place for something that hasn't grown yet. [g] That Dicentra GoldHeart really catches my eye every time I see it. Really stands out. Wow, when that gets full grown! I really like Pieris and I hope I can keep them going in my g*arden. I fear I am too dry for them, but I water a lot, so maybe....See MoreIt's time to post some more old family photographs
Comments (25)This is another recent find: My stepmother, age 3, with her maternal grandmother in Scotland. The back of the photo says "Marion with Wee Granny." I guess this grandmother wasn't very tall. :-) Wee Granny's name was Marion Orr Hughes. Her daughter Mary emigrated to America with her new husband shortly after their wedding. They returned with their children--a boy, 4, and a girl, 3--for a visit several years later, but never went back after that. It must have been so hard for the parents in the old country . . . no email, no Skype, no jet travel. I've often thought the same thing about the parents of American pioneers. To see their grown children and grandchildren venture out in a covered wagon, not knowing what might befall them. Anyway, here's little Marion and big (or not) Marion....See MoreTime for another thread of old family photos
Comments (58)Alisande: About the Arminta photo My mother assumed this photo was the original, but on examination, I think it may be a copy that was made as part of manual rework. My photo shows signs of manual work on the image, particularly in her hair and shading around her ear. It appears that this image has hand drawn features, i.e., rework. It may have been a spoiled image that was repaired. My guess about the process is thus: A working copy was made of the original. This copy was enhanced using charcoal and artist pencils detailing a number of features. The reworked image was photographed and that's what I have, one of those copies. You may be correct about her age in this photo. She seems older than 16 to 18 years. I would guess mid-twenties. Its my theory that she would not have sat for a portrait during the period of 1861 through ca 1870 because she would not have had the means nor money to spend on non-essentials. This pushes the date out of the Civil War period and toward her marriage in the 1870s. Some important dates in photography: 1851: Wet Plate, Glass Frederick Scott Archer, a British photographer, coated a glass plate with a sticky, wet substance called collodain. This glass plate was dipped in light sensitive silver salts and it had to remain moist during the exposure, hence the term, wet plate photography. (The coating would crackle if it dried out before further processing.) 1856: Ferrotypes or Tintypes Photographers began using thin metal plates instead of glass to hold the collodion emulsion. These plates were called ferrotypes, and became known as tintypes. The images on ferrotypes are reversed left to right. A lady may appear to have a wedding ring on her right hand; For years, folks thought that Billy, the Kid was left handed until it was realized that his image was reversed on the tintype. 1861: Matthew Brady produced the first of his famous Civil War photographs. (Brady's crew, not Brady himself made most of the photos from the front lines. However, the Brady Civil War photos were a private effort organized and financed by Brady.) 1871: Invention of the dry plate process A British physician, Richard L. Maddox, replaced the collodion with gelatin. The gelatin could dry on the plate without cracking or harming the silver salts. This eliminated the need for a photographer to carry around a darkroom and lab with him. This was one of the greatest advances in photography. Late 1870s, light sensitivity of gelatins were improved. Early Daguerrotypes required an exposure of 10 minutes of more (tough for portraits!). The new gelatins of the late 1870s could be exposed in 1/25 second,...See MoreI'll try to share some more photos
Comments (14)I don't resize either. Maybe I should but that would involve me learning how on my very limited editing program (if I even have that feature?) and I'm not up to it.........My favorites are Kitty Bannerman, Lucky Streak and Acquire the Fire. Interestingly enough, that deep red you get on Acquire the Fire is the same here in our climate (heat index = 110 F Tuesday, actual temperature 104 F) - with exceptional colorfast/sunfast qualities for such a dark color. That makes it one remarkable daylily in my book.................Maryl...See More
10 years agoI love seeing your pictures. I hope my big box of family pictures survived the flood. I have no idea, stuff was moved to the storage units so I won't know until we get to bring stuff back in. My mom right after they got married.
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Alisande thanked hooked123- 10 years ago
Those pictures are wonderful to have, Sabbath. Thanks for sharing!
Here's a couple more from Scotland. This one just says "Thomas Cooper, he died in 1892." I don't recognize the name.
And here's my stepgrandfather, Bob, seated in a chair at far left. I don't know what this group represents . . . maybe a trade school? A sports team? He did love "football" (soccer).
- 10 years agoMy father 60 years ago with his pet monkey, they lived overseas and I guess people had pet monkeys?? I hope this practice has stopped the poor monkey, it's neat to see old photos.
Alisande thanked hooked123 - 10 years agoMy Grandparents 67 years ago, they have both passed. I recently went to New York and had the opportunity to see the homes they lived in when they were children, just after they had immigrated. That was a dream that I never imagined would come true!
Alisande thanked hooked123 - 10 years ago
10 years agoOK, hard to choose just a few.
My oldest brother when he was about five, maybe 1943
My youngest brother when he was probably in kindergarten, so maybe age 5, so 1958? And I never realized how much these two look alike at this age. Oh yeah, and I gave him that scar over his eye. :)
Then a picture of the middle brother, my mom and me, 1951.
Last, but not least, cousin Norma. Not sure of the year, but I think it had to be in the 1940's.
Alisande thanked murraysmom Zone 6a OH- 10 years ago
My G-G-Great grandmother, Phoebe (McCoy) Brown
Estimated date of photo: 1850. This daguerreotype was removed from its frame to scan the full photo. The dotted marks on the picture was made by the outline of the framing bezel. The bezel was made from a thin copper sheet.
She was born before there was photography, but lived long enough to see the invention and development of photography. She was an elderly lady when she sat for this portrait. Major events during her lifetime were the War of 1812, opening of Illinois for settlement, Illinois statehood, Black Hawk War of 1832, Mexican War, and the Civil War. As a young girl, she lived in NC, moved with the Franklins to Franklin Co, TN, married there, started a family and then removed to Illinois. She was a frontier woman enduing hardships of clearing and developing a farm in southern Illinois while delivering about 6 home birth children. In about 1843, she lost her husband. He had made a trip into Missouri to look for another location and was never heard of again. The last contact the family had was a letter posted in St. Louis. Phoebe died on Christmas Day while visiting her daughter.
Alisande thanked jemdandy 
10 years agoSpring 1942 - 100% of the Production Department at Danly Machine Specialty, Cicero, Illinois purchased war bonds. My father was an industrial engineer, a time/motion study person (efficiency expert).
- 10 years agolast modified: 10 years agoPicking sour cherries in the back yard, 1947
My mother helping to dig the leach well, 1947
My mother and me walking on the sidewalk after a bit of rain, 1947
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I'm enjoying all these wonderful pictures! Thanks so much for sharing.
Jim, what's a lech well? Your mom looks like a fun person. Murraysmom, cute kids! Were you the only girl? I was an only child. Always wished for siblings. Still do! Jem, it's great that you know so much about your family history. That's a rare photo to have.
I'm so spoiled when it comes to old photographs. Two of my grandparents were opera singers, so I have their publicity stills from the late 1800s and early 1900s. Plus my dad (their son) was an avid amateur photographer who loved to photograph people. Many of my friends and relatives appreciate to this day the pictures he took back at a time when not many people had cameras, at least not good ones. My mom was his favorite model, but he also documented every bit of my childhood. I have thousands of prints, slides, and negatives.
Here I am on vacation in Quebec. The little boy spoke only French, and wouldn't share his crayons unless I asked for each color in French. I learned quickly. ;-)
In the "play date" thread I talked about growing up in an apartment building with my two best friends, Pat and Carolyn. Here they are.
Here's one of my mom before she and my dad were married.
And after.
One of my mom's sisters
And my grandmother on stage (in a dark wig).
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We did not have sewers as we do now. The leach well took the water from laundry and let it 'leach' into the surrounding soil. We had no storm drains either, which is why all that water was on the sidewalk, also no curbs.
That 1947 leach well had to be redone. It was 1955 and it was better built. My older sister and my younger brother and I deep down.
Spring, 1951. Either just before or just after church/Sunday School. Somewhere along the line, I misplaced that hat! Wish I had it back.
My father, age 18 while visiting a friend at University of Illinois. Nice robe!
My mother, age 19. I don't know what occasion it was for the corsage.
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This is my dad in 1931. I'm guessing my mom took it. They got married in November, 1930.
hooked123