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My goal has been to get through the MOUNTAIN of bins, boxes, plastic bags, envelopes, photo boxes full of five generations of photos my family never bothered to label or sort.
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| oldnewgreenredo |
I think this is my dad and his sisters, circa 1935-ish in the middle of the Depression and a big Wisconsin snow.
They were compulsive photo takers/and so far many are multiples.
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| oldnewgreenredo |
Great Grandparents in early 1890's, Denmark.
Some are formal photos...this is an engagement/wedding photo.
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| oldnewgreenredo |
We also have photos of my husband's Bohemian Czech family, this is from the 1880s who came to Wisconsin in the 1850's.(centerfront and right) the rest are their six grown children.
Hubby has tons of relatives and photos.
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| oldnewgreenredo |
1910-11 in Denmark. They all came to Wisconsin, several times, a long story.
My great-grandparents' came from Lithuania and Denmark
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| oldnewgreenredo |
Farm outside Lokken Denmark.
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| oldnewgreenredo |
Early 1890's. Everyone here stayed in Denmark.
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| oldnewgreenredo |
So, I have photos from there-pre1890's, and from every trip they took back.
My mom on a steamer to Denmark 1929 (she was 7)
My parent's photo stash isn't any better.
My Dad took a brownie camera to WWII and boot camp, he was stationed in New Guinea, Philipines, Borneo, and finally Australia with a Portable Medical Corps, the precursor to M.A.S.H. units.
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| oldnewgreenredo |
Dad is 3rd from left.
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| oldnewgreenredo |
So I have all those from the war, unlabeled. I can trace his units movements from Army records...this could be Luzon, Philipines, or Borneo, or New Guinea. The surgical hospital followed the action.
I have business photos of: telephone operators,
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| oldnewgreenredo |
1943 Long Distance Operators, from an old photocopy?
no source My mom worked with these ladies, in 1941-2.
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| oldnewgreenredo |
My Dad had a service station and an Omar bakery truck,
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| oldnewgreenredo |
our family's fish market, opening in1922
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| oldnewgreenredo |
1964 Local Kringle Festival at the fish market. My grandmother in costume.
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| oldnewgreenredo |
My Mom--1964, a 'Fisker' woman...!
I also have photos in restaurants, and of dairy trucks, and fishing boats.
More than that, every birthday and holiday.
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| oldnewgreenredo |
Mother's Day 1955 my grandmother made all these dresses for my cousins.
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| oldnewgreenrdo |
Easter 1956--yes, that is a turquoise/navy Hudson vehicle.
EVERY HOLIDAY,
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| oldnewgreenredo |
My 11th birthday (on right) with the cousins at the kid's table, my poor cousin center was 14...how humiliating! I was 5 foot 5-135# with size 10 feet. I was an Amazon in 5th grade.
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| oldnewgreenredo |
Every Anniversary (25th for my Grandparents)1955
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| oldnewgreenredo |
about 1984 for another family Birthday at the local Dania Hall.
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| oldnewgreenredo |
Grandparent's 25th Anniversary formal party with music--1955
and ALL the
graduations, confirmations, baptisms and a few funerals.
Yes, photos of people in their coffins, sent home to the 'old country' and the same coming back. I'll spare you those.
Some bring back pleasant memories and some sad...
1962
My 14th birthday and my first pair of heels, stockings and lipstick.
Some are just silly...
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| oldnewgreenredo |
Hot dates---prom dates the day after...sorry Mic and Bob! 1966.
Some are just silly
,,,and some are inspiring.
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| oldnewgreenredo |
How about the 'we should have...,' photos?
My dad spied an early box 'camper' at a vacation expo in the 1950's. So he decided to make a pull-behind trailer with a tent on it. Always a handyman, he built one of his own design in 1954-5. I remember it consisted of a 4'x8 foot plywood box, with a two fold-out doors, 2'x8' that were the lid---which became bunks, with some nifty side supports. My bed was another board supported between the two crosswise on a separate piece of plywood,
2'x4' I was only 7.
Dad bragged it was made from only 3 pieces of plywood.
An old smelly canvas tent was supported by a center pole, with the bottom cut out..and tied around everything. It all just worked.
We were quite the hit of the campground with our little gray trailer and moldy tent.
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| oldnewgreenredo |
Here is the first camping trip---on St.Germaine Lake in N.Wisconsin for two whole weeks in 1955, I think. We were plagued by rain, but we were off the ground and dry!
We had to put all the food and coolers in the car at night (bears and raccoons) and their 'little' paw prints were all over the tables each morning.
However,
my mom was a person who had to do everything correctly.
We had cloth tablecloths and napkins--a double dishpan for a sink, a folding (cardboard and wood) card-table for the kitchen.
The fire supported a huge kettle of hot-water for all her ceramic dishes. She even brought a dish-rack to drain them. Long story short---her professional set-up was health conscious, however the soapy hot water softened the table top which was supporting the legs. It caved on the uneven ground. All the dishes collapsed into a heap of shards. She was horrified--with all the broken crockery on the ground. A passing fellow camper stood and watched.
His comment---"I betcha, it's the first time camping?"
A large portion of our meager vacation funds went to a set of Melmac dishes(my mother hated them), purchased new in town just for camping.
This whole story came from looking at that one photograph....!
And there are thousands, more to move on to!
My dad always said he 'shoulda' patented the trailer design.
Now, we have online files/photo applications and sorting systems at our finger tips...blogging has helped at least record some of these photos and their history.
Well, what have you found in
your familys' photos?
Thanks always for visiting.
Linking to these wonderful blog parties:
All the opinions and photographs in this blog are my own, I have not been paid or reimbursed in anyway for my opinions or posts. Please do not use photos without linking back to this blog without my permission. Thank you for your cooperation, Sandi Magle
What a treasure trove to have all those wonderful old photos! They are amazing! And that camper/camping story is fun and sad. Your poor mother tried so hard! Our family used to go camping like that too, but we didn't have a tent above ground like yours...ours was on the ground, and we blew up air mattresses (by mouth) to sleep on, which went flat by morning. My mother worked hard to make sure we had good food...but I do think we used plastic dishes and metal cups. Those were some of my best family memories from my childhood. I enjoyed this walk down memory lane with you. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteYes, the pics bring back all those memories. I could do a thousand of these posts I have so many photos...ugh, hard to part with them, and my kids don't want them...by all means do a post of your photos...I find it so interesting! Sandi
DeleteYou have such wonderful photos, Sandi! Your camping story made me laugh. I can just picture that table collapsing and the look on your Mother's face! Melmac dishes? Now that brings back some memories!
ReplyDeleteLOL,...yea, she was a bit caught up in doing everything properly...tablecloth...cloth napkins...LOL. We eventually had a cottage, where she could foof the whole vacation times and cook full meals. Me, I loved soggy sandwiches on a boat while fishing. Thanks for stopping by. Sandi
DeleteYou are so lucky to have this treasure trove of photos dating back to many years. They are wonderful and oh, they do tell stories. We never camped but I think our mothers would have agreed about melmac dishes. They have their uses but oh, how they go against the grain! I, too, have countless old photos and yes, they tell stories also. I cherish them.
ReplyDeleteOh, please share, I think they are good for the soul, to remember...those sweet dresses my grandmother made for 5 granddaughters. We all got Easter dresses, and 5 new school dresses every Fall...and of course Christmas PJ.s. Something I had forgotten about until looking at photos. Sigh...Thanks for visiting, and do share! Sandi
DeleteThese are such a treasure! I love finding photos like this, and especially when I know the stories behind them. The connection to family is so, so special. I'm so happy for you to have this! I'm visiting from the Busy Mondy linkup. I'd love to see you share this at my linkup as well, if you like: https://lifetalesbooks.blogspot.com/p/calling-fellow-bloggers.html
ReplyDeleteSandi, I enjoyed this post very much; looking back at photos is wonderful and brings back many memories.
ReplyDeleteSandi,
ReplyDeleteAll great pictures...Ever notice that pictures from the 50's of families all look the same...Crazy, huh? You ahve a great treasure trove of pictures...Several years ago, I went through and reorganized all my own pictures and just recently, I started working on my Mother's pictures that i became the keeper of when she passed away 22 years ago...Yes, It has taken me this long...I also went through numerous newspaper clippings and paperwork..It still have to do a few more things that has to do with storing what I did decide to keep...I hope you had a lovely Labor Day weekend!!
Hugs,
Deb
Debbie-Dabble Blog
Sandi, I swear I could swap out some of those photos with the exact same ones I have and no one would know!! Same clothes, decor, poses, hair!! I love it. My dad was also stationed abroad in WWII and I traced his missions (army air force gunner) through records. We too have a few photos of the plane and his time serving. So interesting and it's always fun to look back.
ReplyDelete