ANTIQUE FAMILY PHOTOS: Lena as a young lady with hope; then as a widow

ANTIQUE PHOTOS BLOG

I love antique photos. You can learn so much about how things have changed, and again how little has. We inherited 3 trunks of photos from the late 1800's to the 1940s and 50's. Most came from an enigmatic, extremely hard working but photo-loving woman named Lena, an ancestor of my husband, born in 1879. She had more contacts, more postcards (several hundreds) and more photos of herself taken than anyone who is not a well know celebrity. She seems to have collected antique photos from all around her. She unfortunately didn't identify many, only writing "Lena" on many given to her. I think she assumed she would remember, and of course after that it wouldn't matter!

We are still sorting through all the stuff trying to piece together Lena's fascinating and sometimes tragic life. Meanwhile, here are a variety of photos, including some of the highest (and lowest!) fashion.

I have also included the very old family photos I have from my mom's side of the family.

I hope you enjoy, and thank you for visiting my blog.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Lena as a young lady with hope; then as a widow

It looks like I've gone through most or all of the trunks and separated out pictures and letters to and about (and, rarely) from Lena. I do have to go back through the "unknown" photos, of which there are a jillion, and start to identify some. Today when I was finishing up the last lot I found a couple of great photos of Lena. I haven't found any more pictures that I think are from before she became a widow. But here are a couple that I think must have been soon after. In addition, I have included some of Lena's diary entries from 1900. These were in one of those "liver tonic" booklets, which had plenty of blank lined pages to write in, and plenty more medical advice on why the liver tonic would cure all your ailments. Lena wrote (rather awful) romantic poetry (at least I think it's hers) and about some experiences which touched her heart .