ANTIQUE FAMILY PHOTOS: New Antique Family Photos

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.

Monday, June 28, 2010

New Antique Family Photos

These photos are from my mom's side of the family. The first photo is my Great Great Grandma Wells. This was a postcard. The back of the card is included. I am told that she was a kind, gentle woman but she looks tough as nails in this photo.

The next photo is my Grandpa and Grandma Daugherty on their wedding day; My grandma lived into her 90s, and worked until she was 89 as a tax accountant, then decided she had "other things she wanted to do!

I love her hairdo and dress. She looks so elegant. My very best memories of growing up were staying with these grandparents in Salem, Oregon in the 1940's and '50's.

These were my grandparents with their family--he brought the two kids on the right into the marriage. The girl with her arm around my grandma was my mom.

One more photo; my grandpa always wore these overalls. He must have just come home from his Post Office work (on his bicycle) and put the overalls on. He was the gentlest, kindest man I knew! They grew their own veggies and fruits on their farm, the food they served was wonderful.
The third story of their home was a boarding house for college students. They were always cooking and baking.

One funny story, lots of people used the electric clothes ringers then, loading the clothes directly from the washer into the ringer from which it dropped into a bin. My grandma said a friend of hers was doing this naked, and her tit got caught in a wringer! She didn't go into detail about what happened afterward, but I can imagine it wasn't fun!