The Chamberlain triplets were born on November 25, 1863, in Chippawa, Ontario, Canada, a village located just 6 miles from Niagara Falls, New York. Elizabeth, Sarah, and Susan were the youngest of nine children born to John and Anna (Munn) Chamberlain. The girls immigrated to the US with their parents about 1881 and the family … More Trick or Triplet
Marie Brooks might not have been wearing literal short shorts, (a song by The Royal Teens in 1957 and featured in Nair commercials in the 1970s and 80s), but I say her outfit counts which makes her a woman ahead of her time. Here she is in the late 1940s at 523 N. Franklin, Marshall, … More Who Wears Short Shorts?
The man on the bicycle is Paul Curd, identified by writing on the reverse of this worn vintage snapshot. Was he the author of the writing? Or was it penned by a girlfriend or admirer? I discovered not one but two men that are a match to our bicyclist, and they were cousins. Robert and … More The Only One
The headlines read She Stole Babies! Even more alarming was that Hazel Oden wasn’t your usual kidnapper. She was an eight-year-old little girl. In 1927, Hazel was living at 2706 Wabash Avenue in Los Angeles, California with her parents and 12 siblings. Her modus operandi was to wheel a buggy around the neighborhood until she … More She Stole Babies
Happy New Year! I hope to get back to sharing identified photos this year. For now, this great photobooth from my collection will have to do.
Our sitter in this 1860s ambrotype photo is Mrs. Jemima P. (Goodfellow) Brittain. When she died in 1905, at the age of 93, she was the oldest woman in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania. Miss Jemima Goodfellow married Alem Brittain, a Methodist Reverend, in 1834. She was the mother of eight children. Thanks to the detail oriented individual … More Vigorous for her Age
I came across this tintype of a lovely young couple on etsy. I immediately recognized the name scrawled on the pale pink paper frame…Fayette Selleck. It took me a few minutes to realize why that name was familiar but I soon put it all together. Fayette was the husband of Sarah A. Thomas of Glens … More It’s a Small World
These carte de visites of John Clement and Olivia (Brown) Clifford and their children were taken in June of 1864. This seemingly happy little family didn’t remain little for long. And when it came to happy…I’ll let you decide. Before we get into the Clifford’s life story let’s take a moment to appreciate this tattered … More Whiskey and Beer
Iva Mae Earley, 16, married Nathan Robert McDonald, a 22 year old farmer. They settled in Childress, Texas. In 1931 they welcomed a daughter, Maxine, who died of pneumonia at just 1 month old. Nathan gave up farming and went back to school, graduating from Shield of Faith Bible Institute in Fort Worth, Texas in … More Just After We Were Married
Spoiler…I’ve since found proof that this is not Sarah (Thomas) Selleck but I’m leaving this post as it was originally written. Click here to see a photo of the true Sarah. This cased ambrotype was picked up by a fellow collector in Connecticut. I loved the subject’s expression and pose and decided to add it … More Sarah A. Thomas…Is it you?
the rescued photo 