Friday, September 29, 2006

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COMMENT: OLD PHOTOGRAPHS at MORBACK HOUSE


"It is sobering to realize how one little story can keep someone living on in a descendant's memory. Once that story is forgotten, the person vanishes as if he never existed." --Charles Simic, The New York Review, October 5,2006
These are but two of the many mystery photographs the Sherwood Historical Society has received. They are of people who may or may not have lived here at one time. We just don't know. What were their names? What did they know that we might benefit from today? We will probably never know.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Would you consider posting some more of your "unknown" photographs and maybe some of us can help identify them?

JayCeeSmock said...

Good thought! We have quite a number. Even if we can't name the people, maybe we could explain other things about them. For example, during what year would a Sherwood woman have been caught dead in that hat? Why doesn't the gentleman's jacket fit any better? It's amazing what small details can reveal about the whole picture.

Anonymous said...

The ladies' hat and possibly fur cape or collar were more likely a sign of her social status or affluence. I would be interested in seeing more of the "unknown" portraits.

There is an interesting article on dating old photographs at:
http://www.familytreemagazine.com/photos/sep14-06.htm

JayCeeSmock said...

Thankyou! This is the kind of analysis these photographs need. Stand by for more samples in the near future.

Anonymous said...

According to an online source, this ladies hat style would have been an "Edwardian" hat from about 1910.
See:
http://www.fashion-era.com/hair_hats_190015.htm
But if she's anything like me, it could be 10-15 years old and I'd
still be wearing something I liked, if it still fit!

I was expecting to see "unknown pictures of brickmakers, farmers, and shopkeepers, but maybe these folks were . . .

JayCeeSmock said...

Before automobiles, you did not go to town without sporting your best Go-To-Meeting clothes. Getting your picture taken was no less of a big deal in those days. Therefore, it is not safe to assume that a person photographed in his Sunday best dressed like that all the time.

Anonymous said...

I guess that I was wondering if you had any photographs of unknown Sherwood folk at work, or in their homes? It might give us more "clues" to identify them . . .

JayCeeSmock said...

Stand by. There are some intriguing things going on in some of our street scapes.

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