Voices From The Past.... A Soldier - Taken By The Photomatic

This image was "Taken By The Photomatic".  The Photomatic was a photo booth produced by the International Mutoscope Reel Corporation in New York City back in the late 1930's, early 1940's.  You could get an image like the one below for 10 cents, and it would print in less than a minute.  Most of the images had a metal frame, but apparently there are a few out there like the one I have below in the cardboard frames.  I hope to find some more of these amazing treasures some day!!! Below you will also find a picture of an old magazine ad for The Photomatic that I found on the Modern Mechanix Blog. So neat!

I wonder what this solider was thinking.  His eyes look so very deep.  Was he full of worry?  Was he getting ready to be shipped across seas for WWII, sharing one last fun-filled day with friends when they came upon the photo booth?  Sometimes when I pick up these old photographs, I imagine the subject holding onto it, looking at it... just like I am doing now. And knowing that the person looking back at me, held this very photograph that I am holding onto now....

Image From the Modern Mechanix Blog

Voices From the Past - A Group Photograph

When I saw this photograph, I instantly fell in love.  Someone clearly took precious time to carefully number each person on the front, being sure to put the numbers in the same position as each person, and put a name with each number and person on the back.  The writing is so elegant, and the names are so beautiful.   The photograph is mounted on a beautiful embossed cardboard, and I imagine the numbers and names being written with an elegant fountain pen.   I wonder what they were posing for?  Was it a graduating class?  Was it a family picture?  Let your imagination travel back to the early 1900's.... I'd like you to meet this lovely group of people...

1.  Betsy Johnson

2.  Edith Anderson

3.  Sophie Larson

4   Morris Johnson

5.  Nora Greenland

6.  Tertulia Forzen

7.  Naydean Miss

8.  Fulton Kaufman

9.  Bertha Jackson

10. Cora Garvin

11. Helen Christianson

12. Worthington Mahin

13. Otillie Kjelland

14. Alice Baker

15. Edith Berrisford

16. George Lenhart

I did an internet search of some of the names and found two of them in the 1940's North Dakota census. Worthington Mahin was born in 1879.  Otillie Kjelland was born in 1883. I don't believe it is a coincidence that both are from North Dakota, both born around the same time, and both in the 1940's census.... I believe these two people, if not the entire group, are from North Dakota.

A closer crop of the group....

Voices From the Past.... Instant Ancestors

A couple years ago, I started collecting vintage photographs.  Antique stores, flea markets, eBay, thrift stores.... It always amazes me that people's personal photographs end up in boxes and bins, for sale and for others to profit from.  I just can't understand... who gets rid of their photographs? For someone as passionate about documenting life photographically as I am, I just don't understand it.  I've purchased entire boxes of photographs, which have included full wedding albums, baby photos, snapshots, photos in beautiful cardboard frames, tintypes, international photos, photos of people's Christmas trees, vacations... if you can imagine it, I've found it and I've purchased it.  Some have writing on the fronts and/or backs and some are left up to our imagination.  It's a shame that those memories aren't still being cherished by the original owners loved ones, but I will enjoy them and I will claim them as mine... as my instant ancestors. We all have stories, and these images tell stories from days past.  Stories that shouldn't be forgotten, memories that should live on.  I will share them with you, my blog readers.  I'd love to hear what you see when you look at these images.  What stories come to your mind? What are the subjects thinking or feeling?

This image makes me smile because photographers posing their subjects on railroad tracks is a pretty popular current trend in the photography industry.  I can imagine how adventurous and daring this girl felt as this image was being shot!  I bet she was having the time of her life....  with that big smile on her face, cute jacket and rolled up jeans!

I also want to share with you this adorable display of "Instant Relatives" at an antique shop in Waseca, Minnesota.  So creative, so vintage and so super cute!

Stay tuned for for more "Voices From the Past".  I have hundred of photographs waiting to have their stories told!

Book Report: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

(image from Barnes and Noble)
My sister, Sheena, read this book before me and when I asked her to explain what it was like, she said it was too hard to put into words! I definitely have to agree…. In fact, I wonder how I am going to write a review! I’ll try…. “Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children” is…. well, very peculiar. The author, Ransom Riggs, couldn’t have used a better word in the title! This book is unlike anything I typically read in the way it is very dreamy, fairytale-like. The characters remind me almost of cartoon characters, or ones out of a horror flick… levitating girls, invisible boys. The story was very fun… I completely enjoyed this fun fantasy world these peculiar children live in. Because I have absolutely no idea how to explain what the book is about, I’ll let you watch the trailer which I found to be very fun!!! Actually, having watched the trailer, I think this book would make a phenomenal movie!!!


I think my very favorite part of this book was that the author incorporated vintage photos into his story. Or maybe it was the other way around. Maybe he used the photos to create this story. (Guess I’ll have to research that.) It was super fun to have pictures throughout the book to give you a visual of different people and places throughout the story. When I went on YouTube to watch the book trailer, I found that the author is a collector of vintage photos and that he is in the midst of composing a book of these photos. You must watch the video, “Talking Pictures”… it’s amazing!


With my love of photography, and vintage cameras, the collecting of vintage photographs was something that totally spoke to me. In fact, already, I love going to antique shops and flea markets. So I got all giddy excited and emailed Sheena and told her this was something I must do and she had the exact same idea after watching “Talking Pictures”!!! I am super thrilled that both she and I have decided to start collecting vintage photos! I can’t wait to see where this newfound hobby brings us! The very cool and unique thing is that a photograph can speak differently to people in different ways. I could pick up a photo that is completely boring to me, but Sheena may absolutely fall in love with it. Even though we are going to share the same hobby of collecting vintage photos, our collections will surely end up dramatically different! And this is going to be a blast! My plan is to share the vintage photos I find on my blog along with my thoughts and feelings about the photo, so please stay tuned!

For now, I’ll share with you a vintage photo that I found…. I fell in love with it and knew immediately that I wanted Sheena to have it (even though I badly wanted to keep it myself). When I look at this photograph, I see two sisters and that they love to read and love books, just like Sheena and I. In reality, maybe these two aren’t sister and maybe are teachers…. But this is the fun thing. I get to use my imagination. My imagination tells me these two women are sisters (after all, they do look similar) and they love books and reading!