Leader Board Ad

Saturday, November 21, 2015

If you are going for Exposure...make sure it's a double

I am all about old photos. They are a doorway to the past, they offer up a glimpse of how things used to be. When a good friend recently picked up a large lot of, not only print photos, but celluloid and glass negatives, I dropped into image restoration mode. There are hundreds and if you keep dropping or follow me, you will see them as I post them. Here are the first of them.
 No year or label but the detail in this home is amazing. It is hard to believe it wasn't arranged for the photo, but there's no telling.
This is a double exposure, unheard of with digital photography, but it used to happen when you were processing your own negatives. Click the image for something larger. This effect makes the subjects very dream-like.
Look more closely for clues in each of these. There is more story to tell....and more negatives to share.

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

How Did They Make It Through WWII? The Buddy System.

Any picture I find in any box of paper, I will post and share. These soldiers may never come our way again but they certainly deserve recognition for their contributions. In light of that I give you "Joe and Bud"  Take a look at the reverse of the image because there is a mystery to be solved.



My simple searches for "Langenan, Germany" have come up empty. Was this a camp? or a place or the last name of one of the soldiers?

All Hail ZoMag! the Giant Boxing Baby

I found this ad flyer in a box of old papers purchased at a local flea market. I really like the depiction, actually a photograph of the baby - who has been propped up and somehow made to thrust his chest out to show strength and defiance. Child abuse aside - this was the best way to advertise a new and improved printer's plate for photo-engraving - something unheard of today.  Enjoy the text and images below - I don't know the year.  All Hail ZoMag!

The kid looks like he's gone a few rounds with the photographer....



Sunday, November 15, 2015

Photostat Your Valuable Papers

I love this blotter from the mid 20th century. Though Photostatting was around in the early part of the 1900's it lasted through the 1960's until Xerography took the spotlight. You can read more about this on wikipedia.

Man with No Neck Buys 147 Ties...Pays 1 penny!

If you read the ad it is really promoting the cost and benefit of quality dye's used in manufacturing (Circa 1940's).   I enjoy illustrations and especially the ones with floating heads. This one struck me funny because you can't talk about ties and not have a neck - it just isn't done.

Friday, November 6, 2015

Fire Bomb Advice From Lord Privy Seal's Office

This piece of ephemera came from a local book sale. I bought it because I have a relative who actually lived through the Blitz in Great Britain. This was a real threat in the late 1930's and of course became real not long after that. I stop writing and let the document speak for itself.