Photograph of a Wedding Party, circa 1920s-30s, probably German

This is a photograph of a wedding party, taken outside.  I counted 39 people in all.  It's a large photo, just over 7 inches tall and almost 10 inches wide.

There is no photographer's information or any other writing to give a clue as to where this is or who these people are. So we examined it closely and drew our own conclusions.

First there is its physical appearance - thin photographic paper mounted on thin cardboard.  We saw no silvering on the photo, but that's not hard and fast proof that it's an albumen as opposed to a gelatin silver print.  The overall physical look is of a photo produced in the earlier part of the 20th century - certainly before WWII.

Second, and most obvious, are the clothing & hair styles, especially for the younger women. From the bridal gown to the children sitting in front, it screams 1920s-30s fashions.

And third - the only clue we could find as to where this might be - there is a young man in a military uniform  in the row behind the bride, about to the left. We believe that is a German uniform.

So, this photo was probably taken somewhere in Germany, in the late 1920s to early 1930s.

If we're right, those people's lives were in for a massive amount of upheaval in the relatively near future.   By now, everyone in this photo is dead. They lived their life, dealt with whatever their times threw at them, accomplished whatever it was they accomplished, and by the 1980s or 1990s, most, if not all of them had died.  It is possible some of the children are still living, but they'd be very old - in their 90s, most likely.

Photograph of a Man with a very large Dog

This is an antique photo of a man with a very large dog, I think a Great Dane.    It was photographed by Renshaw, of 2718 Girard Ave in Philadelphia.  Writing on the back indicates the man is named Louis Haeckner, and that he was born in Germany.

We've listed a lot of photos of the Hackner's (sometimes spelled Haeckner) recently.  Margaret Hackner, who I suppose was a daughter, married Oliver Phillips, and we have a lot of photos of that side of the family.

This is an early 20th century Gelatin Silver photograph, and there is heavy silvering on the photo, so heavy that if you tilt it slightly one way or another, the silvering is all you can see.  Tilt it slightly toward you and you see a sharp photograph.   I don't know the exact date of the photo, but it is probably 100 years old or close to it.

It is an unusual studio photo - a man with a huge dog in his lap - and the type that many people find interesting.   At least I do. 

Update:  Sold!

Another Update - the dog may be a Presa Canario, not sure.

Snapshot of Gisela, a little girl playing with a doll, Germany 1928

This is a snapshot of a little holding a doll in her lap.  There is writing on the back in German: "Gisela im September 1928 auf unserer Veranda".  To me it looks like she's sitting on an apartment balcony, so I translate this as "Gisela, September 192, on our balcony".  There is another building in the background.

This is a neat little photo (and I do mean little - a shade less than 2.5 x 3.5 inches), and the writing on back just makes it more interesting.  A little girl sitting side ways in a chair, with bows in her pig-tails, wearing a dress and knee socks, holding a good sized doll & doll sized umbrella, looks up and smiles for a quick photo.  An instant in time, gone forever.

When I looked at this picture, before I even looked at the writing on back, I immediately thought "European", and I'm not sure why.  I lived quite a while in central Europe, and there was just something that was familiar, can't really put my finger on it.

The writing on back is in German, and the date is 1928, so this little girl - though I'm positive she had no clue - was in for some hard times.  WWII would start in 1939, so she'd be in her late teens or early 20s, and no matter what her situation in life, things were going to be hard at best, very possibly life threatening.  This is like a picture of the calm before the storm.   Actually the calm between two very large storms.

Since this is dated 1928, I'd say she was born somewhere between 1918 & 1920 - which means if she survived WWII, she could still be alive.  She'd be very old, in her 90s.

Update:  Sold!

CDV of a Young Woman in Neu-Strelitz Germany

This is a CDV photo of a young woman, taken by H. A. Krull in Neu-Strelitz, Germany.   What I find interesting about this is the hat she is wearing.  In our eBay listing we called it a "Santa Claus" hat, but I'm sure it's not.  It has a fringe with some sort of plume behind it, and they are probably white.  The cap is a dark color, but which dark color is anybody's guess.   She is also wearing a long necklace, perhaps with a locket, earrings, and a ring on her right hand.

Neu-Strelitz is north of Berlin.

On the back of this card is photographer information and a couple of medallions.  Photographers, especailly European photographers, would frequently include copies of awards they had won on the backing of the photograph.  One of the medallions on this one has a date of 1863.

If this were an American CDV, I'd estimate it from the 1880s, just by the physical characteristics of the photo and the backing.   It's possible this is from the 1880s also, but since it's from Europe I can't be positive.  It may be earlier.  But I think 1880s would be a good estimate.  No matter what - it's old.

Update: Sold!

Sammelwerk Nr. 9 - A wedding in Augsburg

 

This is the front and back of a very small picture, and I'm really not sure how to categorize it, eBay wise.  

They are German, and are all "Sammelwerk Nr. 9".  Sammelwerk is a collective work, and if I'm reading the German correctly on back there are 300 of these in 5 groups (34 thru 38).   I believe these are miniatures from selected artists, and that they all appear in a book somewhere, but I might just be making that up.  A bit of wishful translation thinking.

Anyway. These are all 2.75 x 3.25 inches, so they're rather small.  Most are signed, (not autographed, big difference) but I cannot read the signature.  Almost all of them have paper missing on the back - they appear to have been glued into a scrapbook at some point.  The only thing that changes on the back printing wise, are the picture number, the title, it's group, and the broad time period in which the scene takes place.  Everything else on the back is the same for all of them.

They all depict scenes of daily life in Germany over a period of 5 centuries.  We have about 30 of the 300, and eventually they'll all get listed.  

Its just we're not really sure what category to put them in.  They could be considered trade cards, but they are not from the Victorian era, they're newer.  But I honestly don't know how new or how old.  And everything's in German, and though I know a smattering of German and I have access to online translators, translations can still become an issue.   On this particular one, the title is Burgertrauung in Augsburg.  Well I'm pretty sure Trauung is a wedding, and I think Burger has to do with cities, so is this a civil wedding ceremony?  Not sure.  The translator didn't help me out much.  Augsburg is a city near and dear to my heart, btw, not too far from Munich. 

So these are neat, but something new for us.  New things are always weird.