Snapshot - 7 children, boys, girls, baseball gloves and a cat

I may be the only person on earth who thinks this is a cool picture.  It could be that I'm inventing the quirkiness about it.  

This is a snapshot, I'd say late 1950s or very early 1960s.  There are no dates, names, or writing of any kind.   Also no stamps or indication (that I could see) of the kind of photo paper used.  But based on the clothing, that is what I think.

Front row left, there is a boy in a white t-shirt, blue jeans with the cuffs rolled up (just like the cowboys wore them), most likely wearing black high top converse all-star tennis shoes and a baseball glove.  He is kneeling and looking very serious in a classic little league team picture type pose.  He's the only one kneeling, and is obviously out of sync with the rest of the group.

In contrast to his seriouness, the boy behind him has place his baseball glove on top of his head.  And the boy next to him is holding a cat.  The girls are just standing there and smiling, more or less like normal people.  Some of those girls have to be sisters.

It is a very typical picture in a sense.  Some grown up made them all get together to have their picture snapped.  But in another sense, it's a little odd.  Unlike many, many of these type of amature snapshots,  personalities were captured.  Accidently, I'm sure, but captured just the same.

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!

Snapshot of a Mom and Little Boy, with Rifle.

This is the reason I like snapshots - you just never know when you're going to run across something like this.   Just a typical suburban scene in America, a mom with her rifle toting diaper clad little boy.  Though I'm not positive, I believe this photo is 1960s or so.

I'm sure it's a toy rifle, and I'm sure everything about the photo is innocent.   But still, it's an interesting change of scene from most snapshots, which consist of people standing somewhere looking like they wished they were somewhere else.

Its a small photo, about 3 x 4 inches.  The resolution on it is not great either, in fact it's within an inch of being out of focus. This was far from being a professional photograph.

If you wish to look a the eBay listing, go here. 

Snapshot Men on Motorcycles, Summer of 1938

This is a small snapshot of 4 men and their bikes. On the back someone has handwritten "Summer of 1938".   The two bikes on the right appear to be Harley Knuckleheads (either '37 or '38) - you can see the roll bars on them.  The one on the extreme left may also be a Harley, but the one right next to it is probably something else. 

The photo has lots of creasing, but it's still an interesting image.  Old time Harleys in the field, raising a ruckus no doubt.

Update:  Sold!

Snapshot - Summer of 1934, Interesting Clothes

This is a snapshot taken in the summer of 1934, probably with an inexpensive camera.  It is about 3.5 x 5 inches, but someone trimmed the edges at some point.  There is more information about the person - his name, and the fact that he died at some point - on the back.  There is no information about the location or why he's dressed this way.

People buy snapshots for lots of reasons.  Sometimes it's the fashion, sometimes it's an interesting location, lots of times it because of what I call "accidental art".  Most of the people who took snapshots were (and are) amateurs with cheap cameras who want nothing more than a remembrance of something.  Sometimes what they come up with is very interesting.

Well this one is quirky, sort of.  A man is standing on some steps leading to what is probably a very nice house, perhaps a clubhouse, leaning back on a railing, and wearing a rather unusual outfit.  (Men don't usually wear outfits, but I'll make an exception here).   The over all impression is that he's a person of above average means. 

We've had this photo listed for quite a while, with no takers.  But it's a little odd & things like this tend to catch someones eye eventually.