I’m going with two postcards and one non-postcard to make this post today since two postcards fit into the theme of postcards (even though I can’t be sure if any of those women were mischievous) and the third image helps support the history behind this particular family.
The first postcard is a postcardized photo which seemed to have been a common treatment for that time period. The little stamp box in the top corner helps date photos, and there’s a handy dandy guide I use here. That particular stamp box means 1904-1918 or so which is where I’d guess it as well. The pencil was written on by Mary E Harris, daughter of Alfred John Harris and Hannah Alma Gertrude Davies. Hannah and Alfred were born in England (Hannah in Wales, Alfred in Devon not far from where Jessie’s family was from) and came to the USA to settle down in Pennsylvania, near where my great-great grandparents Alfred Powis and Jessie Battin lived. They had some things in common with coming from England to PA, so I’m sure they got along well, and judging by the number of photos we have for them, it’s pretty clear they kept in touch over the years. The postcard says,
This is all most of family. Besure and let us know if you are coming down on Wed – Mary
The pen was added on by my great grandmother, Olga (Powis) Kitko much later in life. It seemed that she went through the trunk of photos at some point in an attempt to identify who’s who before she passed away. Uncle seems to be a honorary title for “Alf” and doesn’t denote any blood relation as far as I can tell. There is some Harris up further on Jessie’s line, but I haven’t been able to make a connection yet. Blandburg refers to a small town in Cambria county, Pennsylvania. Alfred and Hannah are seated in the middle, and I believe Mary is seated on the far right holding a baby who is likely Merle Harris Wagner, Born 1910, fitting right into the date range from the stamp box. No postage though!
This is a much more stiff and formal portrait of just Hannah, Alfred, and their children. The stamp box seems to be the same as the prior one, so I’d put this closer to the 1918 mark. The back says,
A merry xmas from all, Hannah.
On the front, written in pencil along the left side is, “13 Harris,” perhaps a photographer’s mark indicating 13 people in the photo for the Harris family. Possibly some sort of travelling photographer. I don’t quite know who’s who, but the children’s’ names were George, Alfred J, Thomas D, William D, John Daniel, Anna Mae, Mary E, David James, Luther, Edward, and Charles D (in age order, oldest to youngest). The youngest child was born in 1898 which would make him somewhere around 18-21 when this photo was taken which looks about right if we guess that the youngest is on the far left. Mary is, I’m pretty sure, seated on the far right.
One final, not a postcard photo of the family again with their very own band! I haven’t been able to find a mention of the band in any of the newspapers local to that area, but searching for a common surname like “Harris” makes it a little difficult. There’s no mention of the band in either Hannah or Alfred’s obituary, and it looks like this was taken earlier than the other two photos, maybe around 1902 or so. Still, what an incredible thing for a family to do, have their own band! It’s clear these folks kept in contact for a long time and there are plenty more photos of this family in the collection I have.
I bet if Mr. Mike sees that last photo, he’ll be able to tell you the history of the band and the names of everyone in the family tree!
These are wonderful photos and I love seeing the handwriting on the back even if the messages are brief.
That would be fantastic! I did find the family on census records, but still can’t find any newspaper articles about the band. I agree, the handwriting is really lovely, and it’s neat to see quick notes jotted down like this!
The band photo is really interesting. It seems unusual to include other family members like that, and the decorations on the drum look quite elaborate.
What wonderful pictures – that first one in particular leaves a lasting impression. Such determination etched on those faces.
These are interesting pictures but everyone looks so solemn! I agree Mister Mike is your man.
I’d never heard of dating photos by their stamp box before – I’ll have to look more closely at the ones i have now, but I wonder if it is only a USA thing; and the family band photo is amazing, wonder what they sounded like.
The site I linked to (http://www.playle.com/realphoto/) does seem to cover the entire world. It’s a really neat project and I had found it a few years ago when I was trying to date another photo. Some of the ranges can be pretty broad if the paper was popular and used for a long time while others are more narrow.
I see that band photo posted on Ancestry as well, and has been linked to the tree of Anna Mae Harris as well as to Alf and Hannah – are you aka Alysania, the person who originally posted it?
Yep! As I identify photos, I try to put them on ancestry.com in the hopes that someone who is related will come along and find them. No photo theft – both instances were posted by me!