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Genealogy

Notre-Dame de la Garde

 

This was a postcard sent from grandpa to grandma, dated 2 February 1945.  Grandpa was in the Army Air Force and was sent to France during WWII.  The front of the card has been censored with the city name cut out, presumably because the Army didn’t want family back home knowing where exactly they were, but the back of the postcard states this was the Notre-Dame de la Garde in Marseille, France.  In the bottom right corner on the front is “La Cigogne” which is also printed on the back, presumably the card printer, with an address that locates them at 18, Rue Glandeves.  No stamp is on the back since mail was free for the armed services.

Genealogy

Two Generations


Sometimes you come across something that seems like a random snapshot, but is a pretty neat photo once you look closely!  This photo shows my great grandmother holding a mirror with grandma and her sister shown in the mirror’s reflection.  As far as a date, I’d say around 1945 or so given grandma’s age.  Since this is basically a selfie, we get an idea of the camera she was using which is some sort of box camera, but it’s hard to tell which one exactly.  I didn’t find a corresponding printed photograph, so it’s pretty fortunate that this negative was kept in the box of photos!

Art

Open Print Exchange #3

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We’re into the third round of the Open Print Exchange which is now being held annually.  To see more about the previous print exchanges I’ve participated in, check out this tag – Open Press Project.  This year, I had started on something different and became increasingly frustrated with my 40-something-year-old eyes and the need for reading glasses and was just in a creative rut, so I scrapped the first print and went on to something I know and love – cameras.  I picked up the little Brownie Starmite II at a barn sale a few years ago, and was delighted to find exposed film still inside the camera.  I sent it off for processing, and you can see the results here.


I took some creative liberty with the body color of the camera, and I have an idea to print this again with a few different body colors just for fun.  The paper is handmade paper from recycled political ads from the 2022 election season.  We, as a household of two voters, received over 3 lbs of paper mailers which is incredibly wasteful and has a limited (if any) impact on a growing population that doesn’t use postal mail except for packages.  I find it pretty tone deaf for candidates who tout their platform as being pro-environmental protections, yet continue to engage is such incredible wastefulness.  And there’s no way to opt out either (I tried, honest).  So, instead of adding more stress and wastefulness to our recycling/trash stream, I decided to try to recycle it all by hand and turn the hateful mailers into something beautiful.  Anyway, the print is done with Cranfield inks, and the blocks in the image at the top are two lino blocks.  The paper is 7 cm square (roughly 2.75 inches).  I do enjoy working at this small scale since it’s a challenge and actually kind of fun, but my eyes were just giving me SO much trouble this year, and I’m maybe mourning the loss of my youth to a certain degree too.  I know this is inevitable, and it’s a part of aging, but I’m finding the changes in my vision harder to accept than the wrinkles and achy joints.  Anyway, I’m still happy with how this came out, and it’s a fun project to keep me in practice every year!

Socks

Festival Color Socks

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Festival Color Socks
Started: 21 October 2023
Finished: 14 November 2023
Pattern: Plain Old Socks (my pattern)
Yarn: Regia 4 ply Ffestival Color sock yarn in colorway #02886, “Full Moon Summit Fest”
Needle: US 1.5 / 2.5 mm
Notes: I started these while on vacation in the Netherlands and finished them up about two weeks after coming home.  Basic sock, no modifications.  Love how the colors pooled up.

Genealogy

Main Street, Victoria, Texas

 

Another one from Grandpa’s time spent in Texas with the Army Air Force.  The postmark on this is 15 April 1942, and he sent it to grandma before they were married.  There’s no stamp since members of the military can send mail for free, simply by writing “Free” where a stamp would normally go.  The front of the postcard shows the scene on Main Street in Victoria, Texas, and I managed to find the location by searching old newspapers for Huvar Cash Grocery on the right.  They were located at 216 S Main Street, so from there, I found the Google Map posted below.  The scene has changed quite a bit since 1942, but let’s appreciate the men in hats on the left, the cars, and all the signs on the buildings.  The whole mass of buildings on the right of the postcard appear to have been demolished and turned into a parking lot, so it’s neat to see what was once there.

Genealogy

High School Name Cards – Part 2

 

The second post of two with these high school name cards collected by my grandmother.  The first post is here, and if you want to see all posts with name cards, they’re here.


Evelyn M. Brink: “Dear Clarice, It’s just about time to say ‘good by’ but when you look at this card remember the fun we had in Chemistry class.  Evelyn”


Connie Z Nelson: “Clarice, To a cute kid who never could quite hit it off with me.  You have lots of ambition.  I hope you get what you want.  Connie”


Blanche D. Bratton: “Clarice: Luck & Success to a swell girl.  Dickey”


Della M. Bloom: “Clarice, Luck & success to a very pretty girl.  Alway remember the junior prom.  It sure was alot of work.  Wasn’t it?  Della”


Madelyn S. Ponce: “Clarice, Lots of luck in everything you do.  I’ll always remember the good times we had together.  ‘Shrimp'”


Paulene V. McGarvey: “Clarice, What are you going to do after you are freed.  What ever it is I hope  you are a success at it.  A friend, Paulene.”

UPDATE:
I did find some photos for some of these kids, so I’ve added those to the name cards as I’ve found them!

Genealogy

Unidentified Negatives

 

I’ve got quite a few negatives from grandma’s batch of scanning that are pretty great photos, but since they’re negatives, I’ve really got no way to identify the people in the photos without having a corresponding print that someone actually labelled.  I thought I’d put a few up here in case someone happens to stumble through them and can identify the people.  I can pretty well guess the date is around 1940-1950 or so, and in the Clearfield County, Pennsylvania area.  Some of them I have suspects for, but others I have absolutely no idea.  They’re just great photos and they should be liberated from my hard drive!

Genealogy

Four Friends

 

The face on the left immediately jumped out to me as my husband’s grandfather, Doede (Douglas) Jaarsma.  Fortunately, someone labelled the back of this with all four names and the title, “Four Friends.”  I don’t know if the names are in order, but after Doede, they are Jake Westerdijk, Henk Kremer, and Dirk Werkman.  The back of the photo is stamped with the date 2 December 1939, and has the photographer’s information – Foto Steenmeijer, Heerestr. 421, Groningen.  The year was before Doede married my husband’s grandmother, so he may have been working in Groningen even though he was born in Friesland.  The year would put him at 28 years old, and it’s kind of neat that four friends paid to have a nice photo taken together – they must’ve been pretty great friends.