For the past few days, my Mom has been going through some of her late Aunt’s belongings who had passed away many years ago. She found old diaries, notebooks, photo albums, etc… She came across some old negatives that she didn’t think were of any value, so she tossed them in a grocery sack to be discarded. For some reason I thought maybe I should take a look, and discovered 4 envelopes of negatives.
None of the 3 original negative envelopes had a date on them, but the forth envelope had a postmark of Dec 30th, 1922, and judging by the postage stamp of “three halfpence,” it must have originated from somewhere in England… I thought it amusing just how simple it was addressed! Just the name “Mr. B. J. Hall” (my Mom’s Aunt’s husband), c/o “A. B. Lacey”, RFD 2, Medina NY, “America” 🙂 🙂 🙂
The negatives all suffered from scratches and dust spots as one might expect for something that in all likelihood is fast approaching 100 years old!! But!! The one thing they had going for them, was their physical size. Camera’s and the corresponding film they used back in the day were huge! These negatives measured approximately 4 in. x 3 in. which meant there could be a lot of detail in them that could be coaxed out if I scanned them in, so I gave it a go, and after some experimenting with different techniques, below is the fruit of my labor… FYI, clicking on the photo’s will open up larger versions…
Apparently, someone driving a baked goods truck, had a brief run in with a train or a trolley!! I have NO idea what the story is here, the condition of the driver, etc… And neither does my Mom. But it looks like the train or trolley won this battle…
Looks like the entire body of the truck was separated from the frame!
Someone playing in a boat…. No idea who they are, or where.
No one knows who these people are in the next few photos either… Unfortunately they have all been lost to time… Sad really, it’s possible the little baby in the elder gentlemen’s arms might still be alive – but who knows?
Look at the shine on that car!!! I wish who ever snapped the photo, hadn’t double-exposed part of the front end though…
Pretty sure this is the same car as above and perhaps some of the same people that are sitting in it.
Looks like a lot of mud on the buggy!! 🙂
Someone and his horses…
Someone else and his horse…
Planting something… Oats perhaps?? It’s hard to tell what time of year it is, but if it’s early fall, it could be winter wheat??
Rolling the field…
A three horse team pulling a spray rig of the era. It was used to spray the fruit orchards…
My Mom’s Aunt, “Min” and Uncle “Jack” (my Great Aunt and Great Uncle). My Great Uncle passed away long before I was even born, so I never meant him – he died in a farming accident when he broke his neck when he fell off of a wagon load of hay……… My Great Aunt I remember very well though – she was an awesome lady! Full of spunk!! 🙂
I loved this cobble stone house that they used to live in… I only recall being in the cobblestone part once, and that was right after my Great Aunt passed away – which has been a little over 40 years ago now… (Wow!!) When we used to visit, we always visited in the single story part of the house off to the left in the photo…
Belt driven sawmill.. I believe that is a steam engine that drives the belt in the background under the roof.
My Great Aunt “Min” with someone, might be my Mom?? Again… No one knows, and if it is my Mom, she was too young at the time to remember it.
There’s still a lot more negatives to look over and try to salvage… It’s fun seeing what turns up!! I bet back when these were taken, they had NO IDEA that someday technology would be able to bring them back to life!