Most of the photos on this site were extracted from reference images (high-resolution tiffs, 20 to 200 megabytes in size) from the Library of Congress research archive. (To query the database click here.) Many were digitized by LOC contractors using a Sinar studio back. They are adjusted by your webmaster for contrast and color in Photoshop before being downsized and turned into the jpegs you see here.

Toledo, OH (approx 1924) - It's been at least a dozen years since "Christmas in Buffalo: c. 1910." My Grandparents (Albert and Hedwig Happel) have had five children and buried the two oldest. In addition to the tinsel laden tree we see the doll house that my Grandfather built for his two daughters (Emily seated and Lee snuggling with her mother). Their older brother Hermann stands behind the doll house.
Many years later my father (Anton, born several years after this photo was taken) renovated the doll house for his daughters. It is currently in storage in my basement awaiting the day that I or my son renovate it so that another generation can play with it. View full size.
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