THE AMERICAN HISTORICAL PHOTO ARCHIVE • FRAMED PRINTS • STOCK IMAGES

I never did get the full skinny on how it all went down that day. All I know is that it was my brother and his pal, this guy. A couple of ex-Catholic high school boys; you know the type - four years in, walk out with a fancy piece of paper, the whole nine yards. Then two years later they're back in town, cruising the mean streets, past all the usual joints - Montgomery Ward, J.C. Penney, F.W. Woolworth, Thom McAn, The Cottage Bookshop. That's right: San Rafael, California.

When it happened, it happened fast. First his pal pulls up and parks, lights himself a cig, happy as a clam, not a worry in the world. Then my brother hauls off and shoots him with his Lordox, a German 35mm job loaded with Kodak Tri-X. For years afterwards my brother keeps this pic pasted in a book or something. What a crazy guy. View full size.

This is the 1932 basketball team of the Sweetser Braves. Sweetser is a small town in Grant County Indiana. This photo celebrates the team's win of the Grant County Championship. The win is significant because Sweetser was a very small school compared to the others in Grant County. The people pictured represent the entire team. My father-in-law, Henry Williamson is seated on the floor to the left of the trophy plaque. On the other side of the plaque is Wayne West.

Seated L to R: Wendell Stilwell, Johnny Sterrenberg, Donald (Sleepy) Sullivan, Berndean Mitchell, Xen Mayne.

Standing L to R: Coach, Oscar Gilpin, Don Kendall, Charles Ancil, Wayne West, Charles Vance, Student Mgr.

Thanks to Henry Williamson's nephew, John Williamson, for remembering the names of all these players.

This is a picture of my family in Swanton, Vermont circa 1926 shortly before they moved to Underhill, Vermont. From left to right top is Nellie Boss Lamphere, then Mary her sister and Frank Lamphere.

Nellie and Frank were my grandparents. At the bottom is, again from left to right, my Uncle Lynford, with the little girl (my mother) Lynette Lamphere being held by my maternal great-grandmother Marceline Bourgeois. The little boy on the far right is Fayette Lamphere who tragically died in World War II.

My grandmother Nellie changed her name from Bourgeois to Boss when she moved from Québec to Vermont. My grandmother Nellie and her sister Mary were members of the Abenaki Indian Nation in Swanton.

Horse-drawn Marshall-Ecclestone Furniture & Hardware store parade float in front of the Timmins, Ontario, railroad depot.

Grandfather worked at the store as a young man and likely had a hand in constructing this display of the variety of tools and supplies available there.

Similar photos in the collection are dated 1927, and include a look at the other side of the sledge with even more tools. To view them, follow this link: http://www.spacekdet.com/photo/parade/

1918 circa, Java, Dutch East Indies, a portrait of my father-in-law's parental family. My (late) father-in-law, Marinus Wennekes, is the boy in sailor suit, who is sitting prominently in the middle in front. He was born in 1912 in Magelang, Java, Dutch Indies. He is surrounded by his parents and siblings. The father, my wife's grandfather, was born in Tiel, The Netherlands, the rest were all born in the Dutch Indies. The father died during the war in the Dutch Indies, the rest of the family eventually moved out to The Netherlands after the emergence of Indonesia, when they were forced to choose Nationality: either Dutch or Indonesian.

Cars drive on the beach in New York, San Diego or Virginia. The tower on the right does not appear in any other commonly available photos of New York-area beaches, so I could be completely off base.

It's from the early 50s, as best I can tell from the makes of the cars depicted, and the pile of old family photos in which I found it. My dad was stationed at NAS Miramar (now MCAS Miramar) and Naval Station Norfolk during the Korean War, which is why there's an outside chance it's a beach in the San Diego or Norfolk area.

My Dad and his parents are washing their Ford in a lake somewhere near Greenwood, Indiana, where they live.

In 1986 I drove my 1964 Ford Falcon from Vancouver BC through Canada to Toronto, and on to New York City. I left New York by using the Brooklyn Bridge, and posed the car on Plymouth Street for this view. This location then was industrial, and now has been transformed into Empire Fulton Ferry Park with excellent public facilities. I returned to Vancouver through the USA to Seattle and home. The car had a 170 cu. in. engine with manual three-speed column shift. It was retired after traveling 225,000 miles.

Since posting the picture of Miss Maude and her class, I've found more information. This was actually around 1930 as I have a newspaper clipping from Oct. 1930 announcing her home for a visit on a break from teaching at Fairland, Indiana, in Shelby County.

This image of Miss Maude and her fellow teachers includes names of the teachers on the back.

Top Row, left to right:
Miss Nevil, 3rd Grade. Leah Canus, 2nd Grade, Terre Haute, Indiana. Miss Gill, 5B. Mrs. Luke, 5A. Miss Wood, 1st Grade. Mabel Wagner, H.S. Principle (one of our four).

Bottom Row, left to right:
Lucille, (my roomy), 6th grade. Mr. Miller, 8th. Mr. L. Johnson. [Miss Maude McMahan, 4th grade?]. Mr. Axe, H.S. Coach. Miss. McClain, 7th.

Photo taken on the boardwalk of Coney Island around July, 1948 by my mother on a family outing from the Bronx. The Dodgers were still in Brooklyn and Steeplechase park was one of the most creative and exciting amusement park rides of its day.

Dad was a milk truck driver for Sheffield Farms Dairy one of the earliest suppliers of hygienically sold milk in the city. His "trucker's wallet" on a pocket chain was part of men's wardrobe in the day.

Steeplechase park included many fun family attractions including a gravity-powered ride in which people raced each other while riding wooden horses that glided along parallel metal tracks over a long and curving course. I was too little to ride what was considered a bit dangerous adventure. An entire family could spend the day at Steeplechase, picnicking and walking through the gardens. Of course, they'd also likely end up splurging on a few of Steeplechase's carnival games or other rides not included in the combination ticket.

Steeplechase park opened for the 1897 season and was an immediate success. Tilyou's park was more than just a collection of rides. He had well-maintained gardens and benches and areas where families could picnic. Bands played it closed in 1964.

From family collection. View full size.

January 1st or 2nd, 1929. Tivoli Schouwburg, Rotterdam, Netherlands. I found this photograph in an album of my parents labeled [1931-1934]. No information was given, only a number 13290004 and the name of the production company, Nederlandsch Photo-Bureau "Polygoon" was to be found on the back side. With the help of Spaarnestad Photo we were able to find out what happening was recorded here, and where it took place.

This is my father, John (on right), and his older brother, Rhea, in the summer of 1944. My father is seven years old, and his brother is nine years old. I believe this was taken in front of their grandmother's house in Whiteville (Hardeman County), Tennessee. View full size.

"International Association Heat and Frost Insulators and Asbestos Workers Local #5. Dec. 21, 1945." I found this 10" x 17" print at a swap meet. View full size.

The staff of Ozark High School in southern Missouri posing for a group photo sometime in the early 1930s. The kids peering out of the windows are apparently having a good time watching.

My grandmother, Gussie, is on the far right, second from the front. She was about 30 years old when this photo was taken. The woman in the center of the front row is Gussie's aunt, Blanche, who was only 3 years older than my grandmother. Blanche died on August 29, 1934 at age 34. View full size.