Shades Of The Departed The Magazine - November Issue

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come hang out with our new baby ON THE COVER 1897 – Miss Flo Stewart & Marie Cain – 13 months See them brought to life by Penelope Dreadful in a “dreadful portrait” pg.

from my keyboard WELCOME TO THE PREMIER ISSUE OF SHADES THE MAGAZINE

fM

I never met a magazine I didn’t like. If you don’t believe me open any closet in my house. While at the Southern California Genealogical Jamboree I discussed Shades with a genealogy luminary who suggested Shades become a real world magazine. As Shades is dedicated to old photographs, she felt it addressed a segment of genealogical research that receives little attention in real world publications.

While I don’t enjoy rooms Dilled with magazines, I do love their look and feel. I found turning Shades into a real world publication would be cost prohibitive, yet I was intrigued by the idea. So I decided to marry the look and feel of a real world magazine with the cost effective, space saving, green digital world. SHADES,

THE

MAGAZINE, is the result. Here we have combined the

fascination of old images with new technology.

Will the dream of Shades as a real world magazine translate to a digital publication? Only time and you the reader will tell.

W E L C O M E to S H A D E S the MAGAZINE! Enjoy what we have to offer, as we share our knowledge and skills with you. Thank you for taking the time to be a part of our Premier issue.

f M

what is Shades ?

A FASCINATION WITH OLD PHOTOGRAPHS 1895, Abraham Bogardus, a famous photographer of the time, described a showcase in one of the cities’ photographic galleries in which was exhibited pictures the sitters had failed to call for. The photographer labeled them, Shades Of The Departed. A chance Dinding of the Bogardus quote led to the name of this publication and its companion websites: Shades Of The Departed The Magazine and Shades Of The Departed Blog.

PAST IMAGES IN A PRESENT PUBLICATION We are aware that the move to a digital magazine is a huge change, and there are more changes to come. All, we hope, in the way of improvements. While you may experience a few problems in the beginning, we will strive to correct them. We genuinely believe converting to this new medium was the right decision. A familiar concept even for those unfamiliar with the internet.

We will learn the ins and outs of publishing a digital magazine from which we hope all our readers will beneDit. This will be a learning experience for us all. If you prefer the old version of Shades of the Departed (the one with posts, it’s still there and we will write and archive new articles there as well), use the Shades Of The Departed Blog which is exactly the same as before the new publication. Or just stick to our main RSS feed, which contains the Shades Of The Departed posts.

We are adding new columns with each magazine issue. Look for “Behind The Camera” a column bringing you tips for photographing everything from microDilm to new members of the family. “In The Studio” will feature the biography and information for a studio photographer of old to assist in dating photographs by that photographer.

Shades has also added the genealogy column, “In2Genealogy.” In2Genealogy will become its own digital publication in 2010 focusing on all forms of family history writing (from writing for a blog, to your family history tome). An In2Genealogy Network is being established as a compliment to the digital publication. If you have an article you think we’d be interested in publishing, send an email to footnoteMaven.

In December we will be listing subjects we would like to see in upcoming issues of the magazine.

Technology is on the move and we look forward to adding audio and video to Shades The Magazine. Won’t it be wonderful to hear Penny Dreadful, Craig, Donna or Sheri read their articles or watch Denise, George and Vicki demo their expertise on video? It’s the future of this new platform.

Shades has in production, and will be producing, “The Essential Guide Series.”

We start the series with Scanning For Archiving & Restoration by footnoteMaven, Janine Smith, and Rebecca Fenning. The Guide is due December 2009. Upcoming Guides will feature Copyright, Dating Photographs, and Saving Our Stuff.

and so the journey begins . . .

contents

Columns

Feature

The Healing Brush

pg.

Appealing Subjects

pg.

Celebrity Cartes and Cabinet Cards

The Future of Memories

pg..

In Every Issue

The Year Was . . .

pg.

In2Genealogy

pg.

Penelope Dreadful

pg.

A Very Fitting Tribute

Death Of A Photographer - Conclusion

The Sky’s The Limit

The Year Was 1867

Making Census of 1930 A Dreadful Portrait

pg.

The Humor Of It

pg.

Saving Face

pg.

Forget-Me-Not

The Photo Booth

pg.

From My Keyboard

pg.

The Exchange

pg.

Letter from the editor Your comments

The Last Picture Show

The graphic image on the back of a carte-de-visite or cabinet card

Captured Moments

Where, Oh Where Did My Photographs Go

What Is Mary Queen of Scots Doing In Your Family Album

Download This Magazine

Back.

contributors CRAIG MANSON

DONNA POINTKOUSKI

REBECCA FENNING

Craig authors the Appealing Subjects column. He also writes the blog Geneablogie. His column this month is “Death Of A Photographer” - Conclusion.

Donna authors The Humor Of It column. She also writes the blog What’s Past Is Prologue. See her column this month about the “Photo Booth.”

Rebecca authors the Saving Face column. She also writes the blog A Sense of Face. Read her column this month, “Where, Oh Where Did My Photographs Go."

PENELOPE DREADFUL

VICKIE EVERHART

GEORGE GEDER

Penelope Dreadful is the alter ego of Denise Levenick. Denise authors the blog, The Family Curator and gives us this month’s “Dreadful Portrait.”

Vickie is the new author of Creative Moments. She also authors the blog BeNotForgot. Her column this month with detailed instructions is called “Forget-Me-Not.”

George is the author of The Healing Brush Column. He also authors the George Geder blog. His column this month is “The OneMinute Biography.”

DENISE OLSON

SHERI FENLEY

CAROLINE POINTER

Denise is the author of The Future of Memories Column. She also writes the blog Family Matters and gives us this month’s column, “The Sky’s The Limit.”

Sheri writes The Year Was . . .

Column. She also authors the blog The Educated Genealogist. Her column this month highlights the year 1867.

Caroline is the new In2Genealogy Columnist. She is also the author of the Family Stories blog. Her inaugural column “Makes Census of 1930.”

THE EXCHANGE

In Kansas City, Missouri, in 1891, lived the inventor of the automatic telephone exchange and the telephone dial, Almon Strowger. Strowger was an undertaker whose business was losing clients to a competitor. He discovered his competition for undertaking business in town had a wife who was a telephone‐operator.

When potential customers asked the operator to connect them with Strowger's business she would redirect everyone to her husband's undertaking business. Strowger's complaints to the telephone company went unanswered. It is said he went to his basement and constructed a model of his automatic system from a round collar box and some straight pins. He patented the automatic telephone exchange in 1891.

The Exchange welcomes your comments!

This magazine is a work in progress. Your opinion is very important to us. What do you think of the whole thing? We are open to your suggestions, ideas and criticism. Please let us know what you think in the comments to the announcement post at Shades Of The Departed, or email the editor footnoteMaven. We look forward to hearing from our readers.

LEAVE A MESSAGE WITH THE EXCHANGE

Talk to Shades by leaving a comment on the announcement of this month’s issue.

We want to know what’s on your mind.

the one-minute biography A VERY FITTING TRIBUTE

BY GEORGE GEDER

I was looking at this photo of my grand aunt Isabelle Geder and I thought; what would be her biography and how could I present it to the family?

A PLAN I decided to work on a plan.

Clean up the photograph.

My decisions for the photograph is to scan (300dpi minimum) go into Photoshop and clean up the background, crop out the unnecessary parts, use the healing brush and make a sepia toned image.

Next, I'll repeat the process on other pictures and documents, making them as legible as possible.

I was surprised to learn that my point n' shoot camera has audio recording capabilities.

Now I have a choice between my Digital Voice Recorder and Canon Powershot; cool!

A recording studio in the palm of my hand! You can do so much with less. Read your manuals!

I just have to Dind a quiet place to record my narration. Remember, the goal is to keep it under one minute.

Now that I have all of the components, it's time to create the Powerpoint presentation.

I chose a simple background for the slides.

Each picture and doc is inserted into a slide. I'll add the narration, some background music and any text that I may need.

Powerpoint allows you to choose transitions for the slides.

Just remember not to overdo it with the special effects; your audience will love you for that.

TAKE IT FOR A TEST DRIVE. MAKE SURE IT ALL FLOWS.

There you have it. The one‐minute biography. Of course it took a little longer to create, but

once you have the technique mastered, it'll be a breeze to do.

You now have a presentation that you can email to relatives or upload to the internet on

such sites as Slideboom, YouTube, or even embed it in your blog or website.

Here's the Presentation – Isabella Geder [1872‐1933]

death of a photographer—conclusion HIS PICTURE DIDN'T DO HIM JUSTICE

BY CRAIG MANSON Our tale so far: Andrew ("A.J.") Magill, a veteran of the Spanish­American War, had gone into photography after he lost a leg working in the stockyards of East St Louis. One Saturday afternoon in the oppressive, damp heat that is southern Illinois in July, the amiable young man was beaten and shot dead in his studio. The last photographs he had taken were of a couple of teenaged girls. The police thought at Qirst that the three photographs would lead to the killer. But their focus soon shifted to angry man named Gibbons Brogan. So how was it that Gibbons Brogan eluded authorities for almost two years and then within Qive months of his arrest, was living quietly in rural Oklahoma?

The St. Louis Post‐Dispatch of Sunday, July 12, 1908, in its lead story, headlined the murder thusly:

JEALOUS HUSBAND OF 50 SOUGHT AS STUDIO MURDERER ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐oOo‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ A.J. Magill, Roosevelt Rough Rider, Shot Down in his East St. Louis Photograph Gallery __________________ "PAPA DID IT!" CRIES WOMAN RECEIVING NEWS Givens Brogan, Noticeable for His Stooped Shoulders, Missing, and Wife Says he Often Threatened Life of soldier, Her Acquaintance.

A 50‐year‐old husband's jealousy, blazing into murder after smoldering Dive years, is believed by the East St. Louis police to account for the death of Andrew J. Magill, a rough rider who was with Roosevelt at San Juan Hill.

The ex‐soldier, a man of magniDicence physique, was shot in the right arm, clubbed into insensibility with the butt end of a revolver, and shot through the top of the head in his photographic studio in the Victor building on Collinsville Avenue, East St. Louis, at one o'clock yesterday afternoon.

THE POST-DISPATCH DESCRIBED THE ALLEGED MURDERER: The man believed to have attacked him has the deformity of shoulders so rounded as to make him resemble a hunchback. Had not the soldier been disabled at the beginning of the struggle by a shot which shattered his right upper arm and by lameness of recent origin he would have easily disarmed his assailant.

The "lameness of recent origin" to which the paper referred was the stockyard accident for which Magill had been awarded sum of $1500.

On Monday morning, July 13, 1908, the St. Louis Star and Chronicle ran a front page interview with Gibbons Brogan's wife, Susie.

WIFE AIDS HUNT FOR SUSPECTED HUSBAND [You just gotta love these turn‐of‐twentieth century headline writers!]

The wife of the man suspected killing A.J. Magill . . . is giving the police all the help she can in an effort to have him arrested, as she fears he will return and kill her.

The couple had a quarrel Friday night, it is stated, because he was jealous of Magill although she says he had no occasion to be, and her husband then declared he was going to kill a man.

Gibbons Brogan was the son of a man also named Gibbons Brogan. The elder Brogan had been born in Pennsylvania in 1829, the son of Irish immigrants. The junior Brogan was born in 1859 in Illinois. On November 25, 1886, he married Susan Anderson in Fayette County, Illinois.

The Brogans, like the Magills, had come in large numbers from Ireland. Many members of both families found their way to the Midwest, and later to the West. One family of Brogans wound up in northern California‐‐Sacramento and San Francisco. Apparently it was to the City by the Bay that Gibbons Brogan headed when he Dinished his business on the banks of the Mississippi.

James Brogan (born in Ireland in 1830) and his son, George Brogan (born in California in 1866) both were salesmen at O'Connor Moffat & Co. in San Francisco. O'Connor Moffat & Kean, as it had originally been known at Second and Market Streets, eventually became on of the Dinest department stores in San Francisco. It was so special that when R. H. Macy decided to expand to the West Coast in the 1940s, he immediately acquired O'Connor Moffat. It became Macy's San Francisco‐‐the Dlagship store of Macy's West.

The relation between the California Brogans and Gibbons Brogan is not clear. But one of the mysteries in the Brogan case is: did these apparent relatives harbor the fugitive Gibbons Brogan?

Did Gibbons Brogan spend his nearly two years on the lam working at one of the Dinest department stores in the country?

In January 1910, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, a person contacted the chief of detectives in San Francisco and stated that he knew the whereabouts of one Gibbons Brogan wanted in Illinois for murder. The unidentiDied person told the police that Brogan was in the city, and that he, the informant, would be able to locate Brogan provided there was a reward offered.

The person was out of touch with police for several days apparently, and the police made a public

As it happened, the State of Illinois was offering $300 for information leading to Brogan's arrest.

Apparently the informant did contact police again. The Decatur (Ill.) Daily Review reported that Brogan had been arrested in San Francisco and returned it to St. Clair County where he was arraigned on the charge of murder. According to the newspaper, Brogan waived a preliminary hearing whereupon Justice of the Peace William P. Bell ordered him held without bail to answer before the grand jury.

The Decatur newspaper reported that while in police custody in San Francisco, Brogan had "confessed complicity” in the crime. Brogan's account was that he was not the actual shooter, but had a hand in the killing. That matched one police scenario about the murder.

The Decatur papers said that San Francisco police refused to name the individual who turned Brogan in. Likewise, at the time they also refused to name the person that Brogan identiDied as the actual shooter.

Before her husband's capture, Susie Brogan had told a story of a horriDic marriage. She said that her husband had frequently threatened to kill Magill during the past Dive years on account of his jealousy of her friendship with Magill. Susie Brogan was 40, and Magill was 27. She claimed that she was a friend of Magill's sister, a Mrs. Barnum of East Lansdowne, Illinois. Mrs. Brogan gave the newspapers the following account of the night leading up to the murder:

Friday night I went to a phonograph party at Mrs. Barnum's. Mr. Magill wasn't even there. I didn't get home until midnight.

My husband was up awaiting me, in a white rage. He stormed out that I had been to Lansdowne Park with Mr. Magill. He cursed me and forbade my entering the house. I had to spend the rest of the night with a neighbor. I returned home this morning, and when my husband saw me he became so angry that he kicked all the screens out and smashed a lot of furniture. But he did not try to keep me out. He left for the stockyards to draw his week's pay. He soon returned and put on his best clothes. "I'm going to buy a revolver and do what you'll be sorry for all your life," he said to me.

At the trial, the prosecutor was State’s Attorney Frederick J. Tecklenburg, a man who "bore an uncanny resemblance to [then‐future] President Calvin Coolidge, so much so that he was often mistaken for silent Cal when he visited the national's capital," said the Belleville (Ill.) News‐ Democrat in a 2005 story on another matter.

Tecklenburg presented no eyewitnesses but only a man who had seen Brogan run from the photography studio after hearing a shot Dired. Then a gun shop owner testiDied that he had sold Brogan a pistol an hour before the shooting occurred. The girls whose photographs were the last taken by Magill could not identify Brogan at the trial.

Despite what the police characterized as a confession, Brogan did not have to defend himself. At the conclusion of the state's case, the judge found the evidence insufDicient to sustain a conviction and ordered a directed verdict of not guilty.

Notwithstanding her tale of terror at the hands of her husband, the Decatur newspaper reported that following the acquittal, Susie Brogan and threw her arms around her husband and kissed him.

Gibbons Brogan made his way in haste to Sapulpa, Oklahoma, where another band of Brogans had settled. He was not heard from again.

Soon afterward, Susie Brogan Diled for divorce. She spent her Dinal years with her son George in a boarding house in East St. Louis.

In the death of this photographer, no justice was done.

THE CONTEST In the August edition of Appealing Subjects, we announced a contest to award a footnoteMaven designed T‐shirt for anyone who could determine what happened to Gibbons Brogan. Alas, we had no takers by October 15. The wonderfully designed garment should probably be reserved for an even greater feat of skill. So, if you can turn up an authenticated photograph or postcard made by A.J. Magill in his East St Louis studio (obviously other than the ones published in Appealing Subjects), 225 Collinsville Avenue, any time in the next six months, this limited edition souvenir (the T‐shirt) is yours! (Employees of MansonMedia.net and their immediate families are not eligible).

the sky’s the limit CREATING A DESKTOP ISN'T MUCH DIFFERENT THAN BUILDING ANY SCRAPBOOK PAGE

BY DENISE OLSON THE COMPUTER DESKTOP I'll bet many of you still look at the manufacturer's default image every time you start up your computer. Not me! I love playing with my desktop. It changes frequently ‐ to celebrate a holiday or just enjoy a special photo. Changing the photo that's displayed on your desktop is very simple. But why stop there? Your desktop can be a great place to show off your latest scrapbooking creations and, with a bit of effort, an opportunity to push a bit of history to your family.

Here is a look at the current desktop image on my iMac. Lois and Dolph are my maternal grandparents. They met in 1908 and carried on a courtship ‐ mostly by mail ‐ for the next Dive years before they married in 1913. Dolph died in 1921 so we never met him and this is one of the few photos we have of him. As soon as my sisters saw this on my desktop, they had to have it for themselves. Hmmm. I realized I might be onto something. Why not build a collection of desktop graphics and put them someplace (Flickr for me) where your family can view and grab them as they choose.

My Desktop Creating a desktop isn't much different than building any scrapbook page. The one big difference is the size of your project. Most of us are used to the standard square sizes (8"x8" or 12"x12") used for paper scrapbooks. As you'll notice, things aren't so square on your desktop.

Look at the resolution properties for your display in System Preferences (Control Panel for Windows) to get the exact size of your screen. Your computer will do its best to resize an image to Dit your desktop, but it's always good to keep your project as close to the actual size as possible.

Windows desktops are a bit more difDicult to plan for because there are so many monitor and resolution options.

And, since we're talking about resolution, your screen has a much lower resolution than projects you create to be printed. While most scrapbookers know that the minimum acceptable resolution for a decent photo print is 300 dpi (dots per inch), your screen is only 72 dpi. This is to your beneDit, however, since it means your Dile sizes will be much smaller even when you pile on the layers.

You'll notice that I adjusted my layout around the stuff that normally resides on my desktop ‐ the Dock at the bottom and the folders on the right. Since this desktop is being used for Windows machines too, the left side is also pretty bare. This gives me some extra Dlexibility should this image be used on a smaller screen.

Things like textured backgrounds help keep the composition interesting without competing with your regular desktop tools.

While this example is pretty simple, nothing keeps you from including lots of captions and journaling to tell your story. The sky is the limit for design opportunities and today's bigger screens give you lots more real estate to exploit than with basic scrapbook pages. Who knows, in addition to generating interest in your family history, you might even get them to clean up their desktops to make more room for your family masterpieces.

Give it a try! I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

1867 WHEELING, DEALING AND NEGOTIATING WITH CONFEDERATES, INDIANS AND RUSSIANS. DYNAMITE, HAIRDOS, AND GALLSTONES.

BY SHERI FENLEY On March 2, 1867, Congress passed the Reconstruction Act of 1867. It was hoped that by enacting this legislation it would force the re‐engineering of Southern society and redistribute the wealth in that region.

The Act divided the Confederate states into Dive military districts each governed by a Union general. Tennessee, which had ratiDied the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and was readmitted to the Union was not included in

Meanwhile, out west, one tribe of Indians in particular was resisting the push of the White Man to vacate their lands. The "Wagon Box Fight" took place on August 2, 1867 about Dive miles west of Fort Phil Kearny, Wyoming. A handful of soldiers and civilians who were on a wood cutting detail, were attacked by Lakota Sioux Chief Red Cloud and his tribe of 2000 warriors. Twenty‐six soldiers and six civilians took cover inside an oval of wagon boxes that was being used as a stock corral.

Armed with new rapid‐Dire breech loading riDles the soldiers and civilians commanded by Captain James Powell held the Indians off until reinforcements arrive with a howitzer. Only three of the thirty‐two men died during the battle while hundreds of the Indians were killed.

I don't know if it was because of the show of new and improved Direpower and the Lakota Sioux defeat or not, but Dive Indian tribes decided they had had enough. Over 7000 West Plains Indians met with the Indian Peace Commission at Medicine Lodge, Kansas on 21 October 1867. The U.S. Congress established the Commission in June 1867 for the sole purpose of negotiating peace with the tribes. The Medicine Lodge Treaty is actually three separate treaties: The Dirst was signed October 21, 1867 with the Kiowa and Comanche tribes. The second, with the Apache, was signed the same day, while the third, with the Cheyenne and Arapaho, was signed on October 28th.

Nebraska is admitted as the 37th state in the Union on March 1, 1867.

Although it will be 92 more years before Alaska becomes a state, on March 30, 1867, the U.S. government purchased the Territory of Alaska for $7.2 million from Alexander II of Russia. That works out to about 2 cents per acre. I personally think that we got a bargain, but the newspapers of the time were calling the event Seward’s Folly. Secretary of State William H. Seward had negotiated and closed the deal between the United States and Russia.

Upon hearing the announcement of the U.S.­ Russian deal, chef Charles Ranhofer (the chef for Delmonico's Restaurant in New York City) created a new dessert to celebrate the purchase ­ Baked Alaska. Ranhofer enclosed a brick of ice cream in a meringue and quickly baked it in the oven.

The Dirst issue of "Harper's Bazaar" is published on November 2, 1867 becoming America's Dirst fashion magazine. I just love the page below showing how to style one's own hair. Such a good visual aid!

ALFRED NOBEL patents dynamite in Great Britain, an e x p l o s i v e b a s e d o n nitroglycerine but mixed with other compounds to make it safer in use; he isn’t granted a U.S. patent until the next year.

On July 5, 1867, after Dive years as governess and teacher to the king of Siam's royal children, Anna Leonowens sails from Bangkok back to England. In 1862, Anna had accepted an offer made by the Siamese consul in Singapore, Tan Kim Ching, to teach the wives and children of Mongkut, king of Siam. The king wished to give his 39 wives and concubines and 82 children a modern Western education on scientiDic secular lines, which earlier missionaries' wives had not provided.

On October 10, 1867, The Union Club of Morrisania, New York won the 1867 National Association of Baseball Players Championship beating the Atlantics of Brooklyn, New York. I had no idea that baseball was an organized sport as early as 1845.

The players are (L to R) George Smith, LF; Dan Ketchum, 3B; Tommy y Pabor, P; Albro Aiken, SS; Henry Austin, CF; Al Martin, 2B and John Goldie, 1B.

In Boston, Massachusetts, the Harvard School of Dental Medicine is established as the Dirst dental school in the United States on July 17, 1867.

Also making headlines in the world of medicine was Dr. John S. Bobbs. On June 15, 1867 in McCordsville, Indiana he performed the Dirst successful gallstone operation.

"Charles Dickens as he appears when reading." Wood engraving from a sketch by Charles A. Barry (1830­1892). Illustration in Harper's Weekly, v. 11, no. 571, 7 December 1867, p. 777. Courtesy of The Library of Congress.

Charles Dickens gives his Dirst public reading in the United States in December 1867 on the stage at the Steinway Theater in New York City.

that was the year . . . 1867

CENSUS 1930 IT’S ABOUT THE ECONOMY!

making census of 1930 The 1930 Census would be the first one to start indicating societal trends based on the new questions added to the census.

BY CAROLINE POINTER Do you own a radio? Seems like a silly question nowadays, but back in 1930 when the question was posed for the Dirst time in the United States Federal Population Schedule [census], it was a signiDicant question. According to an article in 2002 in Prologue Magazine, a publication of the National Archives, the authors Hendricks and Patterson indicate that the 1930 census shows a shift in asking immigration‐related questions to asking more about "consumer items, home values, unemployment, and veteran status."

Why did the government want to know this information? With the Stock Market Crash in 1929, this information deDinitely became very useful, but these questions weren't added at the last minute. The invention of the radio, its impact on communications, and popularity growth in the 1920's started a "consumerism movement" that is still moving today. The government recognized this and wanted to quantify this information in order to make decisions based on society's needs. According to Hendricks and Patterson: "This data would reveal centers of poverty and wealth, and trends in either direction.

The adherence to scientiDic method as a way to understand social problems would remain a hallmark of the twentieth century."

The 1930 Census would be the Dirst one to start indicating societal trends based on the new questions added to the census. So, why is this important to Dinding our ancestors? Well, not only did the answers to these new questions reveal societal data to the government and business, but it can also help family researchers to discover new ancestors, and in most cases, can help a family researcher

better understand their ancestors. It can reveal details that normally wouldn't be found anywhere else but a journal or maybe a published family history from the early 20th century. These details can reveal more about who our ancestors were and how they lived.

WHAT’S NEW? Let's take a look at the new questions that were posed in 1930 to Americans and see how each one can help us in our research. 

value of the home if owned, or if renting, the monthly rent



whether the family owned a radio



age at Dirst marriage



whether person worked yesterday



veteran of U.S. Military or naval forces & which war



who the homemaker of the home was

VALUE OF THE HOME IF OWNED, OR IF RENTING, THE MONTHLY RENT While the question of home ownership had

depending on where they had been previous

been asked before, this was the Dirst time that

to the census and where they went to after the

the government wanted to know the value of

census, this may only indicate that they were

the home and if renting, how much the

in transition, meaning they may have been

monthly rent was. For overall purposes, this

only renting because they weren't planning to

would give the government and other entities

stay. Certainly it's a bit of information that,

important information about home values,

combined with other known information of

which they would be able to track trends

our ancestors, can help tell more of their

going forward.

story.

How does this help us Dind or learn more about how our ancestors lived? The obvious answer is that it's an indication of what they could afford, in most cases.

However,

WHETHER THE FAMILY OWNED A RADIO As indicated before this is a "biggie." The government and business both used this information for different purposes. In its quest for knowing the overall status of society, the government wanted this information in order to quantify how society was doing and the impact of the technology on families. On the other hand, according to Roland Marchand in his book "Advertising the American Dream: Making Way for Modernity, 1920‐1940," the radio industry was busy trying to deDine how advertising Dit into its overall plan. Many advertisers felt that while the radio was useful,

Nowadays that's just ludicrous, but it was a

it wasn't a proper medium for advertising.

legitimate hurdle that they were working on

jumping at the time. And our ancestors?

your spending. It's a "Do I buy a radio or

Obviously if our ancestors owned a radio in

whitewash the house?" versus "Do I buy an

1930, they were doing a little bit better than

iPhone or do I go out to eat this month?" While

the average bear. So, it's an indicator of their

the choices have changed, the fact that you

Dinancial status, but it also indicates their

were asking yourself or your ancestors were

interest in new technology and their

asking themselves that question, meant that

willingness to embrace the "new". Really, our

you are and they were on a particular Dinancial

ancestors were no different than us. Think

status level, and that you have or they had a

about your budget and how you prioritize

penchant for gizmos.

AGE AT FIRST MARRIAGE Now this particular question, I found very

government, and the census in particular, had

interesting. For the life of me, I couldn't Digure

an interest in these numbers because they

out why the government needed and wanted

could potentially affect the population.

to know a person's age at said person's Dirst

Furthermore, Patterson and Hendricks assert

marriage. I don't think I'm alone in my

that social conservatives were concerned

wonderings, but I did Dind an answer that was

about the implications of later marriages on

very surprising and might possibly give more

home and hearth.

insight to our ancestors.

According to the article in "Prologue," Hendricks and Patterson suggest that this question "had interesting social implications."

There was a perception in the 20's that the average age for marriage was on the rise. I say "perception" because the 1920 census reported that the average age for marriage was down. Patterson and Hendricks indicate that young men and women were meeting their spouses now in places like high schools and colleges rather than the more traditional places.

Thus, their ages were lower, but there was eventually an increase in the average age for

So, what does this possibly indicate about

marriage that was caused by women who

our ancestors? Well, for the women, they were

were career‐oriented. I would imagine that

"breaking out" of the home. If you had a

female ancestor who did not marry at a young

Colboth, was listed, as being 61 years of age,

age, this possibly could mean she went to

and his age of his Dirst marriage was 42, which

college or owned a business and quite possibly

meant that there had been only nineteen years

left a paper trail for you to follow. The other

between the time of the census and his Dirst

bit of information about our ancestors that can

marriage.

be gleaned from the answer to this question

What this means is that there was some

involves a little math. The existence of

"marriage record‐hunting" for me to do.

p rev i o u s m a r r i a g e s c a n p o s s i b ly b e

Indeed, my 2nd great‐grandmother had been

determined from looking at the ages given by

married not once, but twice before her

the head of the household and his wife.

marriage to William "Bill" Colboth.

My

For example, in the 1930 census in Johnson

grandmother had written on the back of a

County, Illinois, my 2nd great‐grandmother

photo postcard of my 2nd great‐grandmother

Catherine Caroline Vaughn was listed as being

her name and a list in chronological order of

66 years of age and her age at her Dirst

all three of her husbands. If I hadn't been so

marriage was listed as being 22 years. So, this

lucky to have this information, it would've

would mean [assuming the information is

taken me a lot longer to Digure them out, but

correct] that if she had only married once,

quite possibly the easiest clue would've been

then she had been married for 44 years.

from this question asked in the 1930 census.

However, the man she was married to according to the 1930 census, William VETERAN OF THE U.S. MILITARY OR NAVAL FORCES, AND WHICH WAR While the question of whether a person in

was given and/or

the household was a veteran or not was not a

recorded correctly,

new question, the question of which war that

then this would be a

the veteran had been involved in was new.

more direct clue in

Patterson and Hendricks indicate that some

determining our

questions that were asked on the 1930 census,

ancestor's military

such as this one, "merely reDlected the

involvement. Thus,

government's interest in such information for

helping us to Dind

accounting purposes." Whatever the reason

out more about our

the government had for obtaining this

ancestors through

information, it is a wonderful clue for the

military records.

family history researcher. If the information

WHO IS THE HOMEMAKER OF THE HOME? So where on the form was this asked? It

now had been ignored: the female consumer.

was verbally asked then indicated with a "‐H"

In using the term "homemaking," as

after the relationship term in column 6 (eg.,

mentioned before, they were making it a

wife‐H, sister‐H, daughter‐H). This is a small

science that not only they could study, but they

piece of information that really "packs a big

could improve it with technology. Moreover,

punch," so to speak.

it's important in advertising to know who your

When I Dirst read the enumerator's

"audience" is in order to sell them something,

instructions on this, I was bafDled as to why

whether it be a new piece of technology or an

the government wanted to know this

idea.

particular piece of information. At Dirst, I had

So, how does this help us to learn about our

naturally assumed that the "‐H" indicated that

ancestors? Well, go take a quick look at your

the wife was the wife of the head of household,

female ancestors in the 1930 census. Do they

which didn't really make any sense to me

all have the sufDix "‐H" listed after their

because the question doesn't ask what your

relationship to the head of the household?

title is, but what your relationship is to the

If they don't, take a quick look at their

head of the household. So, by the very nature

occupation. What were they doing? Were

of the question, the answer "wife" is the wife

they a part of this burgeoning group of women

of the head of household.

working outside the home? If they do have the

What the enumerators were told to do was

sufDix "‐H" then that's who the advertisers

to Dind out who in the home was the

were targeting in their ads for new technology

homemaker, and whoever it was, then mark it

to help out in the home. That makes me

down. Why the distinction? Well, as explained

wonder what kinds of technology my female

above, there were certain societal trends that

ancestors bought Dirst. What did they want to

were occurring especially with women. It all

buy the most, but couldn't afford? No doubt,

came down to business and advertising.

women were a driving force for consumerism.

Patterson and Hendricks explain "the new

Sales grew in the 1920's for electric irons,

Dield of 'home economics' revalued household

vacuums, refrigerators, etc. ‐ all things

chores as a 'science' to be studied and

designed to make work in the home easier and

mastered." Hence, the birth of the class Home

more efDicient for our female ancestors, the

Economics still being taught in schools today.

"homemakers."

As all good advertisers do, they zeroed in on a slice of the American populace that before

"the new field of 'home economics' revalued household chores as a 'science' to be studied and mastered."

WHETHER THE PERSON HAD WORKED YESTERDAY

Here is another seemingly odd question that was posed to American households in 1930: did you work yesterday? However, the loss of some other important information has increased this question's importance, especially to the family history researcher.

In 1930, an additional special census was taken along with the population census. Nothing really new there since this had been done before (i.e., Slave Schedules, Agriculture Schedules, Manufacturing Schedules, etc.). However, this new one would prove to be extremely helpful, especially after the Stock Market Crash in 1929. It was the Unemployment Schedule.

Of course, it would've been more useful had it not been lost. Though there are published summaries of the information from the Unemployment Schedule; there is no individual information on our ancestor's unemployment status if, indeed they were unemployed at the time of the census in 1930.

The only information that can help us determine whether or not our ancestor was unemployed or employed in the 1930 census would be of course the occupation information as well as the answer to the question concerning whether they had worked yesterday. Obviously if they had worked yesterday, then they probably weren't unemployed, but if the answer was negative, then

there's a slight chance that they had been

picture of our ancestors and their economic

unemployed. Not exactly foolproof, but like

status during a difDicult time.

many genealogical clues, it can help to paint a DO YOU OWN A RADIO? For certain, our ancestors in the 1930 census were on the tail end of the economic boom in the 1920's and were headed for certain economic woes in the 1930's and 1940's. The 1930 census gives us a glimpse into our ancestors' lives in this transitional time period that can help us possibly learn more about them. It also makes you think about what you purchase and own, and just what that says about you. What assumptions will your descendants make about you based on your consumer choices? Are you what you buy?

SOURCES: Emily Ann Croom, The Genealogist's Companion and Sourcebook, 2nd Edition (Cincinatti, Ohio: Betterway Books, 2003), 22‐23, 50.

David Hendricks and Amy Patterson, “The 1930 Census in Perspective,” The United States Government, The National Archives, http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2002/summer/1930‐census‐perspective.html#nt9 : accessed 2 October 2009), reprinted from Prologue Magazine, Summer 2002, Vol. 34, No.2.

Illinois. Johnson County. 1930 U.S. Census, population schedule. Digital images. Ancestry.com. Http://www.ancestry.com : 2007.

Roland Marchand, Advertising the American Dream:Making Way For Modernity, 1920­1940 (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1985), 90.

Steven Ruggles, Matthew Sobek, Trent Alexander, Catherine A. Fitch, Ronald Goeken, Patricia Kelly Hall, Miriam King, and Chad Ronnander. Integrated Public Use Microdata Series: Version 4.0 [Machine‐readable database]. (http://usa.ipums.org/usa/), Minneapolis, MN: Minnesota Population Center [producer and distributor], 2009, “1930 Enumerator Instructions.”

Loretto Dennis Szucs & Sandra Hargreaves Luebking, editors, “The Source”: A Guidebook to American Genealogy, Third Edition (Provo, Utah: Ancestry, 2006), 170, 183‐185.

The United States Government, U.S. Census Bureau (http://www.census.gov/prod/www/abs/decennial/1930.htm : accessed 23 Sep 2009), “1930 Census.”

The Key

one of anything is a treasured possession two of anything is a pair three of anything is a collection

a dreadful portrait PENNY DREADFUL BEARS WITNESS TO THE POWERS OF FATE

BY DENISE LEVENICK

Dear Reader, the story I am about to share with you bears witness to the powers of Fate.

Sometimes it is not rigorous research that uncovers Truth. Instead, it may merely be the kind smile of the Mistress Fate turning her head to the sunshine and extending her hand with a gift.

Such is the provenance of the tale I will share with you this month.

As is her custom, Miss Maven presented me with scores of photographs as potential subjects for our feature at Shades of the Departed. I was only a few cards into the stack when my hand paused as if frozen above the next image; I recognized those bright and watchful young eyes peering back at me from the paper. In fact, I was certain that I had seen the same gaze in real life!

A closer examination of both subjects in the photograph conDirmed my suspicion. The form and intensity of the eyes was the none other than the noted Dreadful Gaze worn by generations in our family line; this must be the oft‐described photograph missing from the family album.

A smear of paste testiDied to its place in the precious book, but I felt as if I knew the missing photo merely from my ancestor’s careful descriptions. A mother, a babe, and far‐away grandparents.

Perhaps the photograph was about to come home.

Here is the story behind the photograph of a young child who was once the freshest leaf on the Dreadful Family Tree.

As she navigated the infant’s pram across the brick street, the young woman nodded with approval at the glittering gold lettering discretely painted across the studio’s glass door. As much as the photographer might want to become well‐known for his work, it was better to be elegant and understated than garish and bold, she thought. Already, the address was becoming a tightly passed secret within the inner circle of New York City’s most elite society. Mothers wanted their debutante daughters to be captured by the magic lens of the master photographer; grandparents begged for home appointments to preserve the magic of a newborn’s smile in a photographic print.

Knickerbocker Portrait Studio would not be long in these modest quarters.

A glance in the sparkling window glass reassured her that her careful chignon was still in place beneath her autumn hat, and a glance at the sleeping baby caused her to think that if she could work quickly, she might be able to Dinish her task before the little one demanded her full attention.

Mary used her key to unlock the door and gently pushed it open. She held her breath while lifting the pram over the threshold, hoping not to stir the infant.

Once inside the room, she noiselessly closed the door and pushed the carriage into a dark corner of the room. A quick tug on the hat pin released her bonnet, and she set it aside on a corner table. Moving swiftly to the heavy wooden desk, Mary took a seat on the chair and pulled an account book from the drawer. “ L e t ’ s s e e … ” s h e m u r m u re d . “ T h i s w e e k ’ s appointments look promising.”

Mary checked appointments, entered orders, and added accounts payable and receivable. After nearly an hour of close Diguring, with many glances at the quiet carriage across the room, she returned the account book to the drawer and moved with a sheet of paper to a cupboard against one wall.

Inside, narrow Ditted shelves held the fruit of the photographer’s labors, each stack of prints whether single or several sheets high, a silent testimony to hours spent in the close conDines of his inner sanctum, the dark room.

Mary checked the prints against the order sheet, conDirming that customers calling for their portraits would not be disappointed. As she took each print from the shelf, Mary added the studio’s private signature in gilt ink, a gracefully etched monogram “KS.” Sometimes as she wrote the two letters, Mary thought she was sealing each print with a symbolic kiss, sending the carefully wrought images out into the world with love and care.

She looked at the door with delight as she felt rather than saw a tall lanky shadow pass the glass.

The photographer had arrived.

“Any walk‐ins this afternoon, Mary?” he asked briskly, striding into the room and removing his hat

in one motion. He carried an assortment of odd-shaped equipment and parcels and dropped them on a large chest with an accompanying crash. “Oh, I am so sorry,” he added noting the carriage in the corner, and dropping his voice to a whisper.He carried an assortment of odd‐shaped equipment and parcels and dropped them on a large chest with an accompanying crash.

“Oh, I am so sorry,” he added noting the carriage in the corner, and dropping his voice to a whisper.hat He exaggerated a tip‐toe walk to peer inside the buggy. Noting a pair of intense hazel eyes staring back at him, his voice rose to a cheery timbre, “Hello, little fellow,” he said. “And how are you this Dine October afternoon?”

“No walk‐in custom, Sir,” Mary replied. “And the orders are ready for Mrs. Stevens and Mr. Collins. I believe they are having someone pick up the prints today.”

“Ah, yes. So nice to have a personal assistant,” the photographer answered, speaking to the silent child. “Don’t you think so, little man. So nice to have help with one’s work.”

without hesitation, the young man snatched camera and tripod and quickly set up his equipment.

Turning to Mary, his voice changed from teasing to business brisk, “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate you helping with these orders, Mary. The home portrait idea was an absolute inspiration, but it does mean that I need to be out of the studio more often. I could not do this without you.”

Mary only blushed at the compliment and went over the carriage to retrieve the baby. As she turned to face the photographer the sunlight fell through the window casting mother and child in the warm glow of the autumn light.

Without hesitation, the young man snatched camera and tripod and quickly set up his equipment.

The baby turned his head from his mother’s gaze and saw a wooden box atop wooden legs. Even more curious, was the mufDled voice coming from the lumpy black cloth and a pair of long trousered legs behind the camera.

A face popped out, “What do you say, my boy?” cajoled the photographer. “Isn’t your Mama the most beautiful, most efDicient, and most wonderful girl in the world? Aren’t we lucky to have her taking care of both of us?”

AFTERWORD Dear Reader, I have, of course, taken a small degree of literary license in retelling this story for your enjoyment, but the gist of the tale is as true as can be.

Family lore has it that the image missing from the family album was removed by the photographer’s wife to eliminate confusion over the business name. While the studio’s success had been built under the Knickerbocker title, occasionally the photographer insisted on hand­signing portraits with his own name, a rather unfortunate whim. Those same prints were occasionally shipped West to the grandparents of young Percival.

It is the only known print to bear the name of the photographer, inscribed in his own hand. For my ancestor was Percival Charles Dreadful, son of the esteemed photographer Z. K. Dreadful, of Dreadful Portraits.

forget-me-not NOVEMBER COLLAGE OF FORGET-ME-NOTS AND PRECIOUS PHOTOS OF BERTA MARY

BY VICKIE EVERHART “Think of me when you are happy Keep for me one little spot In the depths of thine affection Plant a sweet forget­me­not.”

The above verse is from a hand‐written page

Robert’s little girl grew up, married in 1950,

in a crumbling late 19th‐century friendship

and gave birth to her Dirst child ‐‐ a baby girl

album that once belonged to Berta Mary

born in Texas ‐‐ on Berta Mary’s 78th birthday.

Henry nee Sharp (1873‐1955).

The creator of this collage – which is dedicated

to “the grandmas” ‐‐ is that baby girl.

Berta Mary was born on the Hall Plantation in

It has only been within the past decade that

Houston County, Texas on the 10 th of

this writer became aware of a “Forget‐Me‐Not

November 1873. She lost her mother before

Day” showing up on select calendar listings

she turned three, and her father before her

available on the internet. Although unable to

13th birthday. Berta Mary became the bride of

Dind a deDinitive history of this sentimental

Edgar Henry (1872‐1950) in 1895, and they

designation for the 10th day of November, it is

had eight children, one of which was Robert E.

assumed at this time that the following

Henry (1905‐1976).

statement ‐‐ from the New York Times in November of 1922 ‐‐ may well be a partial

Robert married in 1929 in Massachusetts, and

explanation ‐‐ “Several hundred cities

had a son and a daughter by the time his wife

throughout the country will observe Forget‐

died in 1932. By 1940 both of those children

Me‐Not Day through the sale of forget‐me‐nots

were living in Texas with Robert’s parents,

for the beneDit of the disabled American

Edgar and Berta Mary.

veterans.”

The year before, Judge Robert S. Marx,

Besides being a token of remembrance for

national commander of the Disabled American

those lost or wounded during times of war, the

Veterans of the World war, had stated that ‐‐

tiny blue forget‐me‐not is also utilized to

“This organization (i.e., DAV) has adopted the

symbolize memory loss for victims of

forget‐me‐not as its emblem. And, on Forget‐

Alzheimer’s disease, is worn in memory of

Me‐Not day, forget‐me‐nots are to be sold on

those who have suffered in the name of

the streets of every city and town of the United

Freemasonry, is used to commemorate

States . . . help with your little mite on Forget‐

missing children, and ‐‐ it is the state Dlower of

Me‐Not Day.”

the State of Alaska.

This November collage ‐‐ which features forget‐me‐nots as well as a few precious photos of Berta Mary ‐‐ was created in Picasa using the following elements . . .

A background image (on left in the collage) created in Picasa using the collage feature with the grid option ‐‐ starting with this page from an old decaying album which was purchased by author in New Hampshire more than 25 years ago.

Free clipart image (the corset a d v e r t i s e m e n t ) f r o m D o v e r ’ s copyright‐free image collection (the author receives a free weekly email newsletter from Dover with links to a wonderful collection of free clipart).

Tinted grunge background created in Picasa using the collage feature with the multiple exposure option ‐‐ starting with a free grunge texture found via Google search for “free grunge textures.”

A scanned page of forget‐me‐nots from a ca. 1900 remembrance book ‐ Cupples & Leon Company of New York

Four family photos dating from the late 19th century to the 1950s (digital copies owned by author).

Free Fonts ‐ Blackadder ITC & Unifur, D i n g b a t f o n t s ‐ D i n g m a p s , WWSpringTime GrifDin, Botanical

TUTORIAL Picasa is a free software application available from Google that is useful for organizing your digital photos as well as for doing simple photo editing. You will need to download Picasa and conDigure it to read the image folders on your computer. The how‐tos for setting up Picasa are available > HERE < and there are multiple tutorials available online for using this program.

HOW THIS WAS DONE - A TUTORIAL PICASA – HOW TO CREATE THE GRID COLLAGE FEATURING THE PAGE FROM THE OLD PHOTO ALBUM • • • • • • • •

To begin this project, you will need a total of four copies of the page from the photo album.

Click > HERE (insert link) < to Dind a free copy of the old photo page, and save a copy to your computer.

Open Picasa, and click on the image you just saved.

Select FILE and SAVE A COPY three times so that you have four exact copies.

Either click on the BACK TO LIBRARY button (upper left) or double click on the image itself to return to the thumbnail page.

Click on one of the four duplicate images to highlight it. While highlighted, that image will appear in the SELECTION box on your lower left.

Click on the GREEN MAP PIN to hold that image in the selection box.

Repeat the last three steps three more times to select all four duplicate images.

NOTE :: For future reference, clicking the little green map pin every time you make a selection will allow you to make selections from different folders for the collage you are creating.

• • • • •

• • • • • •

Then click COLLAGE in the bottom section to the right of the selection box.

Under SETTINGS, select GRID and 8x10 for the PAGE FORMAT. If the image defaults to the landscape setting you will need to click on the appropriate button below the 8x10 setting to change to the portrait setting.

Under GRID SPACING move the slider to the right to allow the background to show through.

Under BACKGROUND OPTIONS click on the button for SOLID COLOR and then click on the colored square on the right. This will give you a little eyedropper that you will use as a color picker.

Hover the eyedropper over the colors of the album page until you get a background color you like. Click on that color to “pick” that color for your background.

You can still change the GRID SPACING if you wish.

Click on the square beside DRAW SHADOWS to create shadows for each of the album pages.

If you do not like this look, just uncheck that same box.

You are still able to change the GRID SPACING if you wish.

Click on CREATE COLLAGE in the middle of the section to your left.

Your new COLLAGE will automatically be saved in a new COLLAGE folder under the PROJECTS collection. You are still able to edit this COLLAGE if you wish by clicking on the EDIT COLLAGE button on the upper left. You will be given the option to replace the existing collage or save your edited version as a new image.

TUTORIAL PICASA – HOW TO CREATE THE TINTED GRUNGE BACKGROUND

• I used a free grunge image from Deviantart.com. Save it (or some sort of free patterned image of your choosing) to your computer (make sure you know where you save it so you can Dind it again in case it does NOT show up in Picasa).

• Open the collage you created in the previous step and click on EDIT COLLAGE. • Choose the landscape setting and change the PAGE FORMAT to 4:3: Standard screen.

• Right click on three of the four sections of your collage and choose REMOVE. You will be left with one image of the album page.

• Under SETTINGS, move the slider for the GRID SPACING all the way to the right.

• This should give you a single color rectangle that exactly matches the background you used for your grid collage.

• Click on CREATE COLLAGE and then choose CREATE NEW to save this single color part for use in creating your background collage. You will Dind it in the COLLAGES folder after you double click on the image to return to the library of organized thumbnails.

• Click on that single color rectangle to make it show up in the SELECTION section on the bottom left. Click on the GREEN MAP PIN to hold that image in that area.

• Find the free grunge texture you wish to use for the pattern for your background and click on it. Click on it to make it show up in the SELECTION section on the bottom left. Click on the GREEN MAP PIN to also hold that image in that area.

• Click on COLLAGE on the bottom middle‐to‐right section.

• Under SETTINGS select MULTIPLE EXPOSURE. • Under PAGE FORMAT select 4:3: STANDARD SCREEN. • Click on CREATE COLLAGE. You will Dind your new image in the COLLAGES folder automatically created by Picasa.

PICASA – HOW TO CREATE THE FORGET-ME-NOT COLLAGE

• Picasa does a perfectly Dine job of explaining the process of creating a simple collage ‐‐> Here •

There is a Flickr Group highlighting collages created solely in Picasa. Do a Google search for > "Picasa collage" Flickr < to Dind that group.

The speciDic steps used to create the forget‐me‐not collage include the following.

•

Highlight and select each of the individual elements to be used in the collage, including the background image created above as well as the old photo album collage. Remember to click on the GREEN MAP PIN as each individual image is selected.

NOTE :: Images may be added or removed just about any time during the process of creating a collage. More about that later.

NOTE :: If you are using two or more images that are in the same Qile and are next to each other, you also have the option of clicking on the 1st image, holding down the shift key, and then clicking on the last image in the series you want to use. This will highlight every one in the row. Then clicking on the GREEN MAP PIN will hold all of these images in the SELECTION section.

• • • •

Click on the COLLAGE button. That brings up the COLLAGE PAGE. Under SETTINGS select PICTURE PILE. Under PAGE FORMAT select 16:10 WIDESCREEN MONITOR. Select the landscape option.

TUTORIAL •

• •

Right‐click on the tinted grungy background created above, and select SET AS BACKGROUND. That step basically duplicates the selected background image within the collage being created, so the next step is to right click on the smaller grungy background image and click REMOVE. That step will remove only the small piece of grunge ‐‐ the background will remain.

That last step brings up the CLIPS menu, so click on the SETTINGS tab to return to that menu of options.

Click on DRAW SHADOWS to create a shadow for each of the separate elements in the collage.

NOTE :: After left­clicking on any individual element of the collage, a transparent grey "steering wheel" ­­ complete with a "spinner or knob" (the little white button with an orange center) ­­ will appear over that image. Left­clicking and holding the mouse pointer on that knob allows resizing and / or realignment that image.

NOTE :: To move any image to a different location, left‐click and hold on the image and move it to the desired location.

Click on the old photo album page collage created above, and drag it to the left side of the collage. Click again to bring up the steering wheel, and click on the spinner knob to realign the image as well as adjust the size.

• Click on the forget‐me‐not image and drag it to the middle of the page. If it is on top of any image in this collection, then right‐click on the forget‐me‐nots and select MOVE TO BOTTOM. That will put it behind the photo album collage as well as all of the other collage elements.

• Right click on the 1930s image of the woman standing on the porch and select BRING TO TOP and drag that image to any location on top of the photo album collage on the left.

• Right click on the 1955 image of the elderly woman and the little girl and select BRING TO TOP and drag that image to any location on top of the photo album collage on the left. Right click again and under CHANGE BORDER select WHITE BORDER to put a white border around just that one image.

• Right click on the ca. 1895 photo of the two women and select BRING TO TOP and align that photo on the right side of the forget‐me‐not collage.

• Left click on the ca. 1895 head‐shot of the young woman and drag it to a spot above and behind the photo of the two women. Right click again and under CHANGE BORDER select WHITE BORDER to put a white border around just that one image.

• Right click on the Dover image featuring the blue corset and select BRING TO TOP and drag that image to the bottom left side of the photo of the two women.

• Do any needed or desired tweaking at this point ‐‐ realign a photo, add or remove a white border, add or remove shadows.

• On the left towards the bottom of the SETTINGS options, click on CREATE COLLAGE. • This new collage will automatically be stored in Picasa's COLLAGES folder under the PROJECTS collection. Once the collage is created a new EDIT COLLAGE button will appear near the upper left corner. Clicking on this button allows changes to be made to the new collage.

PICASA – HOW TO ADD TEXT & DINGBAT ART TO THE FORGET-ME-NOT COLLAGE

• Go back to the forget‐me‐not collage.

•

TUTORIAL

•

• • • •

•

• • •

Click on the TEXT button to bring up the EDIT TEXT option under the BASIC FIXES tab. The drop‐down menu beside the word FONT will show all of the fonts that are currently installed on the computer you are working from. The fonts used in this project are Unifur and Blackadder. The dingbat fonts used are Dingmaps, WWSpringTime, GrifDin, and Botanical.

Select the Blackadder font, and then type the words > Forget‐Me‐Not Day < Use the "steering wheel" tool (mentioned in the tutorial on creating the collage) that appears over the typed text to resize and / or realign (tilt) the text.

Click on the grey frame around the text to drag the text to the desired location.

With the grey frame showing around the text, the color of the text can be changed by clicking on the colored circle located to the far left under BASIC FIXES and hovering the resulting eyedropper over the desired color ‐‐ either a color from the color chart that appears or a color from the collage itself.

A contrasting outline can be added around each letter of the text by moving the slider to the right that is found beside the colored dots. Clicking on the colored dot directly to the left of the slider enables a choice of a contrasting color for the outline.

The text can also be made a little or a lot transparent at this time by moving the TRANSPARENCY slider to the left.

Click on the APPLY button to set the text.

The text can still be edited by clicking in the text area, which will make the grey frame reappear around the text, allowing new edits.

To scatter forget‐me‐not blossoms around the page, you will Dirst need to Dind and download the free dingbat font known as BOTANICAL. The little Dive‐petal blossom will appear in place of the letter > k < • • • • • • • • •

Click on the TEXT button and select the BOTANICAL font from the drop‐down menu.

Click somewhere on the collage area and type a lower‐case letter > k < and a forget‐me‐not will appear.

Click on the knob on the steering wheel and enlarge the single blossom.

Click on the colored circle on the far left to activate the color picker, and hover the eyedropper over the colors of the collage to pick a blue for the forget‐me‐not.

Click on the other circle of color (next to the slider) to pick a color for outlining the forget‐ me‐not.

Move the border slider to set the thickness or boldness of the outline Move the TRANSPARENCY slider to change the transparency of the blossom.

Click on various places around the collage and click on > k < to scatter the blossoms around the image. Resize some of them to create various versions of the same blossom.

Click APPLY to set the dingbat images.

NOTE :: BE AWARE ­­ I was very frustrated for a while trying to Qigure out how to make the ALL of the fonts and dingbats I chose actually show up when I typed them on my images in Picasa. The simple fact is that some characters in some fonts / dingbats will not work in Picasa ­­ they simply will not appear when you type them on your image.

TUTORIAL PICASA – HOW TO ADD A BORDER TO YOUR FINISHED COLLAGE

• After you create your Dinal collage, choose a background image that will complement your collage.

• Select both images, and click on COLLAGE. • Choose the GRID OPTION. • Move the slider to the middle.

• Right‐click on the background image and choose SET AS BACKGROUND. • Right‐click on the smaller original version of the background image and choose REMOVE. • Under SETTINGS readjust the slider for GRID SPACING to get your desired border look.

• If you wish, click on the little button beside DRAW SHADOWS. If you don’t like the look, just unclick the same button.

• Adjust the slider for GRID SPACING again if you want to.

• Click on CREATE COLLAGE. Picasa will automatically place your new “framed” collage in the COLLAGE folder.

PICASA – HOW TO RESIZE A COLLAGE TO A SIZE SUITABLE FOR SHARING ON A BLOG

• Open the Dinished collage • Click on the EXPORT button • Click on RESIZE TO and choose the size preferred for the exported and resized collage. Sizes usually recommended by Picasa include ‐‐ 1600 pixels for prints & screensavers ‐‐ 1024 pixels for sharing ‐‐ 640 pixels for blogs & webpages.

• Choose the IMAGE QUALITY. I usually choose MAXIMUM. • Picasa give the option to add a watermark. This text will appear on the lower right of the re‐ sized collage, and can be a copyright notice, website url, or whatever is desired. I do not use this option very often. If I choose to include a copyright notice or my domain name, I prefer to put it exactly where I want it using the font and color I choose.

• Before clicking OK go back to the top of the EXPORT TO FOLDER box and notice where this resized EXPORT will be located. Picasa automatically creates a new EXPORT folder for this new resized image.

•

SOURCES: • • • • • •

•

Picasa Picasa Support Google Photos Dover Publications Design Sampler Google search for “free grunge textures” Google search for “free fonts” and “free dingbats” ‐‐ also search for free fonts and dingbats by their speciDic names American Historical Society Autographs

THE PHOTO BOOTH THROUGH HISTORY

squeezing in some fun in photo booths The best thing about photo booths is the “warning signal” they would give prior to snapping the photo.

BY DONNA POINTKOUSKI

I recently had to have my photo taken for an identiDication card. It was meant to be a serious photo, but I had a hard time keeping a straight face because the picture was being taken in what resembled an “old time” photo booth. As any former child or teenager knows, photo booths are places to have fun, not some serious, straight‐faced, “normal” picture‐taking. Or is it just me?

I hadn’t thought about photo booths in years, but being in that enclosed space with a curtain behind me and a camera Dlashing in my face took me back over twenty years. During the summer of 1986, I was fortunate to have a friend whose parents owned a house at the New Jersey shore, and some of my fun Wildwood memories involve photo booths. The goal in having your photo taken in a photo booth is two‐fold: one must 1) try to get as many friends into the photo booth as possible, and 2) make as many funny faces as possible. We excelled at both tasks.

THREE SISTERS, TWO GUYS, AND THE AUTHOR SQUEEZING IN.

Fortunately, my friend Kathy and I were as skinny as could be back then, as were our other friends and her two sisters. Therefore, we were quite good at Ditting as many bodies as possible inside the photo booth. In fact, we may possibly hold the Wildwood, NJ Boardwalk Photo Booth record.

Here is one example…

This isn’t as impressive as how many teens we used to squeeze into a Ford Escort, but the car was slightly bigger than the booth. There are only six of us skinny teenagers squeezed in there, but I think that was the limit. Well, there may be seven…I think Kathy’s little brother is on the bottom of the pile.

A WEEKEND WITH SHADES A LONG TIME AGO IN A GALAXY FAR, FAR AWAY. Whenever we stopped to get our photos taken, making funny faces was a given. The Dirst pose would usually be serious. Number two – rabbit ears poised inelegantly over each other’s heads. Next – sticking out your tongue or some other obnoxious gesture. Finally, the last photo usually consisted of us laughing hysterically at how much fun we were having.

Unfortunately, I can’t Dind any of our “funny face” photos, but here is one cool pose…

The best thing about photo booths is the “warning signal” they would give prior to snapping the photo. Wait for it…smile! In other words, you could be prepared…prepared with silly faces. My niece and her girlfriends YOU CAN ONLY BE SILLY WITH TRUE FRIENDS

When I think of photo booths, I remember the silliness and laughter I shared with my friends.

But as I looked through my old family photos, I realized that my family has been posing in photo booths for a long time. Posing normally, that is – the crazy genes didn’t start until they reached me, and later my niece. As a genealogist, I always have to ask questions.

Naturally, I began to wonder – just how long have these booths been around?

The Dirst American photo booth was invented

DONNA’S GRANDFATHER This photo of my grandfather is evidently clipped from a photo‐booth sheet based on the tell‐tale black border and the backdrop. If that’s the case, it was taken in a very early version of a photo booth in either the late 1920’s or the early 1930’s based on his approximate age. Was he posing to give a photo to his future wife?

DONNA’S MOTHER STRIKES A POSE

This shot of my mother appears rather glamorous if it weren’t for the grafDiti on the booth curtain behind her. This was taken around 1952 when my mother was sixteen years old. She was already a working woman in downtown Philadelphia, but she was still a fun‐loving teen as well. Several of her co‐workers went out for lunch and had some fun in a photo booth.

They also stopped in a record store and made a recording of themselves singing a popular tune!

TWO MORE POINTKOUSKI GUYS, CIRCA 1964

Next up in the photo booth is my father and brother a few years before I was born. No silly faces, but you can clearly tell that both were having fun. I’d love to get them back in the booth together for a repeat performance!

I think the photo booth had a lasting appeal because it was the Dirst affordable, accessible, DIY means to take a snapshot of yourself in the days before inexpensive digital photography. But, there’s also the humor of it – something about it was just plain fun!

For more information on photo booths and their history, Donna recommends the following:

The Photobooth Blog ‐ This site bills itself as “the most comprehensive photobooth resource on the internet” – and it’s true! There are tons of old photographs, advertisements, and photos of the booths themselves. Stop by for a fascinating look at American photographic history. You might even Dind a photo of your ancestor while you’re there!

“The History of the Photobooth” ‐ This Telegraph article offers the fascinating story of the Jewish immigrant whose invention changed American culture and photography forever.

“Coin. Smile. Click!” ‐ This New York Times article gives the details on author Nakki Goranin’s quest to learn more about the history of the booths and collect photos taken in them.

American Photobooth by Nakki Goranin (W. W. Norton, 2008) celebrates the history of the photobooth illustrated with hundreds of portraits taken in the famous booths.

Photobooth by Babbette Hines (Princeton Architectural Press, 2002) also has hundreds of booth photos and offers a visual history of changing fashions and hairstyles in the anonymous portraits.

where oh where did my photographs go?

Tagging things is important, but so is remembering how you’ve tagged them and being able to find them later.

BY REBECCA FENNING

Have you ever tried looking for files on your computer or your own pictures on Flickr or your own tagged links on Delicious and not been able to find them because you couldn’t remember how you labeled them?

I do this a lot. Did I label that document “ship list” or

“passenger list” or just with a date? Did I label that link “books” or “books I want” or “birthday presents” or “wish list?” If this happens to you as it does to me, some basic tenets of library cataloging might be helpful to keep in mind.

Anyone who has ever searched a library catalog for something, you have experience working with controlled vocabularies, whether you know it or not. Working behind the scenes in the form of subject headings and author names, controlled vocabularies are a part of the bedrock of the traditional library catalog. Controlled vocabularies are

Similarly, they are the reason why when you search by subject for “prescriptions,” you are told to see “Medicine--Formulae, receipts, prescriptions,” or “Prescription writing” instead.

WHAT IN THE HECK ARE THOSE CONTROLLED VOCABULARIES DOING, YOU ASK? Well, they are literally controlling the ways that ideas, names, things, and places are described in the catalog so that all resources related to a specific idea, name, thing or place are gathered together in one place.

Though “Medicine—Formulae, receipts, prescriptions” seems like a pretty clunky and non-

intuitive term to use (at least, I think so), think about the work it is doing as an aggregator of resources.

Like a thesaurus in reverse, controlled vocabularies distill synonyms into one acceptable expression. In this way “Medicine—Formulae, receipts, prescriptions” becomes the sanctioned way to write “prescriptions,” “drug prescriptions,” “formularies,” “medicine,” “medication,” “doctor’s prescriptions,” and even “rxes.”

Name authorities for persons, places and corporations work the same way. By dictating that “Louisa May Alcott, 1832-1888” is the authorized and proper form of Ms. Alcott’s name for the purposes of library cataloging, lists of her works and also books about her as a person are much more easily retrievable than if they were cataloged under “L.M. Alcott,” “Louisa M. Alcott,” “Louisa May Alcott,” “The Author of Little Women,” and in the Arabic, Chinese, Hebrew and Russian language forms of “Louisa May Alcott” depending on how her name was written on a specific book.

There are a bunch of different kinds of controlled vocabularies, each edited and compiled by groups and institutions with various interests at heart. For example, the basic reference source for personal and corporate names in the United States is the Library of Congress Authority File (LCNAF). The Library of Congress manages it and makes it available in various forms to libraries and the public, but librarians and catalogers can add to and edit it (provided you go through the requisite training and permissions process). It is the LCNAF that authorizes “Louisa May Alcott, 1832-1888” as the proper form of Ms. Alcott’s name, and cross-references all non-authorized forms of her name (like Louisa M. Alcott) with the authorized form, which is what created that redirect in the catalog discussed above.

Similarly, the main source for general subject headings in the US is the Library of Congress Subject Heading (LCSH), which is what dictates using “Medicine—Formulae, receipts, prescriptions” instead of just “prescriptions.” There are also specialized thesauri for specialized topics. The Rare Books and Manuscripts (RBMS) division of the American Library Association (ALA) publishes headings for genre, provenance and printing topics and the George Eastman House maintains an authority file for the names of photographers, just to mention a few.

This might seem like an awful lot of regulation, but to

librarians, archivists and catalogers, it is important! The practice of cataloging is predicated on making things retrievable by users, and standardizing descriptive vocabularies is a way to make that easier.

FOLKSONOMIES AND SOCIAL TAGGING On the other hand though, are folksonomies and social tagging. These informal methods of labeling and classifying resources are central aspects to online services like Flickr or Delicious or LibraryThing where users can use whatever words they like to describe things. There is no central source controlling what terms can and should be used, but what social tagging loses in aggregating power and control, it makes up for in intuitiveness (no Medicine—Formulae, receipts, prescriptions here!) and simplicity.

The fact that you may tag a photograph on Flickr with “branch” and another person might say “limb,” “tree branch,” or “tree” instead might mean less exact or comprehensive search results, but the sheer number of tags given to items can help develop tag clouds or other modes for exploring topics.

when it comes down to it, what we all want is to be able to find things, Note the tags I’ve assigned it at the lower right. tomatoes polaroids kitchen polaroid polaroid 680 tile messed up film

There is a lot more to vocabularies of all kinds than this woefully short introduction will allow, but hopefully that is enough of a grounding to help you understand their potential application when it comes to personal collections and research. Of course, we are not all building library catalogs of our own, but there are plenty of other ways in which we tag and label things all the time. Think, for example, about Denise Olson’s lessons on tagging documents or footnoteMaven’s lessons on tagging photographs embedded in blogs.

Think too about your pictures on Flickr, your links on Delicious or Diigo and your personal databases. These are all places where a quick nod toward the library science concepts of vocabularies can help! When it comes down to it, what we all want is to be able to find things, especially our own things, and consistency and internal control can go a long way to doing that. That doesn’t mean you need to start buying the big red books of LCSH headings or consulting the Art and Architecture Thesaurus at every bend – far from it.

It just means paying attention and trying to be as consistent as possible with the tags you choose to use. For example, on Flickr I try to remember to tag each and every self-portrait I take in a bathroom mirror in the same way so that if I wanted to execute a search, I could find them all.

Similarly, I make sure I use the authorized-by-me form of my relatives’ names in my personal FileMaker photo database.

Tagging things is important, but so is remembering how you’ve tagged them and being able to find them later, and thinking a little bit like a cataloger can help you do that!

Links In This Article:            

Delicious Flickr LOC Authority File LOC Subject Heading American Library Association George Eastman House LibraryThing Denise Olson’s lessons on tagging documents footnoteMaven’s tagging photographs embedded in blogs Diigo Art and Architecture Thesaurus Self‐portrait bathroom all

Coming to Shades – December Issue Denise Olson’s The Future of Me m o r i e s s t a r t s t h e s e r i e s, “Releasing Your Inner Ken Burns” creating a family documentary using the simple techniques he used in Civil War. Part I - Storyboarding.

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Art, Photography and Law: The Important Difference between the Naked and the Nude Art or Erotica?

Fine Art or Filthy Smut?

Photography or Pornography?

Sensual or Sexual?

Nude or Naked?

Appealing Subjects

 A reader asks a very interesting question about a photograph of an ancestor wearing a basketba$ uniform and what looks like the same photograph with painted The Essential Guide - For Archiving & Restoration clothing. Can it be?

THE LAST PICTURE SHOW

The Imprint Or Logo - A personal favorite is the graphic representation of the photographerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s studio used as the imprint on the reverse of a cabinet card. The imprint served two functions. It claimed ownership and it advertised. These imprints are a wonderful source of information for dating a family photograph as well as offering historical information. Keene advertised that negatives were preserved, the instantaneous process was used and he no longer chased the sunshine.

George Eldon Keene was born December 6, 1858 in Nicollet County, Minnesota. He left the farm as a young man and followed an interest in photography. He opened a studio in Mankato and later had 14 branch offices throughout southern Minnesota. He formed multiple business partnerships; operated a photography car on the branch line of the Saint Paul and Sioux City Railroad; and established fourteen offices in Southern Minnesota. The studio at 803 & 805 S. Front St., Mankato operating from 1910 to 1920.

The reverse of a cabinet card is called the recto. It often contains (as here) a photographerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s imprint.