Behind, so Behind…

Wait, it hasn’t really been almost two months without a post has it? Oh yes it has. Summer presents new struggles as we now have to balance full-time children and family vacations with our book project. To put it simply time is flying! It is flying so fast that we are both trying desperately to not hit Panic Mode as book deadlines quickly approach.

One thing that kept us busy was going through even MORE negatives! There were three batches when all was said and done and each box got bigger and bigger. We would love to know how many negatives we looked through in all (Jessica is estimating around ten thousand!). We neatly arranged everything back into new boxes and returned several more boxes than what had been lent. The final batch of negatives is hopefully being processed at Arcadia as I type.

There was some good news too! The best news might be that someone is actually reading our blog! Turns out it was our good friend Joan (pronounced Jo-Ann) and she identified the girls in the roller rink photo we posted. Unfortunately for us, the rink, called the “Roller Frolic” was in Burlington, not Mount Vernon. The girls are Donnajean, Marilyn and Kathleen Eddie. Their parents, Bill and Burl, were the owners of the rink. Our greatest apologies if we spelled any of the names incorrectly. So there you go future Burlington historians, valuable information.

And while we’re on a roll, let’s try it again. Does anyone recognize either of these two people?

The envelope might say “Warren”, but it is very difficult to make out. Based on the number code we can place the time frame around 1950. Don’t know why, but these portraits caught our eye, especially the prim and proper disposition, as well as the hat, of that lovely lady. And is that a crop duster behind her? Just seems like there is a story here…

The Cold Trail

This week we were at the Mayor’s office digging through boxes. We found some fabulous images, but also a lack of information. One set of photos appears to be from the fifties and attached was a tiny post-it note reading, “See email”. E-mail, what e-mail? Where, when, who, why? We are left with nothing but questions. Technology is glorious, but sometimes it can be detrimental. Our historical tip for today---label your pictures! You might know who is in them now, but for the sake of future generations the more detail the better.

This is one of our favorite images from that envelope of unknowns:

We suspect it might be a homecoming court, but have no way of knowing. We are hoping that we can track down someone in the community who knows someone in this picture. If that someone is you, please drop us a line at MVWaHistory@gmail.com.

Looking for Some History?

After a fantastic morning pouring through the John Kamb, Jr. photo collection, we are beyond excited! Such an absolute treasure trove of Mount Vernon history...

How about a tiny sneak peek?
This photo was taken around 1910 on the deck of the stern wheeler “Gleaner”. But the real question is, does anyone know any of these dashing band members?