A picture is worth a thousands words...

[Oates]

...so they say, so what can you tell from looking at this (absolutely gorgeous) photo?

http://www.british-genealogy.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=41&pictureid=215

P.S. I love the painted photos... I wish you could still get them like today, they're so beautiful.

[Thomasin]

Where is it, Oates? Or is it like the emperor's new clothes?

Thomasin

[Oates]

Can't you see it? It looks to be there to me. :confused: Now this really does sound like The Emperor's New Clothes...

Maybe it's because when I created the album on here I set it to private... hold on a sec.

(Also just noticed the typo in the title.)

Edit - That better? It looks the same to me, but I could see it before.

[Jan1954]

I can see it, Oates, and a very beautiful photograph it is, too.

I would say that it was taken in the latter part of the 1910s - just after the Great War, perhaps?

[Davran]

Early 1920s with the dropped waist and button-strap shoes?

[Oates]

Thanks for the replies so far. The woman in the picture was born 1909, so I think it's more late 20s. I'm more interested in what can be gathered about the woman and her background from the picture.

[Thomasin]

So can I - now! Yes, it is beautiful. Just after skirts had begun to be shorter - hair as well, and the waistline has dropped slightly. Jan's dating is probably spot on. Her dress is a beautiful colour.

Thomasin

[Jan1954]

Jan's dating is probably spot on.Not if she was born in 1909, though. http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee187/Jan_07/sad-ohwell.gif However, a bit further into the 1920s would be right, I expect.

[Davran]

For silhouettes of different eras go to fashion-era.com - very useful site for dating costumes.

To answer Oates' question, she looks to be quite well off. It's obviously a studio portrait. She is wearing gold bracelets and the dress looks as though it's made of silk - a posh party frock, perhaps?

[Thomasin]

Not if she was born in 1909, though. http://i228.photobucket.com/albums/ee187/Jan_07/sad-ohwell.gif

Whoops! I hadn't seen Oates's message when I posted. She is still very young, though, and I wouldn't say it was later than 1925.

Thomasin

[Colin Moretti]

I notice that it has the photographer's name bottom rh corner, if you can find when he was in business that might well tie the date down a bit; this (http://www.kirklees.gov.uk/community/libraries/whatservice/localhistory.shtml)would seem top be the place to enquire:
Local studies
Kirklees Culture and Leisure Services - July 2007

Local history is the story of your community. Whether you are wanting to trace the history of a local firm, undertaking a project for homework or discovering your ancestral roots, the Local Studies Library may be able to help.

The main collection of local material is held in the library in Huddersfield. There are smaller collections in Dewsbury, Batley and Cleckheaton.

Colin

[peter nicholl]

Hemlines set at the lower calf went out around 1925, but depending on her age, a higher hem might have been thought a little risque. Can't quite see, but apart from the wrist and arm bracelets, is she wearing a ring on her left hand?
PS Bath has a very helpful Museum of Fashion.

[Oates]

I'm sorry I didn't make this clear enough before - I'm not looking for the date.

[Astoria]

I'm sorry I didn't make this clear enough before - I'm not looking for the date.

Not wishing to sound rude, what are you looking for?

[Davran]

I'm more interested in what can be gathered about the woman and her background from the picture.


This was what Oates wants to know!

[Ladkyis]

The costume maker in me wonders why there is the added bit on the bottom of the skirt. I wonder if it was made for someone else who is shorter and then handed down. It just doesn't look quite right to me and it is obviously not a new dress the belt shows that and the edge of the drapey bit around the hips - I have quite forgotten what that is called even though I used to make clothes for a living.

Middle class with just enough money coming into the home to be comfortable but nothing left over for fripperies

[birdlip]

the edge of the drapey bit around the hips - I have quite forgotten what that is called even though I used to make clothes for a living.



Its a peplum

[birdlip]

Middle class with just enough money coming into the home to be comfortable but nothing left over for fripperies

I agree... lower middle class. The young daughter of a civil servant perhaps dressed in her first grown up frock.

[peter nicholl]

Oates
If you already know some of the answers, are you marking us out of 10 :)
Although you appear not bothered about the date, a further guess by me is between 1928 and 1931. The young lady may be left handed, between 5ft 5in and 5ft 7in tall and lived somewhere near Dewsbury.

[birdlip]

What shall we call her?.. I think she looks like a Winifred...or maybe Olive....

[peter nicholl]

As a PS to the above, if you search for "hand tinting" rather than painted photographs you will see that there are quite a few people still offering their services. Painting over photographs is much more Victorian. I might be able to post an example later.

[peter nicholl]

This is the example of a "painted" photograph from the 1850s

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm307/Evans_070/Baxter1850.jpg
From the original owned by my cousin Nancy in the USA.

[tree-top]

Hi Oates!

The photo is beautiful.

Maybe it was taken to commemerate a special birthday? 16th 18th 21st?

Or maybe a photo prior to an engagement? My family did this and i have a few in my collection were they each have a photo taken before they are engaged, possibly to give to each other to treasure until they can be together (married) properly?

She doesn't look like she comes from a poor family as the dress (silk?) and shoes look to be quite well made.

Teresa

[Oates]

Thanks a lot for all the replies.


Oates
If you already know some of the answers, are you marking us out of 10 :)


Not quite - I posted this for several reasons. I'm interested in finding more about how this family lived. Her father is a man I mentioned elsewhere on here:
...my great great grandfather, who apparently: owned a paper blinds factory, played piano for silent films (and had shares in the theatre he played at), repaired watches and pianos which he also tuned, taught piano lessons, ran for local council (liberal party), owned a fairly large house, sold fruit and veg, was a sewing machine agent and a keen gardner. There's more but that's all I can remember off the top of my head. God knows how he found time for all that! Actually, the bit I find most strange is that despite all that, the large house, all the businesses and being well known in the community, he was buried in an unmarked grave along with the rest of his family.
I was under the impression they were quite well off, but then my grandma told tales of watering down milk causing some of the children to get rickets, the unmarked grave and such. I wanted to see what could be gleaned from the picture regarding their background. Also in general - just how much info could be extracted from a picture like that (i.e. studio portrait)? I've been impressed before by the level of detail members here have come up with.

(And another reason, I think that picture's amazing and this was an excuse show it off! :p)

[v.wells]

She certainly is beautiful. It looks to me as if she is dressed in the "Roaring Twenties" style with the bracelets on her arms. And she is standing in front of a painted studio background - (a refined gal living in the country?) And as the chair is obviously, to me, not her own it would be difficult to imagine her life - although wealthy enough to have a portrait done.

[Oates]

By the way, would a moderator mind correcting the title for me please? It's been bothering me since I noticed the mistakes back on p1... Should be 'A picture is worth a thousand words' - mixed my metaphors and added an s on thousand.

[Jan1954]

By the way, would a moderator mind correcting the title for me please? It's been bothering me since I noticed the mistakes back on p1... Should be 'A picture is worth a thousand words' - mixed my metaphors and added an s on thousand.
Done :)

[pottoka]

Is it really an arm bracelet that she's wearing on her left arm? It looks to me as if it's the rolled top of a very sheer over the elbow glove; her arm seems darker from there down to her hand. I wish I could look at it with a magnifying glass - lovely picture, Oates.

[peter nicholl]

I was under the impression they were quite well off, but then my grandma told tales of watering down milk causing some of the children to get rickets, the unmarked grave and such. I wanted to see what could be gleaned from the picture regarding their background.(And another reason, I think that picture's amazing and this was an excuse show it off! :p)
The photo is lovely, but it wouldn't be the same photo if you took away the Studio backdrop. Similarly you need to view the prospects of the family against the backdrop of the times. If the general opinion is right about the date of the photo and the general location, then what was happening in the Sheffield area around the 1930s?
Popular opinion is that 1927 original of "The Jazz Singer" marked the beginning of the end for silent movies and if he couldn't afford to kit out the theatre with new sound equipment, then he was holding a lemon. The Steel Industry in Sheffield took a nosedive during the 30s, in addition to which the Depression in general meant that lots of people lost their savings. There are obvious parallels with Now. You could look in the London Gazette on line to see whether he was made bankrupt.
If it's doable visit the local library to view the local papers, even if he doesn't get a mention it should paint a picture of the Times.
The fun's in the looking;)

[peter nicholl]

Yet another thought (sorry if I'm being boring |snore|) have you thought about Wills and Probate?

[Oates]

Thanks for the ideas Peter. The trouble with papers is... I don't even know where to start looking. There's an index to things mentioned in the local paper for that area and I had a look for a couple of things related to him but didn't see anything. I have no idea how complete that index is though - I expect not very. I don't have the time to look right through every page of every newspaper printed which might be relevent - there'd be thousands! Where do I start? An obituary I suppose would be the first place to look, but then what?

As for wills, I'm intending to look at a probate calendar when I have time to visit a records office.

By the way - Pottoka - interesting idea, but I'm pretty sure it's not a glove. She has it on in several other photos within a range of several years. It's also painted gold in that photo.

[Hugh Thompson]

http://i371.photobucket.com/albums/oo154/hughpics2008/user17358_pic215_1234103696.jpg


I just got rid of the torn edges Oates

[pottoka]

By the way - Pottoka - interesting idea, but I'm pretty sure it's not a glove. She has it on in several other photos within a range of several years. It's also painted gold in that photo.

Thanks for clearing that up, Oates. I didn't think I'd ever seen or heard about sheer gloves (like stockings), but I wondered if anyone else had.

[Oates]

http://i371.photobucket.com/albums/oo154/hughpics2008/user17358_pic215_1234103696.jpg


I just got rid of the torn edges Oates

Oo thanks a lot. How do you do that?