unknown place (e)

again, i think he was just playing around with a new camera. hence the technical info written across each of these pics.

unknown place (f)

last pic of this outing. i don't recognize the lady is on the steps, and unfortunately, the pic is quite washed out.

Unknown Construction (a)

Here's a pair of pictures that are a mystery to me. Where is this site? When were the pictures taken? Why did my Dad have an interest in the slab being poured? And what was the building that was eventually constructed?

Unknown Construction (b)

The houses in the background remind me of Hamburg, although I suppose it could be Reading too. I don't think it is Lenhartsville or Riverview Park.
This was from one of Dad's slides, so that (and the cars in the pics) makes me think its from the 1960's.
But I don't recognize the hill in the background, and I can't imagine what interest Dad would have in a cement slab. FWIW, there weren't any pictures of the finished building with these two slides, which adds to the mystery of why he'd have kept these two images.

A Word about School Pics

School pics are God's plague upon kids, preparing us for an even worse adulthood ordeal - driver's license photos. There were a bunch of school pics in this batch of photos. Most of course were of Tom, Nancy, Sheri, and me. But there were also quite a few of my various cousins and nieces/nephews.

Although I've scanned them all, and they will be included on the CD, I will not be posting any here on the blog. The reason being... well, see below.

The lone school pic

Memo to future generations : If you happen to have recess the period before school pictures are taken, refrain from playing any game that will work up a sweat, thus plastering your hair in an unnatural pose. :-p

more bungalow pics (a)

some more pics from the bungalow. i'm pretty sure this is Grandpa and Grammy Ludwig. but what they're doing escapes me. picking weeds out? picking something else? planting something? Update : This may not be Grammy Ludwig. The best guess is that this might be Evie Baker. See comments for the "d" pic in this group of pics. Also, the man may be Uncle Bob.

more bungalow pics (b)

Grammy looking at the (front of the?) bungalow.

more bungalow pics (c)

Who is this lady? I don' think its Grammy Ludwig, but I am pretty sure this is inside the bungalow. Update : This lady has been identified as Aunt Sally. Thanks, Ellen!

more bungalow pics (d)

The other photo of this mystery lady, plus a second unknown lady at the right. Update from Ellen (re the lady to the right) : "Grammy...is not the lady with the head covering. The dress is a little too dressy for her on a day at the bungalow. ...(P)erhaps the woman in question is Evie, her daughter."

Smithville (a)

Smithville is probably somewhere in Pennsylvania, although I don't know where. I think these pics are from the 60's because I vaguely recall also taking a (colored slide) photo of this sign. But I think my Dad took this shot.

Smithville (b)

Smithville is a little, touristy, historic-style cluster of buildings. I dob't remember much about it except that it was a good place to take pictures.

Smithville (c)

I do (sorta) remember this water-wheel. The mill and wheel were strictly for show. You can see some tourists to the left of the wheel.

Smithville (d)

I know the water-wheel was just for show, cuz here's the pond (in Arizona, we'd call this a lake) that its on. If the water isn't running, the wheel doesn't go round & round.

Smithville (e)

There were also some slides right next to these with a tab labeled "Peddler's Village", and there might be some intermingling of the two sets. For example, there are two different "General Store" pictures, neither of which look familiar to me. So I'll post one here, and the other with the Peddler's Village pics (to be posted soon).

Cannon (a)

Let's see. I have no clue as to who these people are. And I have no clue as to where this cannon is at. I'd guess something like Gettysburg or Valley Forge, but it's almost as if this cannon is all there is to the Historical Site. So maybe its somewhere close to Hamburg?

It appears my dad was also evaluating some settings on his camera, so he noted the F-stop, shutter speed, time, and weather.

Cannon (b)

Same cannon; different people. Friends of my dad's from the 30's. I wonder if these are Bill and Ethel Wolfinger? The facial features seem right to me, but if so; he's a lot thinner here than in the Christmas card picture posted on this blog a couple months ago.

The cannon and cannon balls still look like they're overlooking just an ordinary road somewhere. It doesn't have the feel of a Historical Park.

Couple (a)

Same couple; same day; different setting. Kewl auto. Did people really dress up in suits and dresses just to go see a cannon in those days? Or maybe this was after church one Sunday morning.

Grammy Ludwig

This is probably taken at John & Doris' house in Camp Hill (see next pic). Bonus points to anyone who can remember whether Grammy Ludwig drank her coffee with/without milk and with/without sugar.

Dessert

Mmmmmm. Chocolate and coffee; a wonderful dessert. Funny thing about the milk carton that Aunt Doris is holding. If this had been 234 Washington Street, that carton wouldn't end up on the table - Grammy always insisted that the milk be put in a pitcher.

Around the Table

I'm guessing this is from the same visit, as Grammy's and Mom's clothing are the same. First chocolate cake, now watermelon. Can it get any better than this? My guess is that this is in the mid-1960's.

Ellen & Jim

I'll let others guess the year and place for this photo.

Dad & Tweety

This is from our house in Riverview Park. The photos in the background are of Mark & Sheila, so I'm guessing this is from the eatly- to mid-1960's. The parakeet is either "Tweety" or "George". We had at least two parakeets, one of which died of natural causes, and one of which flew off to freedom thru an inadvertently-open door one day.

bungalow pics (a)

Some more pics, presumably from the bungalow, and probably from the 1930's. I'm pretty sure this is Grammy Ludwig.

bungalow pics (b)

That's Grandpa Ludwig on the right. Looks like he was watering the trees and plants outside the bungalow. There's not enough details to ID the guy on the left, seated in the lotus position and meditating. Update : The man in the lotus position is possibly (my) Uncle Bob. Thanks, Ellen!

bungalow pics (c)

Another shot of Grammy Ludwig (I think). Maybe behind the bungalow? These photos were on strips, 4 pics to a strip, like the kind you used to get for 25 cents at a booth at the fair.

bungalow pics (d)

I can't tell if this is at the bungalow or not. Was the "Hamburg Electric Company" Uncle Bob's company?

bungalow pics (e)

Hmmm, I don't have any idea who this is.

bungalow pics (f)

Maybe at the bungalow, maybe not. Is this Janet?

bungalow pics (g)

All for 2006. Happy New Year, everyone!

30's Picnic (a)

Another page from my Dad's 1930's photo album. A nice shot, but kudos to anyone who can ID everyone here. That's Grandpa Ludwig on the far left. Uncle Charlie (I think) in the swimming trunks. and I'm pretty sure I see Aunt Hazel sitting (in the center, back). That leaves about 13 others. Remember, you can left-click on this image to see a larger version.
Update from Ellen : Don't you just love my father's swimming outfit? It's curious that he was the only one dressed that way. That's Uncle Bob on the right making the muscle pose, and I think its Aunt Grace seated second from the right. Grammy is next to Grandpa at the left. I think Janet is on the lap next to Grammy. The woman in black with the hat may be Mrs. Carrie Seiders, a friend, and her daughter Nooks may be in front of my mother.

30's Picnic (b)

The picnic preparations. Not sure why my dad snapped this pic of a lady's posterior, nor who the lady is. Heck, I'm not sure why that big can looks like it has a big dark ring spray-painted on it.

30's Picnic (c)

Let the eating commence! I'm not 100% sure this is the same group of people as in the image two pics above this one. The cars in the background help to date this photo. Update from Ellen : I think that's my mother on the left with her back to the camera and Janet in the high chair. This doesn't seem like the same group as before.

30's Picnic (d)

And this photo may be totally unrelated to the other three. Or not. I have no idea where this is, not for that matter, even what this is.

Model UN Club (a)

One of my high school club activities was Model UN Club. This was back in the mid-60's, when most everyone believed in, and supported the UN.

This particular set of pics were taken at a regional Model UN Conference. IIRC, this was held in either Buffalo or Rochester.

Model UN Club (b)

This is Scott Keller, who was president of our High School Model UN Club in 1967-68. The flag he's holding is (was, actually) the Bulgarian flag. I'm guessing that means that was the one of the countries we were representing at the regional convention.

In Berks County, Muhlenburg High School was a "heavyweight" Model UN Club school, meaning in county conventions, we'd get at least one major nation. USA, USSR, UK, etc. Plus about 6 more 2nd-world and 3rd-world countries.

At Rochester, I think we got only one or two countries, and they were minor ones. But hey, High Schools from all around the mid-Atlantic were there, and there are only so many UN members to divvy up.

Model UN Club (c)

This is still at the Regional Model UN Club gathering. Apparently this was the nightly entertainment - a dance. The band looks rather 'tame', even for the mid-60's. The girl in the chintzy box on the left is evidently a go-go girl.

Model UN Club (d)

And there she go-go's. Boogeying away, most likely to something like "Ferry Cross The Mersey". We're still a couple years away from groups like The Doors, The Velvet Underground, and Jimi Hendrix.

Lititz - 1950 (a)

Ah! Fourth of July at Lititz! Pleasant memories from the distant past. Although these pics are from 1950, so I wasn't quite born yet.

Lititz - 1950 (b)

This is Uncle John & Aunt Doris, and their son, Jim. I have no idea who the girl is, though.

Lititz - 1950 (c)

I remember the routine. Drive down in the afternoon; have a picnic; wait till it turned dark; see Fantastic Light Show #1 - a gazillion candles floating in some waterways; see Fantastic Light Show #2 - lots and lots of fireworks. What a way to do the Fourth!

Good luck to anyone who can name all the people in these four pics. And what is that covered up stuff in the foreground of this photo?

Update : From left to right : (my) Uncle Charlie, Aunt Hazel, Uncle Bob, my Mom (Doris), Aunt Doris, Uncle John, Beulah Paul (Aunt Doris's mother), Jim, and ??. Thanks, Ellen!

Lititz - 1950 (d)

After the fireworks, us kids got to sleep on the drive back home. Do they still hold gala July 4th celebrations like this at Lititz?

Cherry Hill Mall (a)

A bit of a break from the family photos. This is the Cherry Hill (NJ) shopping mall, whose opening in October 1961 was a major event. It was the first giant indoor shopping center on the East Coast. At some point a few weeks/months after it opened we drove down from Reading "just to see the shopping mall".

We stood in the parking lot just in awe of the size of it. This shot shows one of the anchor stores - Bambergers (sp? Never heard of it.) at one end of the mall.

Cherry Hill Mall (b)

We're panning to the left from the previous pic. That's dirty, plowed snow in the right-hand of the pic, which makes me wonder if we didn't combine this visit-to-the-shopping-center with some Christmas shopping. Note the car to the far left here...

Cherry Hill Mall (c)

...cuz it shows up to the far right in this pic as we pan further to the left. Woolworth's apparently was another one of the anchor stores. Does Woolworth's even exist anymore?

Cherry Hill Mall (d)

At last, the other end of the mall. Impressive, even now. There aren't a lot of cars, so I'm wondering if we went there on a weekday. And I'd be tempted to call the cars in these four pics "vintage", but they're cars I grew up with.

Cherry Hill Mall (e)

A single inside shot. A very kewl fountain in front, and some sort of clothing store behind it. Cherry Hill Mall still exists today, albeit with a completely different set of stores. It even has its own entry in Wikipedia (how many shopping malls can claim that?), which is where I got some of the background info for this pics.

Hamburg kids (1949)

We have a definite date for this pic - September 08, 1949. Nancy is in the center; and Tom's on the far right. So...
Who are the other three kids and...
What is that contraption (with the tank) across the fence?

Hidden Pictures (a)

I found three "hidden" pictures in this set of photos. This is where a newer photo was for some reason pasted over an older one. There were two like this of Grammy Ludwig; and then this pair of Tom and Nancy. This portrait is probably from around 1944.

Hidden Pictures (b)

But when I took the above picture out of its frame, voila!, there was this earlier portrait. The studio's logo (bottom right) had a "43" in it, which I presume was the year this was taken.