Enhancement - Looking for Lost Details - September 2012

For some, an old photograph loses its charm when "restored" to modern day clarity with all the age spots removed. Some photographs however, benefit greatly from just a nudge of enhancement. An improved contrast or the reversal of the yellowing brings out details that otherwise would have been missed and lost forever.

To please both camps of those of us who rescue old photographs, here are both the originals and the enhanced of just a few of the latest additions to Lost Gallery.

In large group shots like this one, the details are lost because of size. It was enlarged, in relation to the mounting board.

An extra bit of repair was warranted for this one as the original was broken in half. It was also enlarged, in relation to the mounting board.

As you can see, this one was almost gone.

Go back to THE MAIN INDEX PAGE

There are now more than 4,000 photographs in the Lost Gallery.
Or try out the NEW BACK PAGE INDEX

The most popular photographs
An album of the most requested photographs in the Lost Gallery.

Area 51 and a Half
You are probably not authorized to see these.

Don't take my picture! Oh! You DID didn't you!
This is a collection of photographs that disappear on the way home from the photo processing shop.

And don't miss
Cabinet Card Gallery
One Man's Treasure
Penny Tales Square America
Tattered and Lost Vernacular Photography
The best
FOUND PHOTOGRAPH
sites on the web.

And for postcards try
THE DAILY POSTCARD.

All images are the property of Lost Gallery and the author. Permission must be granted for their use. All rights reserved.

THE KIDS
It is always a mystery
how a photograph of any
of these precious children
could end up lost
or abandoned.
Here are a few.
You will probably say
"Ooh..." at least once.

Dee and the Business School
The beautiful Dee. A curious story; What do you see?

WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?

"What are they doing?"

Air Base

Here are ten photographs found together at a junk store in Colorado City, Texas, May of 2012.

I enlarged the plane at the far left side and D. Sheley was able to identify the base.

From D. Sheley on FLickr:

These were all shot at Pusan-East AFB,Korea (K-9) sometime in the last half of 1952 or early 1953. The smaller twin engine aircraft are all Douglas A/B-26 Invaders (light bomber/reconnaissance) of the 17th Bomb Wing.

The DC-3 photo that you zoomed in on was the giveaway because of what looks like KNA on the left wing....Korean National Airlines.

Neat photos with a lot of detail, someone had a good camera.

Go back to THE MAIN INDEX PAGE

There are now more than 4,000 photographs in the Lost Gallery.
Or try out the NEW BACK PAGE INDEX

The most popular photographs
An album of the most requested photographs in the Lost Gallery.

Area 51 and a Half
You are probably not authorized to see these.

Don't take my picture!
Oh! You DID didn't you!

This is a collection of photographs that disappear on the way home from the photo processing shop.

And don't miss
Cabinet Card Gallery
One Man's Treasure
Penny Tales
Square America
Tattered and Lost Vernacular Photography
The best
FOUND PHOTOGRAPH
sites on the web.
And for postcards try
THE DAILY POSTCARD.

All images are the property of Lost Gallery and the author. Permission must be granted for their use. All rights reserved.

THE KIDS
It is always a mystery
how a photograph of any
of these precious children
could end up lost
or abandoned.
Here are a few.
You will probably say
"Ooh..." at least once.

Dee and the Business School
The beautiful Dee. A curious story; What do you see?

WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?

"What are they doing?"

Turn It Over - There's Something On The Back!

On reverse:
Bertha Patton
Katie Martin

Berthe Stearns

Here is what we know:

The photograph was found in Burkburnett, Texas.

Bertha Stearns is possibly the married name of Bertha Patton.

If the names are reading left to right, shorter Bertha is probably younger than Katie. But that is only an assumption. They could be the same age as teens and have that much difference in height.

The photo seems to be 1920ish making their birth dates 1900 or later.

Judging from the clothing, it is probably winter.

Not much to go on. It did take several tries. Seems there is more than one Bertha Patton that married some guy named Stearns. And, worse, many are in the same time frame. But there was only one from Texas. Assuming the photo wasn’t shipped from say, Toronto or Las Vegas, maybe that’s the one. Maybe the Bertha in Matador, Texas, is the one.

The only way I can imagine confirming that she is right one is to find a Katie Martin in the same area, at the right time. Do you have any idea who many Catherine, Katrina, Kate, Cathy or Katie Martins there are? Lots.

But it turns out there is only one Katie that was 18 years old when Bertha was fifteen in 1920 and get this, both were in Matador, Texas.

So here they are.

Bertha Matilda Patton was born 25 July, 1905. She lived in Matador, Texas apparently all of her life. She married Alvin M, Stearns in 1927. I could find no children. She died 22 Feb 1998 and is buried Matador, Texas. She was 92.

Katie Hazel Martin, daughter of Isaiah Evander Martin and Catherine (Kate) Scott, was born in Hillsboro, Texas, 14 October 1902. By the 1920 census, she was living in Matador, Texas. She married George Thomas James in 1925 and they apparently had one child listed as either Wraldo Beal or Raldo B. James. Katy Hazel died 8 June 1997 and is buried in Crosbyton, Texas. She was 94.

But, which is which in the photograph? Bertha is probably the one on the left. She is three years younger and is probably the shorter of the two girls.

It was an interesting challenge: constructing two unrelated family trees to find a common location and time. And yes, were it not for a few words on the reverse, they would be just an interesting old photograph.

I have not been able to find the building in the picture either. It is likely gone now. There is a new building for the Motley county school at 1600 Bundy in Matador. The current building appears to have been built in the ‘50’s or ‘60’s. Many of the old county school buildings have been replaced with one-story rambling structures in these small cities across the south west USA.

The Hollister, Oklahoma, district school is examined here.
I was lucky enough to find a photograph of the original building in that case. This is a good one for Google Streetview. It's still there. Sort of...

The occasion is a little harder to pin down. It’s probably not a graduation. There is no evidence of cap and gown on anyone, and high school graduation ceremonies are seldom held in cold weather. They are usually in May at the end of a school year. That would be warm weather in most of Texas.

In the background one can see a number of children and adults. I suppose the adults could be all teachers but probably not. It does not have the appearance of just a recess period.

It may have been some school event like a Christmas music concert or perhaps a play.
Or perhaps it was not a school function at all. The school auditorium was often the only gathering place in the town large enough for meetings and social events.

The school student body was probably larger than one might expect for a small town. These rural schools included all the children from farm families in the entire county and sometimes neighboring counties. Sometimes the population of the school could be greater than the town.

Actually, it may not be a school at all. It might be the county court house. Many of the small towns that are the county seat have buildings much like this. But I still think it is a school building that is just gone now.

Perhaps someone will recognize it and fill us in.

Go back to THE MAIN INDEX PAGE

There are now more than 4,000 photographs in the Lost Gallery.
Or try out the NEW BACK PAGE INDEX

The most popular photographs An album of the most requested photographs in the Lost Gallery.

Area 51 and a Half You are probably not authorized to see these.

Don't take my picture! Oh! You DID didn't you! This is a collection of photographs that disappear on the way home from the photo processing shop.

And don't miss Cabinet Card Gallery One Man's Treasure Penny Tales Square America Tattered and Lost Vernacular Photography The best FOUND PHOTOGRAPH sites on the web. And for postcards try THE DAILY POSTCARD.

All images are the property of Lost Gallery and the author. Permission must be granted for their use. All rights reserved.

THE KIDS It is always a mystery how a photograph of any of these precious children could end up lost or abandoned. Here are a few. You will probably say "Ooh..." at least once.

Dee and the Business School The beautiful Dee. A curious story; What do you see?

WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?
"What are they doing?"