Can anyone identify the woman in this 1930s photo?

[Fletch]

She definitely bespeaks that generation of exceptional, but prominent, Independent Women born before 1900. They set their own rules, styles, etc. in a way that no generation got to do again till the 1960s.

That said, I will bet that her unusual last name is the result of marriage.

 

[Joli7211]

Could she be of french descent? D. could be for Dame. Mariam (although I tend to lean more towards Marie) is used in french, and Marie would have been very popular at the time as a first name for a girl back in the day (shoot, even 50 years ago everyone was named Marie, Joseph or Jean and known by their second name... C?©cile, ?âmilien or Baptiste...)

Anywho... the last clue that points me to a french descent is what looks like "que" at the end of her name. There are a number of family names that end in "que" in french.

 

[Joli7211]

Interesting.
Found a reference to an artist Alda Jourdan (1889-1962) from Portland.
Where did you find the photo?
I'm still cursing you for posting this thread

There is also a photographer Alda Jourdan and his brother(?) Albert from France in the 1930's... "SOCIETE FRANCAISE DE PHOTOGRAPHIE numéro 9 paru le 01/09/1935 Contenu : ALBERT ET ALDA JOURDAN - STE FAGIN - G. MAILLET - A. CHARRIOU ET S. VALLETTE - SCHEBERSTOW."

 

[Murph351]

Actually it looks like Albert and Alda Jourdan were husband and wife photographers from Portland at the right time frame. I've found reference to both Alda's painting and photography.

 

[Joli7211]

Actually it looks like Albert and Alda Jourdan were husband and wife photographers from Portland at the right time frame. I've found reference to both Alda's painting and photography.

It could be, if so it could also support my french theory... Jourdan is a French (from France) family name, and Alda is a woman's name (the french equivelent to Gertrude in english... old and certainly generational). I keep forgeting that because it is such a rare and old name.:eusa_doh: lol

 

[Joli7211]

She looks vaguely familiar and the photo has the look of the sort of portraits that are done for book jackets and publicity photos, but I just can't place her and I can't make sense of her signature. Anyone recognize her?

Here's a close-up of the inscription and signature:

I have been staring at that signature for days now, trying to figure out where I recognize her from. I can see her moving and I can almost hear her voice! Somebody... Please! Help me figure out who this lady is... Even my kids are trying to figure it out. It is now a household obsession! lol

 

[Murph351]

I really wish someone had beaten her harder in handwriting class.

 

[Warbaby]

I have been staring at that signature for days now, trying to figure out where I recognize her from. I can see her moving and I can almost hear her voice! Somebody... Please! Help me figure out who this lady is... Even my kids are trying to figure it out. It is now a household obsession! lol

Glad to know she looks familiar to someone else. Apologies for spreading the obsession, but it's nice to have some company.

 

[pgoat]

lol

I really wish someone had beaten her harder in handwriting class.

lol lol lol

 

[K.D. Lightner]

Could her first name start with a "D" and the last name be Montesquieu, as in the Baron de Montesquieu who lived in the 18th century?

A descendent perhaps?

karol

 

[SamMarlowPI]

what is the signature scribbled in blue on the bottom right just below the picture???

 

[Joli7211]

what is the signature scribbled in blue on the bottom right just below the picture???

Photographer Alda Jourdan. Probably a woman.

I've used my "paint" program to enlarge the signature. The first letter is unarguably a D. Beyond that, I can clearly see Mari. The following letter I say is an "e" looks like the "e" in love and friendship (although in latter the "e" is open rather than closed)... Which would make sense that her name would be Marie. So from this we are looking at a D. Marie. I think we can reasonably agree to this.

Beyond this I believe, upon closer inspection, that the next letter may well be a "W". What I thought looked like an "sh" in regular size - and was thus very confusing... who ever heard of a Mariesh?[huh] , is likely a "W" with the upsweep starting just below the "e" in Marie. The next letter or group of letters I can't figure out. Beyond that, I believe that the last letters are "que". It wouldn't be "gue" because the lower part of the letter "g" comes from the front, while the letter as written here has that lower upsweep from the back of the ball and goes directly in what is unarguably a "u", and again the last letter looks like the other "e"'s in the rest of the message.

So can we agree that we are looking at somebody with the following name (* replaces unknown letters):

D. Marie W**que or D. Marie W*que

If I am wrong, or my guesses are mistaken, please inform me. I'm starting to go cross-eyed! lol

 

[Brinybay]

who ever heard of a Mariesh?[huh]

http://profiles.friendster.com/17438225

http://www.linkedin.com/in/axysconsulting

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=53943

http://www.facebook.com/people/Mariesh_Batson/529384455

 

[Idledame]

I still say it looks like Marieth, which if you do a search, turns up many results of women with that name. Otherwise, what is that loop? If it was a short upright on the T, then the last H is not so very dissimilar to the H in friendship.

 

[Joli7211]

http://profiles.friendster.com/17438225

http://www.linkedin.com/in/axysconsulting

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=53943

http://www.facebook.com/people/Mariesh_Batson/529384455

Ok, so I stand corrected. There are people who are named Mariesh. It is a very ethnic name though - mostly from the far east such as Phillipines and Korea - and usually male from what I have seen although there are females named Mariesh. Having been shown that there were people with the name Mariesh, I wanted to know what it means. I couldn't find it in any of the 5-6 Baby Name Dictionaries that I've searched, so although there are are some people with the name, I'm not so sure it would have been a name given to a caucasian woman back in the mid-late 19th C.

 

[Warbaby]

Since this thread has turned into a serious quest, I'm going to up the ante and offer a prize to whoever identifies the mystery lady. It will be something vintage from my collection, the exact nature of which will depend on the gender and interests of the winner - but you can count on it being something really nifty.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I've been looking at this for a couple of days now, and the name looks to me like it might be D. Maria D'Aguera or D'Aguiera or some such variation. She does have a vaguely Spanish look about her.

Unfortunately, I cant find any notable women of such a name of the right age to be her, so that may be another blind alley. But I do think the last name is likely D'Asomething.

 

[Fletch]

D. could be Do?±a, if she were nobility.

 

[Murph351]

Since this thread has turned into a serious quest, I'm going to up the ante and offer a prize to whoever identifies the mystery lady. It will be something vintage from my collection, the exact nature of which will depend on the gender and interests of the winner - but you can count on it being something really nifty.

Any info on the picture's acquisition?
Location, estate sale, antique store, any similar items, etc...

I'm going to go over to the corner now and bash my head against the wall, it's more relaxing than this thread.

 

[Warbaby]

I got it at a local consignment auction in Petaluma, CA about 6 years ago. It came in a box lot with no information whatsoever. I bought it because she looked so familiar that I thought she was very likely someone well known and it would be no problem to identify her.

I'm usually pretty good at deciphering old handwriting but her signature has had me bashing my head on the wall at regular intervals ever since.