Some pics from boxes of old negatives I bought

[Mr. Hallack]

A few months ago I bought a couple of boxes of old photo negatives for wicked cheap. One was mostly sorted, the other was just negatives all piled in a box, unsorted. I had tried scanning them myself, but it wasn't designed to scan negatives (and eventually it died anyway) So I have been bringing a few select ones at a time to a local photo place who develops them and can do prints or burn to disc. I have no idea who the people are, who the photographers are. All seem to date between the teens to early 60's. Hopefully I can get a professional scanner that I can get more of these saved to my computer. Here a few from what I got back today.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Nice pothole in the last shot there -- nice to see some things never change.

 

[Steven180]

Nice. Appreciate your sharing - look forward to seeing some others.

Maybe some history won't be completely lost to eternity.

M.

 

[rjb1]

As a user and collector of old cameras and photo stuff, I'm curious what format they are. How big are the negatives (actual image area)?

I'm glad you bought the whole works. Once I bought just two negatives from a box of them, since they were so stained I thought they would not print well, or at all. Turned out they printed perfectly despite the stains and were scenes of the Lower East Side of Manhattan around WWI. I have always regretted not getting them all.
One of them had a clock in the picture, so combined with the notation on the negative, you could see what was happening at that location on a particular year, month, day, and hour.
Please post more as you get them done.

 

[Mr. Hallack]

About half of them are 3x5 or 4x6. The rest are different sizes, and a few are also 35mm strips too. I'll be getting these done as $$ allows me to and will be sharing them. I love old photography and have been getting a real kick out of seeing these come to life. Here are the rest from the group I had developed.

 

[this one guy]

Nice pictures.
Makes me feel like pulling out my twin-lens and loading it up with B&W...

 

[Stray Cat]

Lady in sequins, lady im animal-print, fella with.. oposum?!
Gorgeous pictures, you’ve got yourself a great find, sir!

 

[Atticus Finch]

Did porcupines live in Maine in 1937? I think that’s what the guy’s holding. Or maybe its a pair of lightening struck house cats.

AF

 

[LizzieMaine]

Porcupines have been nuisances here for a long, long time -- they've been on the "bounty list" since the turn of the 20th century. My uncle used to get fifty cents a set for porcupine feet.

 

[Gingerella72]

It's a shame no one in the family wanted them. It always boggles my husband and I when we see old photos for sale in antique stores. Who are these people, and why didn't their families keep the photos? Sad.

But, great photos you found, maybe someone will stumble across them someday and recognize them.

 

[wahine]

German family life around 1960

Those are wonderful, thank you for sharing!
Like Gingerrella, I can't understand why people don't want these - when my grandma's flat was cleared (or do you say liquitated?), we almost fought over some of the photos!

Last night, I found a scuffed music box filled with a few crappy records, some books and several envelopes of 6x6 cm negatives on the sidewalk of my street. It almost killed myself to leave the music cabinet (with radio and record player still inside) there, but I really have no space to put it. It's probably in the bulk waste press by now out:

I tried to photograph the negatives. They may be not as pretty as the ones Mr. Hallack posted, low quality due to my unprofessional photographing, and they're definitely later - prob. around 1960.
I think some of them are worth showing anyway.

















To look at the photos and see those people's life, felt a bit like being a peeping tom at first, but I guess when they throw it on the street, it's like public domain now...

 

[Story]

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=2831&stc=1&thumb=1&d=1374273689

'Leggy' is a whole noir novel caught on a single frame, one of those rare heartbeats in time that catches the look of a woman in love that's just as fresh today as it was the moment the shutter clicked - given the vintage of the rest of those photos, the bungalows and volleyball crowd behind Leggy, the summer outfit she's dolled up in... Was is that first summer after the war was over? Where was this taken? Who was she? Who was the photographer?

So much promise, so many hopes and dreams caught on that single piece of film that someone kept for decades as a reminder of what must have been an indelibly memorable good time, only to be discarded with the rest of the trash.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[Fastuni]

Yes, she caught my interest as well.
It's the same gal as on this photograph...
Considering the glitzy dress... was she a kind of dancer/show girl?

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=2854&d=1374416369

 

[Story]

A performer of some sort, maybe USO. That second photo could have been taken backstage at one of her shows or by the rough paneling, maybe a room in one of the bungalows in the first shot.

By the looks of her, New England Italian or Greek or Portuguese or a mix.

There's probably be a couple more of her in that cache.

 

[Atticus Finch]

Not sure if the photos were all taken around the same time and in the same community, but the Ford in the first batch is sporting a 1937 Maine license plate.

AF

 

[sheeplady]

It's a shame no one in the family wanted them. It always boggles my husband and I when we see old photos for sale in antique stores. Who are these people, and why didn't their families keep the photos? Sad.

But, great photos you found, maybe someone will stumble across them someday and recognize them.

My husband's grandmother recently died. A family friend who was taking care of the house found a huge bunch of pictures in the trash. The son who was sorting out the house (my husband's uncle) apparently chucked them. I think he was probably overwhelmed and on top of sorting out a house didn't want to go through the hassle of sorting out who got what among his two brothers as far as pictures or dealing with the fights it would cause to split up another thing. Luckily the family friend saved them and shipped them out to my husband's dad.

I think it's fairly common when sorting out an estate to get overwhelmed like that or not want to deal with anymore fights. It's easier to sell them or chuck them.

 

[SHOWSOMECLASS]

Sad but my wife and I have pictures from both sides of the family. Grandparents talked about their great aunts/uncles, first and second cousins, etc. My grandfathers Aunt was the one who took him and his Bros. from the orphanage and raised them as her own. They never labeled their pictures w/ even a name. Although we have no idea who they are, we know they are family. Therefore we keep them. In this regard many have no family connection so they are just paper.

 

[Mr. Hallack]

Wahine, thank you for sharing your photos. They came out great.

 

[wahine]

It's nice of you to say/write that, I felt kinda bad for capturing your thread.
If you have any more of those great pics, please post! :thumb:

 

[Mr. Hallack]

In the next couple of weeks or so I will have some more to share.