COLLECTION #242: Vintage Photos of People In Costume

Real photo postcard of a trio of characters, location and date unknown. (looks like late '20s to me)

Now isn't this a funny category? I didn't even realize I had so many old photos of people in costume until I went to sort them last week. I guess when I go 'photo shopping' I like the interesting characters!

These photos are unknown to me, but I certainly wish I knew who these people are! If I know anything, I'll add the details under the photo.

Technically not 'costumes', but these California Brownies look adorable in their uniforms! Best guesstimate, late '40s, early '50s.

I love this cowgirl duo parading down the city street. 1930s.

Well, not exactly a costume, but you gotta love that Hawaiian lei... 1940s.

My favorite of my vintage photos. Love this little senorita, probably late1930s.

The caption on the back of this photo says she made this costume for an Oregon Trail festival. Looks like 1940s.

Our guitaristo serenades his senoritas. California, mid '30s.

Looks like an outdoor costume play. Best guesstimate: early '20s.

Don't you love this little 'Colonial' couple? Pretty hard to determine the date, but perhaps late 'teens, early '20s. 

COLLECTION #234: Vintage Pet Photographs

Admittedly, these vintage snapshots of pets and their owners aren't the highest quality. No professional shots here. But it's obvious that these (mostly) dogs were beloved by their masters, enough to feature them in a precious photo.

I often pick up old photos when I see them in flea markets or antique stores... they are sometimes found for as low as a quarter, and I really enjoy looking at the faces of the folks, trying to get a feel for their lives and times.  I have not sought to collect people and their pets, but in going through my stash, I found quite a few.  So, I'll just share them with you! These vintage photos look like they were taken in the 1930s, 40s and 50s.

Looks like the pups are upstaging the bathing beauties!

Kitty gets some attention too

Love this couple... great car too!

Hey, can't we get a look at Fido's face?

That's better!

Too bad this shot is so blurry... looks like the little guy on the left is taking a potshot at us.

The ladies love the dogs too... what's she got in that bag?

Pretty girl, ugly dog!

Just to show you that I love dogs too, here are a couple of my own layouts about my childhood dogs.

Sandy: our cocker spaniel 1950-1965

Charlie Brown, our chocolate poodle- 1965-1978

COLLECTION #70: Large, Old Photos of People Whom I Do Not Know

 
I've been buying and collecting vintage photos for years now... ever since I was in college. My senior BFA project was doing  black and white line-art illustrations of old photos, and I've always been fascinated by these unknown people. Who were they? What were their lives like? Are any of them still alive? How did their photos end up at a flea market or antique mall?

I love finding photos that are out-of-the-ordinary, humorous, or especially beautiful. Most of my photo collection is regular sized snapshots, but I do have a few older photos that are 5x7 or larger. Here are most of these larger ones:

Last but not least, here's one of the drawings I did for my BFA project at BYU back in 1974 or 1975, based on an old photo: