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Silets Bay Auto Camp

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Pam’s Pictorama Photo Post: Perfect for these lazy days of summer and those of us who are dreaming of a vacation cottage of our own! Any of you who have been following this blog for a bit know that to some degree I consider Oregon something of an El Dorado of early photographs and here is another prime example. I am a complete sucker for this kind of light in a photo and frankly it could be of almost anything – just gorgeous. It has the same quality as early black and white nitrate film in good condition, filmed in low light it just shines with the spots of light. This card is unused and has nothing written on the back.

There is a Cutler City historical site which mentions the autocamp. There seems to be some disagreement on spelling and this site spells it Siletz rather than Silets. According to this the Siletz Bay Autocamp was a popular destination opening in 1927 on property that was originally owned by Charley DePoe, a Siletz Indian. (We will assume this is where the name came from and that the “z” is correct!) The property was subsequently in the hands of a George and Maryanne Cutler, and eventually Frank Gibbs who built the first cabins on the property immediately before it became the Autocamp.

It conjures up a summer idyll and no thoughts of lugging suitcases, sunburn or swatting mosquitoes. Just our dream vacation, in the woods, swimming in a lake and hiking in virgin woods – largely untouched since it belonged to the Siletz Indian tribe. Something to dream about from my urban concrete summer perch this year.

Further Mysteries of Felix

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Minstrel Felix

Pam’s Pictorama Photo Post: If you’ve been reading my blog over the past year, you realize that Felix worked his way into all sorts of walks of life. The background and reason for some of these are utterly lost to us now. My early post, Felix Mask-o-Rama is one of these and this recent acquisition is another.  Only Felix the Cat written on the back – recently I assume, probably by the seller.

Of course I couldn’t resist it when it turned up on an obscure postcard site for sale, but wowza – what is going on here I wonder?  All but one person in black face, several with white stars on their eye – Grand Pooba, master of ceremony type in the middle – along with Felix and one guy who is not in blackface. Several appear to be children. Let’s face it, this would be odd without the presence of Felix, but he really mystifies me. It makes me speculate – could one consider Felix with his black coat and white muzzle black face? That would, of course, mean that we assume Felix is white to begin with – or is it white face? Hmmm. That’s probably a can of worms I am not going to poke around in, but I certainly can say this, that Felix sure did get around.

Felix, the Sporting Life

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Pam’s Pictorama Photo Post:  At first glance I thought these were sisters gathering around their Felix toy, but closer examination shows some strange items at the bottom of the photo – anyone know what the heck those are? Looks like a giant spatula and pail. In a way, another Mysteries of Felix post.

On further consideration, there is also something loosely of a uniform among these, mostly, striped dresses, belted the same. What is that cheeky little armband the woman in the lower left is wearing? She and the other one seated on the floor, both with their bobbed hair, look like they know how to have a good time! This is a smaller, home version of Felix however. Perhaps the mascot of their ‘team’? Like most of these postcards, this one not written on, nor was it sent. However, I do think it looks like a team that might be worth joining.

Lining up for Felix

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Pam’s Pictorama Photo Post: I guess this camera man gets slapped on the wrist for cutting the top of the one kid’s head off, but everyone having such a good time, why quibble? Felix looks like he just stopped by the house and had his photo with the family out front, in fact that is what seems to have happened. The number down by his foot makes me think this was an itinerant photographer traveling about with Felix in toe, drumming up business in a wealthy neighborhood. It is undeniably British and everyone is nicely dressed without feeling like they have dressed up for it. I love the way the photographer lined them up, ending with jaunty Felix, a smile on his face. He’s a good size – almost as tall as the little girl.

Perhaps this was one of my past lives – wandering the streets and seaside resorts of Britain, Felix and photo postcard camera in tow!

Pretty as a Picture

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Pam’s Pictorama Post Post: The sheer gorgeousness of this image just appealed to me, cat-less though it is. I believe that eBay suggested that I might like it and I do. The whiteness of the clothes in that halo of sun – an idealized afternoon in the country, an attractive group of people posed complete with the handsome and faithful looking family dog. The card originated in a place called Hamilton, Canada (which appears to be in Ontario) and was mailed in 1907. It is postmarked from the place of origin and the destination, but neither postmark has a legible full date.

The back includes a note in a beautiful, neat, female hand which is as follows, Dear Cousin, Rec. your letter O.K. & was glad to hear from you. Am sorry I could not write before but will write in a day or so & explain. I am sending that piece of music by same mail. Bertha It is addressed to: Miss Jessie Brazell, 132 Lake Avenue, Medina, NY. Medina appears to be a small town in the same northern most part of New York State as Niagara and the Canadian border.

It is this kind of slice of life photo from the distant past that first interested me in old photographs. Just a window into a forgotten moment in long past time. Perfect to enjoy on a new summer day, so many years later.

For the Birds

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Pam’s Pictorama Photo Post: First a disclaimer of sorts, not quite in keeping with my usual standards, this photo postcard turned out to be a reproduction – an old one, but a reproduction nonetheless. I remain a bit miffed at the eBay seller because it wasn’t made clear and showing the back of the card would have easily told the tale. Nonetheless, I do love the image because the truth is, I’m very fond of pigeons. Yep, the bird all the world seems to hate – rats with wings you hear New Yorkers say. I don’t go all the way to feeding them – they seem more than capable of finding food on their own – but I do like and even admire them.

I always think of my mom saying, “Pigeons don’t know that people think they are awful. As far as they are concerned, they are glorious flying creatures.” It’s true – from their perspective they are every bit as good as a sparrow or robin, if not a proud hawk or eagle! After all, why shouldn’t pigeons think big?

In my opinion there is a lot to be said about pigeons. Monogamous for life, successful urban denizens – they live cheerfully among us and for centuries have aided and interacted with humans. Kim told me a great story about how when as a small child his family first came to Manhattan and his parents pointed out that it was a wonderful place where birds walked among the people on the sidewalks! Glorious!

I like to watch pigeon couples in the city and am inclined to point out birds I think are especially attractive – there’s a wide range of pigeon design. I tend to be very fond of the ones with a lot of white and some black markings, but sometimes the mostly white ones with brown or gray markings are remarkable. Sometimes you see ones that are clearly very elderly too. There is a lovely couple who have nested outside my office at the Met. I can’t see the nest, but they frequently sit where I see them, together on a railing, in the early afternoon this time of the year.

As we all know, pigeons have a brilliant internal mapping system and of course pigeons like the one shown here have been used to carry messages during wars. As far as I can tell in translation, this refers to a message sent by pigeon (June 4, 1916) in France as Raynol made his last stand in battle. Saying that they are trapped and under chemical attack and that this is his last pigeon. The fastest pigeon flying speed was recorded at 92.5 mph! Go baby, go!

While I do not expect to win pigeon haters over with these brief thoughts, for those of you on the fence, you might take a moment and consider giving them a second look the next time you see a gathering of them.

For the French reading among us, I offer the back of the card:

pigeon back of card

Eva-Marie and Mickey

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Pam’s Pictorama Photo Post: Taking a break from my beloved Felix-es and other kitties, we choose today to embrace mice – or at least a mouse. Eva-Marie had this charming photo taken in Berlin with this splendid Mickey. Nothing but her name on the back, no date. The back of the card has a studio mark that says only A. Wertheim Berlin Leipzger Strasser, which appears to have been an early mall/department store. I like the jaunty bows in her hair and the way she’s holding Mickey’s hands – he reaches almost up to her waist!  Eva-Marie is clearly enjoying herself. Who wouldn’t?

I believe the wonderful outsized Mickey to be made by Britain’s Dean’s Rag Book Company – a toy company I have written about several times in the past. (Among those posts you can check out Pluto and Flip and Froggy.) I shared some of my small scale “Mickey Jazzers” below. These were featured in Starting Small With Mice, an early post and are tiny kissin’ cousins of the big fella here.

dean's mice

I am the proud owner of a store display Dean’s Mickey, which is about as tall as Eva-Marie here, but more about that in a future post. One great Mickey at a time!

A special shout out to my friend Zach Sigall who was the one who found this photo and gave me the nod on it. Thanks Zach!

A Girl and Her Cat

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Pam’s Pictorama Photo Post: Here’s a little girl who is looking pretty pleased with herself and her cat – who is also giving us a high step, tail in the air greeting. The little girls is dressed nicely – even sporting a bracelet on her right arm; her dress decorated with a little print hanky. Surprisingly though – because this seems to be her cat and they appear to be delighted with each other- the cat is quite dirty. I didn’t realize it until I received the actual photo. I have seen strays with cleaner whites than this fellow. He or she is a good looking puss, but my, those feet and a major smudge of dirt on the hind leg – won’t do. Most cats won’t allow themselves to be such a mess. Perhaps the photo is documenting his return from some mischief.

Sometimes there is a little fellow that does not learn to clean himself. My cat Pumpkin was one of those. I don’t know if he was taken from his mom too early or if he was a born slob, but that little guy just let old food accumulate on his nose – dreadful! He was orange so it didn’t show as badly as it does on this nice black and whiter. Anyway, we tried cleaning him ourselves and hoped he would follow suit – but no. So finally, in desperation, my mother closed our cat sensible, no-nonsense cat Snoopy (who actually bore a resemblance to this cat) and Pumpkin in the bathroom together overnight. Sure enough, Pumpkin was clean the next morning and he, reluctantly, began keeping himself in a less disreputable fashion from that point on.

Floating Dock

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Pam’s Pictorama Photo Post: Continuing on in a theme of summers gone by, here is another offering. Unlike my post Alice Smalley this one is undated and without an label. It is not a photo postcard either – instead a small photo on the thick paper stock of the 40’s and 50’s with the rough, decorative edges that photos sometimes had in those days. This one of a woman and another fine tabby, a bit older but clearly just as scrappy. The woman here is a bit dressed up (that’s quite a skirt with polka dots no less – one doesn’t see polka dots as often as you once did – why is that?) perched here with sandals which I can tell you, probably weren’t that steady on that dock. It is another beautiful mountain spot. My only complaint is that this one is a bit dark.

This photo has special appeal for me because I grew up with a dock much like this at the end of our property. We moored a small sailboat off it and generally had a rowboat tied up next to the dock for the purpose of getting to the sailboat. The rowboat required bailing after each rain and that was a job that fell to my sister Loren and I for the most part. I admit that Loren was a bit better about it than me – and there is the time that she quietly untied the row boat while I was bailing – leaving me without oars and drifting off! Needless to say I was madder than a wet cat when I got a hold of her.

It probably is not surprising that the dock was a never-ending source of fascination, especially during long summer days. There were crab traps hung from it, but we would use nets to grab up crabs and fish too. Mostly we enjoyed low tide which allowed a closer examination of the bottom of the inlet of the river we lived on – named Polly’s Pond, although not really a pond in any technical sense. It’s historic name was Oyster Bay – no oysters there when I was growing up, but recently I understand that they have had success in seeding those beds and reintroducing them. For me, it will remain a mystical place of crabs and fish and long days laying out and getting tan, shared with my sister and brother and a number of curious kitties, always attracted to the possibility of excitement in the form of fish and rodents, perhaps a bit of protein hunted on the fly.

Alice Smalley

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Pam’s Pictorama Photo Post: I went for this photo in a big way. I am not sure why exactly, there was competition, but I had to have it – there is something very idyllic about it. To begin with, the spot is gorgeous – the back of the card reveals that it is a state forest camp in Eagle’s Mere, PA – and the woman and cat are sort of archetypal. She is in her saddle shoes and is with that sprightly little tabby. He looks like he probably grew into a heck of a fellow.

Meanwhile, I gather Alice did not approve at all. The card is addressed to Miss Amelia Sonna, 121 Main Street, Boise, Idaho. It says as follows, in careful print: Taken On Our Vaction Trip. At a state Forest camp near Eagle’s Mere, Penna. Over the 4th. I think this is a swell photo – but Alice claims the hair + costume makes it ‘terrible’ – How do you like ‘Figaro’, our motoring cat? Love Henry S. It was mailed on July 27, 1940 from Washington, D.C. at 11:30 PM.  Well, I disagree with Alice about the hair and costume and I absolutely love Figaro, the motoring cat! This is one of those photos that leaves me wondering about these folks and what became of them.  A quick search on Henry or Alice Smalley in period Washington, DC does not turn up anything. Eagle’s Mere remains a rather stunning park area with many hiking trails (and a museum of early trains) on a lake in Sullivan County, PA. It gives me a yen for hiking in Pennsylvania, something I have not done for a very long time. I have never been so far west, but used to go to the area near the Delaware water gap with my friend Christine Butler (no relation!) for photos and hiking. Heavenly.

Anyway, as summer 2015 gets underway, there is something soothing and timeless about this photo. A reminder to go outside, enjoy – and take some pictures. Make sure to print them!