These 5 photos came from the same seller on German ebay. At first I thought it's the same woman in all photos, but at closer look I realised that although they looked similar, those were not photos of one lady. The dedications on the back of some of the photos confirmed it - these are … Continue reading Sisters Valeska and Elfriede Wahlländer
Sisters Katie and Tillie Frauen
This RPPC was among a lot of around 100 photos I purchased on German ebay. It stood out for me, first of all, because of the unusual design of the taller lady's skirt. Judging from the ladies' fashion, the photo dates to the 1910s. Secondly, it was written in English which I don’t get often. … Continue reading Sisters Katie and Tillie Frauen
Miss Eleanor Blanche Rippetoe
Update: Blanche's photo is going home to her family in the US! "With love and best wishes, Blanche Rippetoe" This photo was found in Germany, but it looks like an American RPPC written in English. The dedication on it, handwritten in ink, has almost faded, but it's still readable enough to identify the sitter as … Continue reading Miss Eleanor Blanche Rippetoe
Heinrich Krevert
This found photo first gave me hope - I had a name (Heinz Krevert), location (Giessen in Germany) and birthdate (March 5th, 1909). The back of the photo says: "To my dearest Maria on my 31st birthday on March 5th, 1940 (in Giessen)." My hope soon turned into chills: this young man had fallen in … Continue reading Heinrich Krevert
The Hackner sisters
A real family treasure came into my possession through ebay - not just one family photo album, but four of the same family! One of the decisive clues I found in one of the photo albums was a marriage notification of Georg Hackner and Marion née Bechtold from Altmannstein, Germany, from July 1921. Georg Hackner … Continue reading The Hackner sisters
The Schaible family
UPDATED: The photo album has been returned to the family! It is time to open a new photo album! It came to me from German ebay and I've been sitting on this well-labelled album for a while, every now and then trying my luck with more research on the names mentioned in it. Meet Otto … Continue reading The Schaible family
Carl Julius Norkus, the brick mason
Someone has scribbled the name Carl Julius Norkus on the back of this photograph of a brick mason. I did my quick search on my usual genealogy platforms but couldn't be sure if I had found the right person since I didn't have any idea of a location. But then a Google search came back … Continue reading Carl Julius Norkus, the brick mason
The Brick Walls, 5
Some persons have left no papertrail behind. Could they have really led such quiet lives so much under the radar of future genealogists that we find nothing on them today? Maybe that was their intention. But maybe they wish we dug deeper, and remember their faces, their stories, their names. So let's do that with … Continue reading The Brick Walls, 5
The Brick Walls, 4
Oh, those brick walls... I keep knocking on them, but they don't break. I have names, but no location to tie them to. I may have a location, but no records are available online. Faces that are lost to history. Let's try and change that. The first one up is Miss Johanna Müllenberg who had … Continue reading The Brick Walls, 4
Actors Konrad Gebhardt & Olla Bauer
Today's blog post is a bit different. It is not about who signed and sent or received the real photo postcards (RPPC) I'm about to share with you, but who's in it. These four RPPCs from my collection were printed to advertise the famous play called "Old Heidelberg" ("Alt-Heidelberg" in German), starring actor Konrad Gebhardt … Continue reading Actors Konrad Gebhardt & Olla Bauer
