MID 1950s PHOTO ALBUM - WOMAN'S OBSESSION with "MY MAN"
Item #509
This large (14” x 11”) photo album, with its lovely, if a bit worn cover---a dark brown border, embossed with flowers, surrounds a lighter brown box, inside of which, against a gold background, a large, assertive “Photograph” is centered. The shoestring tie and grommet slip-throughs are in good condition. Even the ferrules are intact.
There are 102 photos in the album, large Kodak snapshots, often 4 per page, sometimes 5, occasionally 2 or 3. The Kodaks are either 3 ½” x 3 ½”, or 5” x 3 ½”. A few photos fall between those two sizes.Towards the back of the album, two color photos measure 7 ⅛” x 5 ½”; each is given its separate page. The blues in those two photos have faded, and they each have a pinkish, though not unattractive, coloration.
Two other titles for the album were appealing, but ultimately rejected. The first is “Taken In,” since almost every photograph on the pages in the beginning of the album uses the phrase “taken in,” and proceeds to name a date, mostly in 1954 or 1955. After 1955, the dates are printed on the photos. A second title, even more appealing, was Miss Enthusiasm of 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, and 1957. In comments in the album, the unnamed compiler does call herself “Miss Secretary,” and below that, under another photograph, she becomes “Miss Sexy.” While those two may contain a grain of truth, Miss Enthusiasm seems more appropriate.
The object of our compiler’s enthusiasm is Billy or Bill, alternately, he is known as “My Man.” Billy appears in 40 of the photos, and the compiler appears in 42. As both Billy and the compiler appear in several photos (they are, after all, a couple), others must have taken at least some of the photographs.
What makes this album special are the captions. The captions are to the photographs as meat marinara is to spaghetti. They compliment and complete them. They are written in white ink against the black construction paper background (the corner mounts of the photographs are a dark red). To give a flavor of them, here are those from one page, with a brief description of the photo they accompany: top left---Billy, in a two button suit at least one size too small for him, stands on a ledge in front of a large boulder (they must have been on an outing). The caption: “The handsomest man on earth! “My Bill of course!” Top right: Miss Enthusiasm, in heels, wearing a long dark skirt and matching five-button jacket standing in front of the same boulder. The caption: “Bill’s glamour girl forever!” Bottom right, Bill and Miss Enthusiam together in front of the boulder. The caption: “Here are the two “Love Birds” Bottom left is a favorite. Our compiler stands with her head back against the boulder, her eyes closed and her hands held awkwardly in front of her skirt. The caption: “I was very disconcerted here because the wind was plowing [?] my hair.” Quotation marks, by the way, are used liberally, and eccentrically, throughout the album. “Plowing” is probably not the word written---the captions can be hard to read, although the more you attempt to read them, the easier it becomes. In addition to the difficulty posed by the compiler’s handwriting, on several pages the white lettering, written against the black construction paper, has faded quite a bit.
It’s well worth spending some time with Bill and Miss Enthusiasm. They shared a life together, exuded warm feelings towards each other, and, one hopes, found true and lasting love together. That should be enough.
Price: $140.00