FATHER & DAUGHTER ANNOTATED PHOTO ALBUMS OF THEIR YOUNG LIVES. 1940s - 1960s
Item #440
A series of three photo albums with about 500 photos documenting the early lives of Edwin R. Edmunds and his daughter, Nancy Jean Edmunds of St. Louis, Missouri. Edwin appears to have served as a Lieutenant who went on to earn his Degree of Doctor of Education and later served as Superintendent of Parkway School District in Missouri, and Nancy later worked with children with HIV/AIDS. The albums are very similar and I almost think that Edwin’s mother put these together, but the writing is slightly different. The two albums showing the younger lives of Edwin and Nancy are well annotated. The third album, a trip to Alaska when Edwin was older, is not annotated. Descriptions of the three albums follow:
Album 1: 12.5 x 8” string-bound album with red cover and “Photographs” printed in gold. The first page of the album reads: “Oct. 17 1940. Beginning with the 11th birthday pictures of Edwin Edmunds.” This album covers a decade of Edwin’s life in around 205 photographs. As such, one watches him grow from a choirboy at St. John Cathedral in Quincy, Illinois, into a Lieutenant by the end of the album. Photographs measure between 2.75 x 2” and 7.25 x 5” and are mostly glued in, but later on they are affixed to the page with corner tabs. The black and white snapshots cover trips to Florida, Fort Knox, the Smoky Mountains, New Orleans, and traveling that Edwin later undertook as part of the Sons of The American Legion Drum and Bugle Corps national champions. Throughout the album, Edwin is shown in a number of different uniforms for the Drum and Bugle Corps, high school band, as a Tenderfoot Scout, ROTC at Missouri University, and his Lieutenant uniform. Edwin is shown with his trombone and he is pictured as the drum major for his high school in a Labor Day parade. After Edwin graduates high school, he apparently goes to Missouri University before joining the United States Armed Forces. While most of the album is full, there are some blank pages at the back. Within these pages are three loose photos, two in color, of Fred Fellers from 1943 and a man identified as “Uncle Chas.”
Album 2: 10.25 x 7” string-bound album with a black cover embossed with “Photographs” in the center of a framing device. This album features about 100 black and white photographs measuring between 2.5 x 3.5” and 7 x 5” which are held to the pages with corner tabs. The album starts with a loose photograph of Edwin at Dawson Creek, British Columbia, Canada, and a clipping about the wonderful sights of the Alaska Highway. There are several photos of scenery, which are not identified, but appear to be Alaska. One photo features a man identified as Jim Johnson holding a porcupine. Later in the album there are aerial photographs of buildings, presumably around the University of Missouri campus; the college is identified by several photos featuring the six columns that serve as a landmark of the school. The last part of the album contains photos of soldiers, including Edwin R. Edmunds. The men watch what seems to be a demonstration of a weapon that may be a Gatling gun. The album ends with photo postcards of the conveyor belt and Bull Shoals Mountain in Arkansas. There are no annotations for photos on the page, but some photos have comments on the back. Most of the pages in the album are loose and there are around fourteen loose photos, but only one photo appears to be missing.
Album 3: 10 x 7” string-bound album missing the front cover; the spine and back cover are red in color. The first page reads: “Nancy Jean Edmunds. Born Feb. 24 1959.” As expected, the album is full of around 192 photos of Nancy from the age of 9 weeks to around 12 years. The album starts in 1954 with photos of Nancy’s parents, Edwin R. Edmunds and Jean Dale Hourigan, and their first apartment together in Missouri, and ends in 1972 at a new family home. Photographs measure between 2.5 x 3.5” and 5 x 3.5” and are held to the pages with corner tabs. Black and white snapshots fill the first half of the album, but over the years color snapshots begin to dominate. Nancy’s growth is documented throughout the album, from her time as a child held in the arms of her parents and her “Grawah” and “Pa-Paw” to her standing in her Girl Scouts uniform, to stepping off of a plane fresh from a trip to Hawaii. Holidays such as Christmas and Thanksgiving are documented almost each year, as is Nancy’s birthday. There are adorable pictures of Nancy wearing the clothes that her father wore as a child and photos of her holding her cat, Fluffy. Around five photos appear to be missing, but otherwise the album is full of lovely photos featuring charming annotations that identify all individuals.
A lovely grouping of photo albums of a father and daughter.
Price: $599.00