Time Out!

I need to take a time out and set aside my family and work on my husband’s for a minute.  Especially since I received a gift from a cousin in my e-mail when I woke up this morning.

Take a look at this!

Left to right:  William Charles/Carl, Anna (Strauss), Jacob Frederick, Eberhard, Emily (about 1885)

This handsome family is my husband’s great grandparents, Eberhard and Anna (Strauss) Ast.  The children are the first of their children (six, I believe), none of which is my husband’s grandather.  But look at what a beautiful family this is!  And how about those clothes?  Love it!

And then another.

Herman and Bertha Ast, about 1898

That is my husband’s paternal grandfather and his younger sister!  Since they look to be about two and four, I’m guessing this was taken in about 1898.  And again, great clothes!

I never had the pleasure of meeting Herman as he had died before  I came into the picture but I did spend some time with Bertha.  And this little cutie looks exactly as I remember her with that twinkle in her eye.  WHY didn’t I take more photos? 

But another cousin gave me this picture of Bertha when she was a little more grown up – see the twinkle in her eyes?



And Herman was quite a looker when he was married in 1915.



What’s especially poignant is that as I was preparing this post (April 24, 2016) I realized that Eberhard died on this date in 1912.  Maybe someone was trying to tell us something?

Thanks again for the photos, cousins!

National Siblings Day – The Levy Kids

Today is National Siblings Day – time to hug our brothers or sisters and let them know how much we appreciate them.  Since my siblings both live in another state, I can’t really hug them but I can let them know how much I appreciate and love them by posting some fun photos of them!

Since my sister and I were 10 and 7 when little brother was born, you can understand why there were lots of photos of just the two of us during our very early years.

Dad was always posing us in different places.  I remember hating to do that but now I’m sure glad we did. 



Here we are with Mom – check out those stylin’ glasses!



This one is too good not to share – what the heck are you hiding under the scarf, sis?



Every once in awhile we added a stranger to the picture.  Not sure what I was thinking (or saying) as we posed next to the Indian Chief.



Then little brother joined in the fun as we posed with our grandparents, Sig and Loraine (Gunzendorfer) Levy.



And our maternal grandparents, Shell and Clara (Fitzgerald) Hunter.



When I was about 10, we got our horses, Smokey and Snap.  Here we are giving little brother a ride on Smokey.



Looks like we were packing for the beach – or maybe our annual family camp outing at Camp Campbell.



Every year dad would pose us for a picture to use on our holiday card.  It’s fun to look at a few that didn’t make the cut.



How did he come up with these poses?



As the girls grew older and were too busy to go places with Mom & Dad, little brother had lots of experiences without us.  Looks like this might have been Knotts Berry Farm or Frontier Village?  Love that Mom was all dressed up!



Hmmm, wonder where they were in this photo?



I don’t think there’s much doubt where this was taken.  And just like Dad with the camera around his neck!



Over the years we managed to get some photos together, but it became harder and harder as we all lived in different cities/states.  But we had some special shots together in 2000 as we celebrated Mom & Dad’s 50th wedding anniversary.



Big sisters always taking care of their little brother!



So here’s some big hugs and lots of love to my siblings.  Looking forward to seeing both of you SOOOON!

The Owl - June, 1908 – Owl Staff and Dramatics

I took a detour for a bit but am now back to documenting The Owl, Fresno High School’s yearbook.  I last wrote about The Commencement Number from June, 1908 here.  There are so many photos from this edition that I’ll break it down into small pieces. 

Next up – The Owl Staff.



I just love the way they are dressed and the hairstyles – such class.  I think they’d laugh to see high schoolers today – “why are these kids wearing pajama pants to school?  And for that matter, what are pajama pants?”



And then a section about Dramatics.



The art work is beautiful – I wonder if Nelson Daniel or Lucy Walker (Art Staff) drew that?

“The first and one of the most enjoyable of these dramatic affairs of the winter, and one in which a number of the students displayed considerable histronic ability, was ‘BI BI,” which was given at the Barton Opera House on April the 9th, under the auspices of the Young Women’s Christian Association.”

I don’t know who is who in this picture but here is A Chorus from “BI BI”.



Some of the cast included Mrs. Jefferson Graves, Ivan McIndoo (former student), Willard Bates (former student), Grace Osborn (former student), Edwin Einstein, Hazel Beall, Mona Robertson, Edith Niblock, Sadie Burleigh, Dolly Vogel, Leora Schaeffer, Gwendolyn Barton, Ena De Yo, Louis McWhirter, James, Spratt, Howard Fisher, Louis Williams, Bertrand Gearhart, Will Tupper and John Morgan.

Another production was described as “the most ambitious affair in the line of dramatics the school has ever attempted was the Operetta ‘The National Flower’ in which some two hundred and thirty-six students took part”.  Where did they find 236 students?



Who are these lovely ladies?  How I wish they were identified!



At least John Morgan and Leora Schaeffer are identified.



Last up was “Mice and Men”.  The Owl states that this was a romantic comedy so not the John Steinbeck novel that we read growing up.  But since that wasn’t published until 1937, I guess that makes sense. 



This production was the Senior Farce and was under the direction of Mrs. Ina Millward.  The entire Senior Class was included in the farce with the principal actors being Louis McWhirter, Robert Collins, Floyd Cowan, Henry Hopkins, Victor Gaines, Rainey La Rue, Ena L. De Yo, Belle Millward, Pearl Duncan, Victoria Cutten, Olive McFarland. 

What a grand time it must have been to attend high school in 1908!