Sunday, May 15, 2016

Now what have I here?

I have so many boxes of things in this house I never know what I’ll run across.  I have no idea why I even opened this box today as it is mostly filled with things I’ve printed as I’ve researched but this little gem caught my eye.



I have zero memory of this book – where, when, or even how it came into this house but here it is.  Hmmmm, let’s open it and see what I learn.



Look at that – a little photo album.  Of course I immediately surmised it belonged to my pack rat grandmother, Loraine Gunzendorfer, but I wanted to be sure.  So, the first thing I did was scan the photos and start to enlarge them on my screen so I could figure out what I have.

Girl at doghouse

I’m pretty sure that little cutie is my grandmother!  Her dad was an amateur photographer so it would make sense that he would fill a little album with photos of his adorable daughter. 

So I decided to dig a little deeper and then I came across this.

House

Wait just a minute – that house looks familiar!  Could it be the home of my 2nd great grandparents, Fannie (Goldstein) and Ferdinand Gunzendorfer?  Let’s compare the home I know to be theirs with their four sons in front.

Gunzendorfer home

Check!  The boys are (L to R) Jacob, Adolph, Gustave, and Abe (my great grandfather) Gunzendorfer.  So now I can be sure that this photo album belongs to a Gunzendorfer!

And a few more of the photos.

Riding

I’m pretty sure the woman on the left is my greant grandmother, Bertha “Birdie” Schwartz Gunzendorfer.  No idea who the others might be, though.

This could be my grandmother on the left with her father, Abraham Guzendorfer, and her cousin, Mervyn Gunzendorfer.  Loraine and Mervyn were born within months of each other and these kids look to be about the same age.  I’m fairly certain I have Loraine and Abe identified correctly but not sure if that really is Mervyn.

2 kids and man

Here’s the Gunzendorfer family in 1896 when the kids were just babies.

Back Row (L to R):  Abe, Gustave, his wife Minnie Dautermann, Adolph, Jacob.
Seated:  Birdie, Ferdinand, Fannie, Jacob’s wife Edith Inez Steinberger.
Loraine on Birdie’s lap, Mervyn on his mother’s lap, and Mervyn’s sister Irene on the ground. 

Gunzendorfer Family cropped

And another one with what I think to be Jacob Gunzendorfer.  Again, I would guess the kids to be Loraine, Mervyn, and maybe Irene?

3 kids and man

Now I’m pretty sure this is Loraine but who could this girl be with her?  Gustave and Adolph had no children and Irene was the oldest of the cousins so this is a mystery to me. 

2 girls in garden

Based on the other photos, this could be Mervyn, Loraine, and, and, and…..  Now I don’t think that could be Irene because it’s clear that this girl is younger than Loraine and Mervyn.  So now I don’t know who it is.

3 kids in garden

Look how cute Loraine is as she is holding her dress and rockin’ those boots!  And after so many years of hearing that I look like her, I can really see that now - this could be me as a young child.

Garden

There are so many cute photos in here I can’t stop!  I don’t even want to guess who these kids are (Loraine on the left?) but their outfits and hats are so cute I can’t stand it.  And they are holding hands – so sweet.  Would these outfits be for some sort of ceremony or special occasion?

Holding Hands

Looks like there were animals to tend to.

Feeding Geese

Feeding Chickens

But there was time to play, too.  Cute swing but it doesn’t look like it’s far enough off the ground to provide much of a thrill ride.

Swing

It’s so fun to see my ancestors doing every day things and capturing those moments for me to see more than 100 years later.  And once again, I’m thankful my grandmother was a packrat!

10 comments:

  1. Love these! I would look at the census to see who the neighbors were. Maybe the little girl and older girl lived nearby.

    I see several of these swings in the photo. Is that a pavillion? Was this a park? Are the outfits the same as in that earlier photo of the 2 girls in big hats? Could this have been a May Day festival or Easter Egg Hunt? (Oh wait - is this your Jewish family?)

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    1. Yes, my Jewish family. But you could be on to something with May Day. Or maybe just funny hats?

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  2. What a magnificent collection! And isn't it fun to come across these jewels so unexpectedly?? =)

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  3. What a treasure trove! These are wonderful.

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    1. I would have never been able to figure out what they were if I hadn't scanned them so I could blow them up and look closely at them.

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  4. I have the same "problem" in that I have lots of wonderful treasures and I forget what I have! I love what you've shared and it reminds me of the many photos I have from my maternal grandmother - she was a packrat too!

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  5. I am realizing there are benefits with having pictures taken in places other than the studio! Studio photos are nice, but it's certainly nice when you can recognize a house in the background or something else familiar.These are really fun photos.

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  6. What wonderful photos! And to think, you didn't even know you had these! It makes you wonder what our relatives have in their possession that they don't know about. How exciting!

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