Sig’s Weekly and His Camera Men

While many times finding a photo enables us to finally answer some questions, many times the newly discovered photo brings about more questions.  Who is in the photo?  What was going on?  What was the date?  If only our ancestors had left us more clues.

Case in point is this photo.



Yep, that’s Sig on the right.  But who are the others and why are they called Camera Men?  And what about the person on the left – is that a man or a woman? 

I know from the back of this Post Card that the date was February 8, 1916 and was taken by C. Laval ("Pop"), a prominent photographer in Fresno.  But other than that, I can only guess as to what is going on.

At that time Sig worked for The Fresno Bee Republican so my guess is that this has something to do with his work there.  But since he was the Advertising Manager, just exactly what was going on?  Was this some sort of advertising photo shoot?  My Dad used to exclaim at times that it was “all about marketing” – maybe this was one of those times?  At any rate, it’s a fun photo even if I don’t know much about it.

Another fun camera themed photo of which I know even less about is this.



So many questions, so few answers.  Time to zoom in and see these folks up close.



Oh boy, that’s grainy and tough to see but that’s Sig on the right.  I can’t be 100% certain but I’m pretty sure that’s my grandmother, Loraine Gunzendorfer, on the left.  And being that she’s one step below him and shorter than he is, I’d have to say that based on their height that makes sense.

If I’m correct, where are they and what’s the happy occasion?  They met in about 1916 so maybe it is one of their first dates?  She lived in Monterey at that time and I’m fairly certain that is not her family home.  So just where was it?

Too many questions without any answers!