There Are Clues

There are clues here. I know there are clues that would help identify the location, the time frame, and a number of other details. The problem is that you have to be able to recognize the clues.

Here's what I come up with. The man on the left is Native American; I say that because he appears to be wearing moccasins rather than shoes.  The photograph was taken sometime before 1907, because the back of the card is undivided, meaning that there is only space for an address (no message) on the back. The stamp box design indicates that this real-photo card was probably developed on Eastman Kodak paper circa 1904.

Based on the dress of the man on the right, I would say we are in the western part of the United States, but how far west? I really couldn't say. There are more unanswered questions. What is that box on the wall? Who are these people? What is the pole that the Native American man has across his lap? Although the (presumably) Native American man seems humble and unassuming, the other man's attention is focused entirely on him. Was he someone important? I like to think that he was the Kalispel Chief, Masselow, based on some physical similarities, but who knows. Here's a picture of Chief Masselow from the First People's website. I'm sorry that I can't solve the puzzle of this card, even though I enjoy the mystery. Still, I can't help but think that in the right hands, these questions would find answers. Feel free to add any suggestions or insight you may have.

Here's another lead. Notice that the Native American man has a little bit of facial hair. Contrary to popular belief, Native American, particularly those in the Pacific Northwest, did grow facial hair. The facial hair may help to narrow down the tribe of this individual, because it was certainly not typical of all Native Americans. I think it probably narrows it down to the Pacific  Northwest Indians. This Edward Curtis photo from the Library of Congress shows a Native American (Old Bob from the Karok tribe) with similar facial hair.

Source: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3c18587

Here are a couple of close-ups of the men. The resolution of the original is not great, so this is as good as it gets.

The theme for Sepia Saturday this week is scouts. My post has nothing to do with scouts, except for  'scouting for clues'. If you want to see some real scouts, march on over to Sepia Saturday.

Acoma Pueblo - New Mexico

The Acoma Pueblo is one of the oldest continuously inhabited communities in the United States. It  was built upon a sandstone mesa back in the 12th century, which proved to be effective for the defense of the pueblo. Unfortunately, it was not as effective in keeping out the Spanish conquistadors in 1598. There were nearly 2,000 inhabitants before the arrival of the Spaniards, but only about 250 survived the attacks. Miraculously, the pueblo traditions have survived and are still practiced by today's pueblo inhabitants.

Maternity Corset!

 There's a lot going on with this card, sent June 10th, 1910 from Ferndale, California to Eureka, California.

Here's the message:

Get or order sis a maternity corset. Do this at once. Have a case for you soon. Baby O'Leary, over by Enos's. Want it? Attend to this for sis at once, will you? Alice

The nurse is Miss Anderson of the French. Will be here later.

I had never heard of maternity corsets, but it seems that if you were accustomed to wearing a corset from adolescence on, you wouldn't stop when you got pregnant. It may have offered support for the abdominal muscles, but it was also intended to minimize the protrusion of the belly.

The picture on the card is also interesting. It's a colorized photograph by Frank Rinehart from 1905. Although the card doesn't say so, this is most certainly a picture of the actress, Wah-Ta-Waso, a very interesting and accomplished woman from the Penobscot tribe (although she is more often described as being Iroquois.) Born in 1887, she played Chopin on the piano and attended Harvard University.  She died in 1974 and is buried in Calvary Cemetery in Los Angeles.