It's the most wonderful time of the year

Santa Claus & Me

Hello friends and cousins! As we head in to the holiday season I though I'd kick the month off with this - my one and only photo with Santa. I guess Mom decided one bout of that childhood trauma was sufficient.

My mug shot with Santa, Christmas 1961.
I still have that rabbit. We both survived the encounter.

This photo makes an appearance on the mantel every Christmas. I think it's awesome, and kind of funny. The numbers in front make it look like Santa's holding me up for a mug shot. Honest, I didn't steal that bunny! I also love the look on Santa's face. Stoic. Resigned. Hoping I don't yank off the beard. Wishing for the end of his shift so he can get a drink.

Despite our rocky start, I'm totally into Santa. I saw him and Mrs. Clause driving through my very town last year around this time in a sporty little SUV. They were rocking the red suits and fur trim! So, yeah I'm a believer.

Wishing you a great December, no matter what winter holidays you do or don't celebrate.

Other People's Ancestors : Success and a Reunion

This photo of  George Wickham Metcalfe
is soon to be reunited with his family.

G.W. Metcalfe is heading home!

I'm thrilled to report that I've been able to reunite this photo of George Wickham Metcalfe with his family. [You can read more about George in an earlier post on this blog.]

George's granddaughter contacted me via Ancestry.com, where I had created a tree for George and uploaded his photo. I included in every note space available on that site the invitation for a family member to contact me to reclaim the photograph. And it worked!

This is a photograph of George that his granddaughter had never seen. She was kind enough to share some of her memories of him with me, and I treasure that. I feel like George is part of my family too, after spending so much time researching him.

Happy trails, George!

Wallace B. Dixon 1912

Wallace B. Dixon. 1912.
Held by E. Ackermann, 2017.

The original photo of Wallace B. Dixon. 1912
E.L. Jenkins & Co., 122 Front St. N.Y.
Held by E. Ackermann, 2017.

This is my grandfather, Wallace B. Dixon, at seven years old. The photograph was taken by E.L. Jenkins & Co., 122 Front Street, New York. The handwriting on the front of the original mounting is my grandfather's.

I haven't been able to learn much about the photography studio, but I did find another photograph with the same mounting by way of a Google search. Interstingly, that photo of a young man also appeared to have been taken outside, next to the front steps of a building. I wonder if this was Jenkins's particular style of portrait photography. If you know anything about them drop me a note.

You can see a photo of Wally B.'s son, Wally A. Dixon, at about the same age in my previous post, "Wally Jr. Strikes a Pose."

Things I Learned in School : GRIP

You know you're addicted to genealogy when:

1. You spend your summer vacation at a genealogy institute
2. You're having a nice time pouring through archival supply catalogs
3. You think a fun thing to do on your day off is re-humidifying old rolled photos and documents

I guess I'm hooked :-)

During the last week of June I was lucky enough to attend GRIP - The Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh. Imagine a whole week of classes immersed in one topic! In my case it was Family Archiving: Heirlooms in the Digital Age with Denise May Levenick. Does that not sound perfect for where I am right now, surrounded by family "stuff?" [Which will now officially be referred to as "The Mary Dixon Traina Collection."]

One of the nifty hands-on techniques that we learned was how to flatten rolled photos and documents without cracking or damaging them. I had read about this technique before I took the class, but was a little hesitant to try it. Doing this in class gave me the confidence to try it myself when I got home. Denise Levenick has a very thorough tutorial on her blog if you think you'd like to try it yourself.

Here's what I did to flatten my photo

 

The the secret to success here is humidity. Your tight little rolled photo or document is bone dry and needs to be relaxed so you can frame it or store it properly.

My first re-humidification project was a rolled photo. When I peeked inside it looked like a class photo. But it was very tightly rolled and the print emulsion would certainly have cracked if I had tried to flatten it out as dry as it was.

The first two photos here are my "before" pictures.

It's very important that you not unroll and try to flatten a photo or document that is in this condition.
You may cause irreversible damage.

 

To start the process, I took a large plastic bin with a lid, put some water in it and then placed a plastic coated dish rack inside. I only added enough water to make it an inch or two deep. The dish rack is the type you use to create additional storage inside your cupboards.

Then you just put on the lid and wait. It's a good idea to check on the project every few hours to make sure that no condensation is building up on the inside of the lid. You don't want water dripping on your photo or document.

After three hours my photo had started to soften up a bit and I was able to unroll it a little bit more.

It took about seven hours in the bin to get the photo relaxed enough to lay flat. Or reasonably flat. I was hesitant to leave it in the bin overnight, since I wouldn't be able to monitor the possible condensation. So at the seven hour mark I called it "good enough" and proceeded with the next step.

The photo is laying face up on top of a piece of archival blotting paper from Gaylord. On top of the photo I put a sheet of parchment paper, the kind you use for cooking and baking. Then there is another piece of archival blotting paper on top of that.

Those layers are being pressed under stacks of books. Yes, I read murder mysteries at Christmas. Please, don't judge me.

And here are the results!

Re-humidified photo, pressed and dry.

 
Getting the photograph flat revealed that it is the 1942 class photo for Theodore Roosevelt Junior High School in Elizabeth, New Jersey. The photo is not perfectly flat, but is relaxed enough that I would be comfortable framing it or putting it in flat storage [archival, of course!].

Here are two close-ups of the photo, front and back. The girl in the striped shirt with the great smile and the dimples is my mom. I love how happy she looks in the picture. 

Mary E. Dixon, right of center in the striped shirt.
Citation: Photographer unknown. Class Photograph, Theodore Roosevelt Junior High School.
1942: Elizabeth, New Jersey. Photographic Print. Mary Dixon Traina Collection, privately held.

Flattening the photo also gave me a chance to study the back of the photograph. It looks like some of Mom's classmates signed it. Transcribing all those names will be a little project. I can check the 1945 Battin High School Yearbook to see if any of the girls also graduated high school with Mom.

Names on the back of the photograph. Classmates from Theodore Roosevelt Junior High School.
Elizabeth, New Jersey. 1942.

Citation

Photographer unknown. Class Photograph, Theodore Roosevelt Junior High School. 1942: Elizabeth, New Jersey. Photographic Print. Mary Dixon Traina Collection, privately held.

Other People's Ancestors : Two Kids and a Dog

This one was in my big box of family photos. They are most likely friends of the family rather than relatives.

Two adorable kids and their awesome dog.
I like the looks of all three of them. Sure wish I knew who they were.

Written in ink on the back of the photo.

And that's all I know. Anyone recognize them?

Sophie (Karvoius) Dixon & Her Children in 1928

The good thing about scanning photos is that each image gets your undivided attention for at least a little while. Instead of being just a pile of pictures, each picture becomes a piece of a puzzle. Looking closely at each image and logging a description in my photo log can give me missing insights and connections in the larger family story.

My big discovery this week was a set of photos taken on the same day, and labeled with the year. They feature my great-grandmother, grandmother, her sister, and some friends. Better still, my Mom and her brother are there too. These may be the youngest I've ever seen them! This set of photos, with dates on them, help me connect the dots to other images that I have.

The first photo is of my great-grandmother,
Alice Karvoius. She was 45 years old in 1928.

Alice (Rimkus) Karvoius, Sophie (Karvoius) Dixon,
an unidentified friend, and Sophie's sister,
Estelle Karvoius, holding a baby.
In 1928, Sophie was 22 and Estelle was 19 years old.

 

Unidentified friend, left,
Sophie Dixon, on the right,
holding Mary Elizabeth Dixon,
Wallace A. Dixon in front.

This third photo is the one that gives me another clue to help me identify the people in other photos.

That's my grandmother standing on the right. The photo is dated 1928. My uncle, Wallace A. Dixon was born in July of 1926, and my mother was born in October of 1927. I believe that the child my grandmother is holding is my Mom, Mary Elizabeth Dixon, and the toddler standing in front of her is my Uncle Wally. Here are some close-ups from the photo.

Mary Elizabeth Dixon, born 1927,
with her mother, Sophie (Karvoius) Dixon

Wallace Andrew Dixon, born 1926.
Son of Wallace B. and Sophie Dixon.

You've seen my Uncle Wally in a previous post, The Mystery of the Boy With the Boutonierre. He's the toddler standing in front of the group.

Little Wally Dixon,
as seen here.

I was only guessing that it was him, based on family resemblance. But this photo gives me more evidence that it is him. It also helps with an estimated date for that photo.
 
There are only a few mysteries related to these photos. Who are the unidentified women, and where in Elizabeth Port was the picture taken? If you have any clues for me, please get in touch!

Resource Roundup : NY Public Library Digital Collections

Family History Image Bonanza

If you're looking for New Jersey resources, the logical place to start is in New Jersey. That makes sense. But don't discount the possibility of finding NJ resources in other states.

The New York Public Library has a huge image collection online that is easily searchable. It is a fabulous resource for any researcher. They have over 672,000 images available for your enjoyment, and many are free to use without restriction.

Atlas of Union County, NJ
NY Public Library Images

The first search I tried was for "Elizabeth, New Jersey." I hit pay-dirt with the "Atlas of Union County, New Jersey, 1906. " My maternal grandfather was born in 1905, and my maternal grandmother was born in 1906. This little gem gives a nice idea of what their neighborhoods looked like around the time of their births.

The maps are very detailed, showing businesses, property owners names, and building construction type. If you have family from anywhere in Union County around this time period, I highly recommend it.

In a future post I hope to cover some of my discoveries in this great publication.

The Mystery of the the Boy with the Boutonierre

Mystery Photo Monday : More kids, and familiar faces.

The Boy with the Boutonierre.
Does anyone recognize this boy?

More children this week! Does anyone recognize this boy? It looks like he just made his First Holy Communion. Here's another photo from the party, with more mystery kids.

More Mystery Ancestors.
Doesn't that toddler look like Wallace A. Dixon?

There's the Boy with the Boutonierre, in the back. That toddler in the front sure looks like my grandfather, Wallace B. Dixon. But given that this photo looks more like a scene from the 1920's, it could be his son, Wallace Andrew Dixon. That is an extremely wild guess. If any of my cousins would like to weigh in here I'd appreciate it!

And more girls! But wait! That girl in the back there. She looks familiar. I think we saw her sitting on a stoop with some kids back in another Mystery Photo Monday post. Same girl, just a little older in this week's installment? What do you think?

Mystery girl from this post.

Mystery girl from previous post.

Wallace B. Dixon : Here's Looking at You Kid!

I have yet to find any baby pictures of my grandfather, Wallace B. Dixon (b. 1905, d. 1984). However, I do have a few from his childhood and teen years.

Wallace B. Dixon and his pal, Jimmie Fahy

This photo of my Gramps on a pony is one of my favorites. The house in the background doesn't look familiar, so I can't say for sure where this was taken. Possibly in Elizabeth, NJ. Gramps would have been 7 years old at the time. My grandfather gave me a copy of this photo back in the 1970's. On the back he wrote:

Summer 1912 
Dear Liz,  This is a picture of Gramps Dixon astride "Secretariat." Jimmie Fahy is the trainer. Our time was "nothing flat." 

That may give you a glimpse of my Gramp's sense of humor. He could be a funny guy. You'll see more of Jimmie as this blog develops. He and Gramps were friends into adulthood. I've got several more photos of him as an adult, and he is a subject of some collateral research I hope to do. It would be great to find his descendants and give them a copy of this photo if they don't already have one.

Wallace B. Dixon.

The second image  I cropped from a photo that shows my grandfather with his father, William A. Dixon, and his sister, Hazel. (I'll include the whole image in a future post.) I think Wally was a little older when this photo was taken than he was in the pony picture. I'm going to guess it was taken somewhere around 1915-20.

By 1920, when Wally was 15, William was no longer living in the household. Wally's mother declared herself as widowed and head of household in the census that year. I'm guessing there was a divorce in the works since William didn't actually die until 1927.

Wally Dixon and a friend.

The third photo shows Wally as a teenager/young man. He was a cutie, wasn't he? And so thin! I don't know who the girl is. A girlfriend maybe? I haven't found her in any other photos yet.

So this photo was probably taken after 1920. He married my grandmother, Sophie Karvoius, in 1925.

If you have an idea of who the young woman is, or what the date on this photo might be, please leave a comment!

From left: Jimmie Fahy, Wally Dixon, and two unidentified rascals.

I think this last photo is really funny. Do these guys look like they are about to embark on some hi-jinks or what? They're all dressed up, so maybe they're going to a dance or some other social event. And there's Jimmie Fahy to the left of his pal Wally. I don't know who those other two rascals are. If you recognize them, let me know, won't you?