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Images purchased 7/08/05 at a garage sale
July 13, 2005
A few days ago my daughter Angela Callahan and I made the rounds of garage sales. She purchased a sealed engraved wooden box that caught her eye.
It contained a number of glossy 4 X 6 black and white photos on un-issued post cards, and photos of similar size ranging from to scenics to family pictures to unknown individuals or groups. The garage sale owner had no idea where the box came from.
It appears the images were of WWI vintage with dates in a few cases ranging from 1911 to 1932. The people in these images would be our grandfathers now, and in some cases our great grandfathers.
Index of images:
1. Lid of the engraved wooden box. Wood-burned on the bottom of the box is initials M. H.
Naval selection
2. This set of 14 penny postcards are in the original envelope. It was originally mailed to a Miss Mildred Stark at, Box 182, Pompey Pillars, Montana. This package is post marked 1919. At some point in time her last name in ink was erased. It took photo enhancements and sharp eyes of visitors to discover what the erasure originally said. Margaret Stark shows up in later images as well.
The photos are of Naval personnel, submarines and ships of the U.S. Navy near the end of WW I. This fleet would have been stationed somewhere on the east coast. There are a couple of clues in the photos, like an old building, which might tell where the military base was. The exact harbor or harbors are not identified. I am surprised these submarines were so sophisticated in WW I. They also seem by today's standards, very small.
NOTE ON ADDED PHOTO: Back of photo dated 6/2/1918, This is the U.S.S. Covington. This is the ship I have been on since July 15, 1918....taken at Brest, France. No name, but probably a member of the Stark family. On it's return voyage the USS Covington was sunk by a U-boat with loss of six lives, all members of the crew.
=================ADDED PHOTO #2 The Makinzey kindly provided by Jeff
================
Most Navy bases in WWI were probably on the eastern seaboard, possibly New York harbor or further up the coast toward Maine where the fleet would be nearer to the shipping lanes where German U-boat wolf packs were most likely to be engaged. It is unknown to me how many enemy vessels were sunk by our submarine fleet.
The men in these photos may be grandfathers or great grandfathers to some of you who may have had ancestors in the U.S. Navy submarine corp. during WWI.
If you have similar photos of old war ships and want to share, scan them to me and I'll post them in a scrap book for everyone to enjoy.
Tour of China about 1912.
We suspect these tourists names were Stark from Montana.
4. These photos are mostly routine tourist shots....great wall, etc. Several are interesting as they point out again the history of China, and the influence of foreign consulates. One seems to be French and the other seems German. How those two got along in China during WWI is not at all clear. Of course these photos could have been taken in the 1920s after the war was over.
Scan #1 | Scan #2 | Scan #3 | Scan #4 | Scan #5 |
Scan #6 | Scan #7 | Scan #8 | Scan #9 | Scan #10 |
Scan #11 | Scan #12 | Scan #13 |
COMING SOON: NOTE: By request we are putting up private photos.
McClure File: This is not part of the garage sale collection. If this gets big we will make a second menu for photos of military families we know.
5. Ladies please meet James Wesley Poe. This photo was taken in Shanghai, China probably during WWI. James was born 1888 in Clay County Kansas. James is a cousin of Sharyl McClure who has kindly provided this photo. Sharyl is the new CC of Osceola County, IAGenWeb.
NOTE: Washington July 5th 1918. - The American army transport USS Covington, homeward bound after landing several thousand soldiers in France, was torpedoed and sunk in the war zone last Monday night. Six members of the crew are missing all the other men, with the ship's officers, have been landed at a French port. No Army personnel or passengers were aboard.
========================================================================
Alaska Trip: Photos dated 1929 to 1932. These penny postcards were mailed with messages on the back.
6. Signatures appearing: C. H. Stark of Portland, OR and Frank Jones of Vancouver, WA.
Skagway Valley | Ben Jones Bridge | Lions Vancouver B.C. | White Horse Rapids |
Prince Rupert Harbor | Auk Lake, Mendenhaul Glacier |
7. Ten photos or cards appear to have been issued by the Stark family who evidently traveled around a lot. This is a mixture of greeting cards and photos. About half were apparently souvenirs as they were never mailed. A couple of photos may be orphans, no identifying marks as to whom they are or where the photo was taken. Some of these guys might be your relatives, or you might only recognize where the photo was take. If so, please advise Admin.
More Travel:
8. These three images are of three travel folders, the type that used to have 22 images folded up and packages sent for two cents to someone as a souvenir. Baltimore, Virginia and Florida.
Anyone who wants to see any of the 66 scenes (all tourist points of interest), I will scan them to you by attachment. These three folders dated 1920 are in perfect condition and never mailed.
General:
9. These images of the recruitment poster of General Washington and the Vancouver, WA army base were the first ones posted in this series. This concludes this garage sale purchase, but there will follow many more.
COMING: This ends the selection from this garage sale, but there will be more to come. Stay Tuned.
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