I found time (a little) for one more post this season. From a slide lot I bought a year or so ago comes this look into an office Christmas party circa 1966. I have no time to provide commentary so make up your own captions.
It's always interesting to see old slides and photos of unknown people and places. I tried looking around the office to figure out and details of who these people are, and there isn't much to see.
The only thing that caught my eye was writing on the back of the yellow catalog (which you see in the foreground of the last picture). It says "Boorum & Pease" which was a Brooklyn based stationary company. So these people could be using this product in their catalog, or they are the manufacturer/distributor.
Did some googling around and found the building where the offices and manufacturing occurred in the 60s (84 Hudson Ave NYC). On the street view it still has the company name on it. The outside of the windows do match up with what we can see inside (groups of 3 tall windows), so it is possibly where the slides are from!
Did more digging about its history, found the presidents name who retired in 1981 was "Alexander Ross Noble" and he had worked his way through the company. I found his obituary and it really looks to me like the fellow who is seated beside the woman in red in picture 7th before the end, looking agape.
So my guess is this is who these people are. I don't think I can post links so I can't share links but googling can get you everything I found. I might be totally wrong of course!
Wow, you have good eyes, BJB. It's certainly possible, and that guy does strongly resemble Alexander Ross Noble. The slides were bought in St. Louis, MO. The only other tie to St. Louis I see is the "Sally So-Good" potato chip box. I'm pretty sure that was a St. Louis based company.
I always wondered why people discard old photos and slides.
But thinking about it more I find it likely the photographer is not in the photos. So when the they pass away or forced to downsize and their belongings are dispersed to friends and family, the images are essentially those of strangers. So no reason to keep them.
It's really a shame, my family in general wasn't big on picture taking, I may have a few dozen pictures from over the years (and many are instant camera with relatively low quality). What I would do to get my hands on high photos like the ones here of my mom or dad at a work Christmas party in the 60s or 70s!
That's a good observation. We tend not to think of the person behind the camera, like the picture took itself. It would explain the absence of my father in the majority of our 8mm films and photographs.
I get bummed out when I'm browsing through a great antique/thrift store and come to their box/basket/tub of old photos. They're just all thrown in together. Any chance of finding a series like the office party above is fruitless. Part of me wants to sit there and look at every single one, probably take a quarter of them home because they make me feel good. I start to feel sad that nobody wanted them, probably because the people are dead. Nobody wanted to pass them on to someone who cared. Me, a guy who never throws anything away just can't understand it.
But I did find an amazing Mr. Steak ceramic bank, so that made me happy as hell.
The tub at the antique store is the worst. I call them "misfit memories". Memories not one wanted. At least at estate sales, typically the pictures are all of one family. I've actually been able to identify and return photos to family members in the past. I'm not familiar with Mr. Steak, but if it has to do with steak, I like it.
It's always interesting to see old slides and photos of unknown people and places. I tried looking around the office to figure out and details of who these people are, and there isn't much to see.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing that caught my eye was writing on the back of the yellow catalog (which you see in the foreground of the last picture). It says "Boorum & Pease" which was a Brooklyn based stationary company. So these people could be using this product in their catalog, or they are the manufacturer/distributor.
Did some googling around and found the building where the offices and manufacturing occurred in the 60s (84 Hudson Ave NYC). On the street view it still has the company name on it. The outside of the windows do match up with what we can see inside (groups of 3 tall windows), so it is possibly where the slides are from!
Did more digging about its history, found the presidents name who retired in 1981 was "Alexander Ross Noble" and he had worked his way through the company. I found his obituary and it really looks to me like the fellow who is seated beside the woman in red in picture 7th before the end, looking agape.
So my guess is this is who these people are. I don't think I can post links so I can't share links but googling can get you everything I found. I might be totally wrong of course!
Wow, you have good eyes, BJB. It's certainly possible, and that guy does strongly resemble Alexander Ross Noble. The slides were bought in St. Louis, MO. The only other tie to St. Louis I see is the "Sally So-Good" potato chip box. I'm pretty sure that was a St. Louis based company.
ReplyDeleteThose file cabinets with the alternating green and blue drawers!
ReplyDeleteI always wondered why people discard old photos and slides.
ReplyDeleteBut thinking about it more I find it likely the photographer is not in the photos. So when the they pass away or forced to downsize and their belongings are dispersed to friends and family, the images are essentially those of strangers. So no reason to keep them.
It's really a shame, my family in general wasn't big on picture taking, I may have a few dozen pictures from over the years (and many are instant camera with relatively low quality). What I would do to get my hands on high photos like the ones here of my mom or dad at a work Christmas party in the 60s or 70s!
That's a good observation. We tend not to think of the person behind the camera, like the picture took itself. It would explain the absence of my father in the majority of our 8mm films and photographs.
DeleteI get bummed out when I'm browsing through a great antique/thrift store and come to their box/basket/tub of old photos. They're just all thrown in together. Any chance of finding a series like the office party above is fruitless. Part of me wants to sit there and look at every single one, probably take a quarter of them home because they make me feel good. I start to feel sad that nobody wanted them, probably because the people are dead. Nobody wanted to pass them on to someone who cared. Me, a guy who never throws anything away just can't understand it.
ReplyDeleteBut I did find an amazing Mr. Steak ceramic bank, so that made me happy as hell.
The tub at the antique store is the worst. I call them "misfit memories".
DeleteMemories not one wanted. At least at estate sales, typically the pictures are all of one family. I've actually been able to identify and return photos to family members in the past. I'm not familiar with Mr. Steak, but if it has to do with steak, I like it.
Mr. Steak was like a Sizzler, Ponderosa, Bonanza, Sirloin Stockade, etc.
Deletehttps://youtu.be/bmHpLa-GpLI
And my mistake! The bank is from Sirloin Stockade. Here it is in our kitchen:
http://armpitstudios.com/images/Sirloin%20Stockade.jpeg