The Greatest Generation

The early 1940′s, a bunch of twenty-somethings have the time of their lives during a very uncertain era. Most of these pictures were taken by my grandfather (the guy sitting in the chair and in various other poses) during his time in service, he was an Iroquois Indian of the Oneida Nation who enlisted at seventeen years old. He died nearly twenty years before I was born in a freak accident, but lucky for me he was a bit of camera buff who enjoyed snapping pictures. He leaves behind many interesting observations and memories…

All images from the collection of Jeffrey Michael Smith

Only Time

Collection of Jeffrey Michael Smith

Sweet Sixteen

Flickr

Sweet sixteen in 1900 was very different from what it is today, there were no reality shows focused around some big party with heinous parents and the monsters of children they’ve created. The photo above should be vaguely familiar to you, if you’ve ever been inside a vintage ice cream shop or seen the “classic” cover of an old novel suddenly being mass-reproduced. Her name was Evelyn Nesbit, she was the first teen star worshipped across the nation, she started as a model then became a dancer, followed by actress and finally ending up as the wife to a psychotic multi-millionaire. She also turned sixteen at the turn of the 20th Century.

Nurse Emma

Collection of Jeffrey Michael Smith

Emma, 1909

In the late 19th century and early 20th, nursing was one of the few decent professions a woman could enter into. Considered to be good training for marriage, nursing provided plenty of opportunities to meet prospective husbands.

The traditional dress would be cumbersome for today’s nurses, but there was a time when females entering the field were expected to be nothing more than handmaidens.

Rasputin

Collection of Jeffrey Michael Smith

Vintage photos of priests have a rather haunting quality, particularly Catholic priests. This guy was unearthed from a dusty scrapbook that I inherited; the photo was most likely taken sometime before 1950 in Camden, NJ.