On the back of the photograph is says “A Merry Xmas to you all. Here are some roses for your (faded words – if you can read them let me know!) Your little niece, Theresa P. Reed.” “Hugh’s daughter.”
Theresa was my grandmother Pearl’s brother Hugh’s youngest daughter. She was born in Indianapolis, IN in 1914. There are several other photographs of her as she grew up to about the age of 12 or 13. Unfortunately I cannot find the family in the 1930 census, although I do find her father later on. Hoping I can find them in the 1940 census and back track.
You can read about Theresa’s father, Hugh Marion Reed by clicking HERE.
You can see more fascinating Sepia Saturday posts by clicking HERE.
It's a wonderful photo Kristin. My guess is that the first two words of the missing bit are "pretty boy" but I can't get that last word/s. It seems to end in 15, but that doesn't seem to fit, does it?
I agree with Brett, it’s an absolutely charming picture. All my family here, including my detective son, say it’s 1915. If it was Christmas 1915 and she was born say March 1914 (do you know the month) that would make her 1 year and 9 months in December 1915. The word before 1915 is harder to decipher but I also think it starts with p. It could ‘prettyfying’ or ‘partyfying’. My son said if you can get a better scan image there is the means out there to enhance the script. Good Luck!
…….or ‘party day’!
Such a moppet. Just lovely. I can't imagine getting those boots buttoned, though.
Nell, I agree the date is 1915. I don't have the month of her birth but it must be March if this is Dec. which it must be since she says "Merry Xmas!" If I knew how to get a better scan, I would! Any suggestions. It's written in very faint pencil. I thought it said something about a party too.
Brett, At that time my grandmother had two little sons, so maybe. It looked like 15 to me last night but this morning it doesn't.
I scanned at a higher rez and this is what I make out. "A Merry Xmas to you all. Here are some roses for your parting of 1915. Your little niece, Theresa P Reed. Age 1 yr. 9 months Dec. 1915."
I downloaded the image and played with it using image editing software. I converted it to grayscale and then looked at it as a negative, with white text on a gray background. The word before "of" is "day". There are two symbols with dots after them between "of" and "15". Putting this together, I think it reads "your party day of 1.1.15". Two caveats – firstly, the symbols, if they are the numeral 1, are written differently from the 1 in 15. They have curly ends where it is straight but the 1 in 15 could have faded so much it has lost its curl. Secondly, the word of which I am least sure is "party". It could be that an "s" has faded away before the "p" and it is actually "special". That would give "your special day of 1.1.15". Could you please post your higher res image, so that we can take a look at it, Kristin?
I will add the higher res post.
I couldn't post it at 600 dpi.
that's an adorable photo. It does seem like the word could be partying. Maybe a New Year's party?
yes, it could be party.
Lovely little girl in the most wonderful dress!
Kristin, you have some of the most wonderful family photos. I enjoyed reading all of these comments too.
What an absolutely gorgeous dress, look at the frill and lace. A treasure of a photo in your collection.
What a darling and precious little girl! She's wearing quite a lovely dress and I love how she's almost hugging those flowers! Very nice family…!
I think it says "for your birthday of 1915"
Lovely post, and fantastic that the private investigators of Sepia Saturday are on the case trying to solve the missing words and date mysetry.
A delightful photo and an intriguing pair of boots – if it were today that might be a steel toecap,
What a lovely little girl in a beautiful dress – especially the lace overlay! 🙂
A cherished photo for good reason. Alas so many of us know well the frustration of faded pencil marks and smeared ink, trying to solve the puzzle of ghostly scripts.
Kristin, I haven't read all the comments above so someone may have already suggested this (and it may or may not work). If you use Picasa, open the photo then click the "auto contrast" button. It may darken the writing enough that you can read it more clearly.
That baby is a beautiful child!
Everything about the photo is wonderful, so rich in detail. A beautiful face with lovely lips. I bet she broke a lot of hearts at school.
What a lovely little girl. Just beautiful.