Grandfather and Woolens
July 28th, 2010 by Leora
I don’t know a lot about my maternal grandfather, whom I never met. Here he is on the left as a young man in front of a store that says Lipsohn & Friede Woolens. I do know that later in his life he worked on Wall Street. Did family members own this store? A mystery to me. More on my maternal grandfather. And much more on my maternal grandfather, Solon Friede.
Here is what I scanned in before tweaking the photo in Photoshop:
For more sepia photos, visit:
That is a great old photo. It came out well with your expert tweaking, Leora.
I’ll bet a family member owned the shop, That’s why they are posing proudly in front of it.
Old photos are always interesting to look at. We’ve got a couple of some of my great-grandparents and one of two of my great-great-grandparents (I think). Not sure how I’d feel about posting them on my blog, though.
As there really is no one left to connect with about this side of the family, I feel the only way I connect is by blogging. Not true about my father’s side of the family – he was one of five, had many cousins, and my cousins (all are from my father’s side) have children and grandchildren.
This is a great sepia photo!
http://foto.rudenius.se/post/2010/07/28/Sepia-Scenes-93.aspx
These gentlemen look fine in their suits of wool, although they wore wool even in the warm summers in lower Manhattan.
So many of the B&W prints I have need to be tweaked given their age and lack of optimal storage over the decades…
In case you are wondering, I played with the levels in Photoshop, and then I played with the color balance. If you lived close by, Ralph, I would offer to do some of your prints. It only takes me a few minutes of tweaking.
I love the old photo, Leora! How sad you don’t know much about your grandfather. It seems by the time we are old enough to KNOW we want to know it’s often too late to ask.
Unfortunately, it is because he died long before I was born. And now my grandmother and mother are gone, so I get curious. If they were around, I probably wouldn’t have the curiosity as much.
This makes me imagine what my husband’s step-family might have looked like during this time period. He grew up on SE Missouri and his step-dad’s family owned Lowenstein’s department store in Memphis. They aren’t around anymore but the building still bears the name.
We may be back east next year Leora. If we actually get anywhere near you, we will definitely have coffee/tea on our dance card. Our ultimate destination is D.C. and Gettysburg but the route is still in the “who knows” stage.
Gettysburg is not so far from here! Central New Jersey is kind of dull… I can’t say there is anything particularly exciting to visit. Except there are lots of nice people who live here and pretty areas and farms, too.
What a precious photograph…a treasure to have.
You really enhanced it with your tweaking.
I’m the same way with ancestors I never knew, writing about them keeps me connected to them, along with my genealogical interests.
I like the way the photoshop efforts enhance the image’s detail.
Hi!
Great picture to have. Very distinguished looking gentlemen. Have a great day!
Sherrie
Food for Thought
It is interesting to see how these people are dressed.
It is strange to see how more curious we get about ancestors as we grow older but also sad that we canot get all the answers we’d like to have.
Note the wide tie on the man in the middle (was he my grandfather’s uncle, I wonder?). And the two pockets on my grandfather’s suit jacket.
In my case, it is a way of connected with my mother and grandmother, two people I loved dearly and miss very much.
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This is a wonderful photo, Leora and your Photoshop skills have really enhanced the image.
I must say, he looks wonderfully smart! Especially with the bowler hat!
Shabbat Shalom
great pix! Shabbat Shalom!
What a great photograph to have.
Great photo restoration. Is that one of your marketable skills?
“marketable skills” – I’ve gotten relatively bad photos to look good for clients, but I’ve never “restored” a photo for anyone. There are people who specialize in this sort of work.