Summer is quickly approaching, so in the spirit of the season, we decided to pull out the vintage family vacation photos! This week we're revisiting Hardin family vacations from the 1960s. I believe all of these photos were taken during trips to Florida. So much fun...
family photos: great-grandmothers
It's a day for beautiful, turn-of-the-century photographs of our families. The top photo is Jonathan's great-grandmother Eliza (back left) and her sisters. The middle photo is my great-grandmother Tina and her family. She is front and center. The bottom photo is my other great-grandmother Elsie and her sister Myrtle. Eliza's family lived in Prentiss County, Mississippi, Tina's family lived in Naples, Italy and Elsie's family lived in Lancaster, Ohio. The time period would be about the same for all of them. What would they have thought if they had known they would be linked together someday?
The Heritage Photography Collection
Just in time for Mother's Day, Gerald & Joan is excited to introduce the Heritage Photography Collection.
In addition to our film and photo preservation services, we now offer professional-quality, vintage-inspired photo printing featuring a variety of finishes -- glossy, linen, matte and metallic photo papers, various borders and sizes and a variety of editing treatments including converting your photos and film to black and white, sepia and custom colors. Whether your images have been in your family for decades or they're new heirlooms, we will ensure they'll be a part of your story for generations to come. Our favorite sizes are 4x6, 5x5 and 5x7, but custom photo sizes and packages (of two images or one hundred!) are also available.
Not sure which treatment works for your images? We would be happy to recommend a plan that fits your images and your budget! Contact us today to learn more.
family stories: tina and raoul de forcade
My great-grandfather Raoul de Forcade was born in 1886 in Verona, Italy. He was raised in Naples, attended the University of Florence and spent a year in Vienna. He served as a calvary officer in the Italian army, and was dashing man who greatly enjoyed the bachelor lifestyle -- to be specific, my aunt mentioned he enjoyed duels and the company of opera dancers. His mother Adele nagged him to settle down and get married, but he ignored her pleas.
My great-grandmother was born in 1901 and was one of nine children. She was a very well-rounded young lady who rode horses, played the piano and spoke French. She met my great-grandfather for the first time when she was 17 or 18 years old. She was riding with some friends when her horse shied and threw her. My great-grandfather saw her and went over to help. Instead of playing the part of the damsel in distress, she was angry and only wanted to get back on the horse. A few years later, she spent the day at the beach with the wife of a calvary colonel. They were excellent swimmers and decided to swim a long way from the shore. While they were swimming, a boat full of officers approached and asked if they needed help. They accepted the invitation to be pulled into the boat. Ironically, my great-grandfather was among them.
After their second meeting, Raoul started writing to Tina. Occasionally he introduced her to his mother at parties. His mother liked her very much, but she didn't approve of an engagement because my grandmother wasn't a member of the Italian aristocracy. Eventually, he resorted to extreme measures to win her approval -- he informed his mother that he wanted to marry one of his opera dancer girlfriends! Suddenly the lovely girl with an independent nature wasn't such a bad match after all, and his mother insisted that he reconsider the lovely Tina. They were married and moved to Verona. My grandmother arrived 10 and a half months later. She is in the bottom photograph.