Sometimes when I develop these “found” rolls of film I find it kind of sad that their original owners forgot to do so themselves. This is one of those times. The fact that I picked up these rolls on eBay suggests they came from an estate sale, which means the photographers are likely no longer with us. The babies in the photos probably are, and they would be in their mid to late 50s, most likely.
All we know about the photos is that they come from the Pittsburgh area. They came to me in a box – three rolls in total – and only one of the three rolls matched the brand on the outside of the box. Still, it’s reasonable to assume they all come from roughly the same time frame. The box itself was stamped “1964” in the “develop by” space. And the TV that appears on one roll appears identically in one of the other rolls.
The roll of Ansco film (the black one) that originally belonged with the box only had three usable photos on it – two of a (shiny new, I assume) Zenith television:
and one shot out the window, with a barely decipherable car:
But the other rolls were almost exclusively of children.
There’s this little guy, who clearly grew up in a home with hunting enthusiasts:
Or maybe it was grandma’s house. This may be his parents, who somehow don’t seem to match the home decor of the previous shot:
Here’s Junior again, enjoying the outdoors and wearing the same sweatshirt. So the pictures were mostly all taken the same day.
But wait – there’s more! There’s also this little guy:
He’s placed in various poses with large stuffed animals. The second one is, in my opinion, terrifying. Although our photographic subject appears nonplussed.
…and there’s also the family dog:
and is this some sort of a bunny suit? Posing in front of the fancy new Zenith TV, by the way.
And before you say, “well this is all the same kid, just at a later age”, let me share my favorite shots from this set of rolls:
