This is a blog about music, photography, history, and culture.
These are photographs from my collection that tell a story about lost time and forgotten music.

Mike Brubaker
{ Click on the image to expand the photo }

My Chum

17 April 2020


Dear uncle and aunt: How are you









Is Auntie getting better?  We have
been looking for a letter from you
for a long time;








we are all well
only mama has a cold
and I am awful lonesome
Zela.









my chum.                                          
myself.               
                                    chum's sister.



Posted from North Brooksville, Maine
on June 28, 1906
to Mr. Milton C. Williams
Hartland, Maine




This postcard photo shows a small string ensemble of 13 young women ages 10 to 18. Most are holding violins but there is one cellist, a snare drummer, a cornet player (back left), a pianist (seated holding a roll of sheet music),  and curiously in the center a harpist. The sender's name I interpret as Zela because her e,l,a, are consistent with her other words and the first capital written with her looping style looks more Z than L to me. She is holding a violin partly hidden and she looks the oldest, maybe 18 going on 38.

The photo has faded with a lot of silvering so I've corrected the contrast using digital software. All the girls appear in nearly identical dark dresses that resemble the austere fashions of female orchestras/bands from orphanages. But as Zela mentions her mother, I don't think these girls are orphans, despite their gloomy expressions. Instead I think they are from a Catholic school. The youngest girl wears a crucifix, and several other have a medallion that may have Catholic symbolism. In any case, I don't think the photo was taken in North Brooksville because it was too small a community.


North Brooksville, Maine, not to be confused with West Brooksville, South Brooksville, Brooksville Corner, or Harborside is now conveniently known as just Brooksville, in Hancock County, Maine. Located south of Bangor, North Brooksville was and is a small village situated on the peninsula west of Mt Desert Island, the site of beautiful Acadia National Park. In 1910 it contributed to the population of Brooksville community of 1,176 residents. Like much of the Maine coastline, the area has always had many summertime visitors, and I suspect that Zela may have been one of those vacationers or perhaps she and/or her parents found seasonal work there. There was a private boarding school a half mile away in Blue Hill, ME but I think in 1906 it was still only for boys. So I suspect this was a school photo taken somewhere else in Maine, perhaps near Hartland, ME which was about 75 miles northwest of North Brooksville.





When she wrote her note
to her uncle and aunt,
Zela thoughtfully marked herself
thinking they might otherwise
not notice her in the group. 

Little could she imagine
that one hundred fourteen years later
her mark also allows the people of the future
to recognize her and her chum
and her chum's sister too.


She's not so lonesome now.








This is my contribution to Sepia Saturday
where flower power is in full force.

https://sepiasaturday.blogspot.com/2020/04/sepia-saturday-516-18th-april-2020.html


6 comments:

Wendy said...

Zela is a good guess, but I would like to offer Lila.
I noticed the 2 identical pins as well as the crucifix. The dark dresses are indeed somber, so Catholic school certainly seems fitting. Too bad they didn't have a big drum with their name emblazoned on it.

Barbara Rogers said...

Great fun doing detective work in records about many years ago, and miles away! I think Wendy may be right, as to Lila. We could call her Sue, and she probably wouldn't answer. Sorry, my humor is macabre today!

SUSAN KELLY said...

We need to use "chum" more. It's a charming word.

I'm glad you shared Zela or Lila's photo.

Molly of Molly's Canopy said...

I also vote for Lila -- although the "L" does have a "Z" look to it, the two loops are more like what one would see with an L. That said, this is a wonderful depiction of an all-female band. And once again illustrates how valuable postcards were then for even short-distance communication. Excellent detective work identifying the details.

La Nightingail said...

It's really hard to tell what the girl's signature proves in regard to her name. On the one hand, that first loopy letter really looks like a Z rather than an L due to the way it's started from above rather than from the side. On the other hand, 'Lila' is generally spelled with one 'l' while I would expect 'Zella' to be spelled with two 'l's. One thing I really like, however, is the expression on her chum's sister's face. She has a small confident smile as if to say: "Here I am and this is who I am." :)

JMP183 said...

Love these photos and especially, when the people are identified in them and the pictures are very clear. I'm not quite sure about her name though. I can see why you might think it is Zela, but I'm leaning towards Lela. In any case, great photos!

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