From Funoldhag's Fashion Friday

(This is a repeat of a post I did on Funoldhag back in March of last year. I love these two old pictures of my mom.)

This Fashion Friday I am featuring Nan in a picture that shows what a lovely young woman of her era wore for swinging on a gate in front of a giant castor bean plant (I am fairly positive that is what the plant is). Nan is wearing a lovely light colored summer frock with a big collar and three-quarter length sleeves. The bodice buttons down the front. A soft, ruffly cap completes her very pretty look.

Then we have this photo of what the lovely young lady would wear when sitting on the porch in a rocking chair back in the early 20's. Nan is attired in a sweet summer gown featuring a white collar and cuffs and maybe the same little bonnet that appears in the first picture or a bonnet very similar. Two more favorite pictures of mine. Enjoy. (Click to enlarge)

From Fashion Friday on Funoldhag

They come around so quickly - Fashion Fridays, I mean. On this rather gloomy day here in Michigan, I am posting a picture of little Carol (who grew up to be Funoldhag) as she sits on the bannister of her grandparents' porch. What a fashionable little girl in a faux fur coat, cute little tam and shiney shoes with straps. She is wearing stockings and mittens so it was probably kind of chilly that day.

And here she is again, this time with her favorite Aunt Leah. It was a different day most likely since she is wearing laced up shoes but the same coat. Probably a little warmer since there is no tam or mittens. Aunt Leah is looking pretty with a chic hairdo, very pretty fur trimmed coat and strappy shoes. This would have been in the early 1930's. So many of the pictures taken at my grandparents' home were taken in the front yard and you can see over time that they enclosed the porch and made a sunroom and closed entry.    This was posted in October, 2009,  on Funoldhag. (Click to enlarge)

The Pearces

 Pieces of the Past really got started because of all of the pictures I have of the Pearce family - my maternal grandparents.  Along with those I have and ones that were sent to me by my brother and by a  cousin in California, I decided it would be fun to do a blog and use them along with many other old family pictures from my husband's family, my paternal grandparents, and our family.  I am sure the above picture of the Pearces is already in this blog way, way back, but I wanted to put it in along with the two that follow.  Above are Nan, my mother, Maggie, my grandmother, Leah, Dan, my grandfather, Ed, the youngest, Nelle who is in many of the Fashion Fridays over on my Funoldhag blog, and Harry, or Ham, as everyone called him. 

In 1951, Aunt Nelle and Uncle Ham came back from California for a visit.  My grandfather had been gone quite a long time but here is the Pearce family at that time--- Leah, Ham, Grandma Pearce, Ed, Mom and Nelle.  I am so glad I have this photo.  Ray and I were living in an apartment owned by an Italian couple, Sam and Reena Marini.  They lived on the ground floor while we lived upstairs.  In the basement, they had an Italian restaurant.   The family had a dinner at Marini's while Nelle and Lambert, her husband, and Uncle Ham were back.  I don't remember why my Aunt Della, Ham's wife, was not able to come back with them. Below is the picture of our entire family at that time.  Ray and I were expecting Sherry.

The first couple is my parents, Nan and Charlie, my sister, Joanne and Bob, her husband,  Nelle and Lambert,  Ham and Grandma Pearce, Ed and Henrietta, his cute wife, Ray and me, and my brother, Bud, and Aunt Leah.  Hard for me to believe this was almost 60 years ago!    (Click to enlarge) 

From FOH Fashion Friday

It says right on the picture that this is Anna Pearce in Champagne, Ill, but I don't know how Anna is related to my grandfather's family. I do know that Dan and Maggie had some very good friends in Champagne. This pretty lady may have been married to the son of one of my grandfather Dan's brothers. Most certainly, it looks as if there is a bird perched on her hat! Her outfit is fresh and summery with a skirt and overskirt and pretty blouse sporting a pin or brooch.  And the hat!! Anna wins the prize for the best hat in pictures of my ancestors! Don't you agree? Interesting little purse she is carrying - looks like it could be a carton of Chinese food.  How fun it would be to know where she has been, with who and what is making her have such a beautiful dimpled smile on her face.  One of my favorite pictures from the Pearces.   (Click to enlarge)

From Fashion Friday on Funoldhag

Today finds Nan, wearing a summery white frock with three-quarter sleeves, a pretty satin sash, and lovely dark hat with a light band, posing with her sister, Nelle, and a very pretty friend that I am unable to identify. Nelle, looking very sophisticated, is wearing a chic dress with a three tiered skirt, many buttons, and a dark belt. Her hat is beautiful and features a very large floppy brim and a pretty band. She looks to be carrying gloves. The pretty friend also is wearing a white frock that features a two tiered skirt and a lovely wide sash made of a printed fabric. She is hatless so we are able to see her cute hairdo. I always wonder where the girls were going in their lovely outfits. In front of the front porch at the Pearce home was a favorite place to take photos, and I appreciate those photos more all the time. Hope you enjoyed today's show.  (Posted earlier on Funoldhag - click to enlarge)

From FOH Fashion Friday

When I looked at this picture, I realized that this one was taken the same day in Glen Oak Park as a previous one I posted of my mom, Nan, and her friend in the plaid skirt in the conservatory admiring the flowers. In this picture, Nan has her hat on and it is such a pretty one. Joining them are Nelle, Nan's sister, who is seated on the bench on the right. She is also a very stylish woman with a confident air about her. Her outfit appears to be a suit and her hat is stunning, along with her light shoes. The fourth lady on the far left is unknown but is wearing a plain but pretty skirt and blouse. I hope they all had a lovely day in the park.

Standing in front of Ben Franklin Print Shop in Peoria is Nan and a friend both dressed in a timely fashion. It is hard to see the friend's outfit except it is obvious that she is wearing a lovely hat and is clad in a stylish manner. Nan's hat is very pretty and her fur stole is showing an appearance again worn over a plaid dress that is probably made of cotton fabric. Note her shorter skirt, high button shoes and her lovely purse that appears to be beaded with a metal chain. (Click to enlarge)

From Fashion Friday on Funoldhag

The lovely model for today is my Aunt Leah, Nan's sister, who must have been in her mid-teens when this photo was taken. Leah is looking cute and stylish in her high button shoes, dark stockings, possibly a pleated skirt and dark coat. Around her neck is a pretty scarf and she is wearing a wool cap with a cute pompon. I am sure she probably has some nice gloves or mittens but her hands are in her pocket since it is a cold day in Peoria, Illinois. I know exactly where this picture was taken - it is in the back yard of my grandparents' home and that is a very large old garage that is almost barnlike. Aunt Leah was very special to me - I loved being around her. She never married and lived with my grandparents all her life - there was just Grandma and Leah for quite a while. When I was a child, I used to love to stay at their house for a week or two in the summer and sometimes for a while during Christmas vacation. It was like a second home.   (Click to enlarge) 

From FOH Fashion Friday

Here again is one of the best dressed chicks in Peoria sometime around 1915-20. Mom seemed to just love posing in her pretty outfits. This one features such a lovely hat with a gorgeous feather and a chic fur stole. According to the times, she wore leather gloves and high button shoes and her suit was probably wool. How times have changed. Most people rarely dress up to such an extent - at least the ones that I know. I do like the casual approach better.  (Click to enlarge)

From Funoldhag's Fashion Friday

There are quite a few pictures of my mother in her younger years that just fascinate me. At one time, my grandparents, although not wealthy, led a very comfortable life and some of the old pictures reflect that. My grandfather worked for Thomas and Clark Cracker Company and was active in politics in Peoria. He was city treasurer when I was born despite having only an elementary school education. Mom and her sisters, especially Nelle, the older one, wore such pretty clothes for the time. The Pearces also had a cottage up the river in Rome, Illinois, a wide place in the road  where I grew up some years later.

 This picture, I am almost 100% sure, would have been taken at the conservatory in Glen Oak Park in Peoria. Nan and her friend (I think she was a girl Nan worked with at Powers Camera Shop) are admiring the lovely blooms. Nan is holding her hat which looks as if it were trimmed with a lovely flower and she is wearing a pretty summer dress with three-quarter sleeves trimmed with lace and a big sash. I would guess the dress is white and sash blue. Her friend has a lovely plaid skirt and white blouse and straw hat with a halo of flowers around the brim. This most likely was a lovely summer afternoon and the girls had been for a walk in the park.  (Click to enlarge)

Dan, Maggie and Friends on Western Trip in 1920

 Maggie Pearce and two friends in Portland, Oregon, many, many years ago.  Maggie as you may know from my earlier posts, are my grandparents on my mother's side. 

Here they are with the woman who, along with her husband, accompanied them on the trip out west from Peoria.  Again, I am amazed at the way they are so very dressed up for their traveling.  Maggie even had a fur stole and a lovely hat and Dan was in his suit, tie and a hat, also.  I imagine that might be their car they are standing by.

Here the are with the fellow that was with them on the trip and they are at Lake Louise, which I googled and it's in Canada.  What a long trip for the Pearces and their friends.  They are enjoying the snow here.

I am so glad they wrote on the front of their pictures!  Otherwise, I would not have a clue as to where they were or when.  Dan and his friend are wearing their topcoats  and Maggie is snuggled in her stole.   

Here is another picture that I have posted before that certainly was taken at the same time as the others in this post.  It fits so well I just have to repeat it - Snow flakes.  My grandfather is on a rock.  Click to enlarge

Aunt Leah and Bergner's in Peoria

My Aunt Leah worked for many years in the notions department of P. A. Bergners, a large department store in Peoria, Illinois. She was still working there when I graduated from high school and had a job with Galbraith & Baymiller, attornies, in Peoria. Every day I rode the White Star Bus for the 20 or so miles to Peoria. Once in a while, I would stay after work and go home with Leah for an overnight stay with her and my grandmother. Aunt Leah was special.
In the picture above, Leah, is second from the right. She is with a group of women that also worked for Bergner's - two of them I can remember. They are having lunch in the tearoom which was not far from the notion counter.

At an auction west of Chillicothe in the mid 80's after we had returned to Illinois, I bought a big box of sewing related items. In the box was this receipt from a purchase made by the lady from Princeville at Bergner's. I have always wondered if my aunt had made the sale and if she had written the receipt. It could have been her, but I will never know.

This is Berner's in the middle 1930's. The side entrance to the store was down the hill at the left of the picture and you took the stairs to the main floor where the notion counter was right to your left as you entered.

Peoria had trollies - street cars - and here is one making a turn from Main to Adams St. In the later years, my grandparents didn't have a car and went everywhere on the street car. Leah used to say the streetcars were like bananas - they came in bunches. I vividly remember riding them. In this picture, the first tall building on the left is the Lehmann Building and that is where I worked for Galbraith & Baymiller.

Just a little Piece of the Past - so very long ago. (Click to enlarge)

Dan Pearce's Sisters

On the back of this photograph is written "May Waugh, Sallie & Lizzie, all sisters of Dads." Sallie looks delicate and rather frail while the other two women appear to be hardier. I can see that Lizzie looks a bit like my grandfather. All three have curly hair - wish I had inherited that gene! Their dresses are so similar with the mandarin collars and pins. I so wonder how they took care of their nice clothing. Was there dry cleaning back then? Everyday life certainly was more difficult to live then than it is now. Hope you enjoy this picture of my great aunts. (Click to enlarge)

Carney

Before my mom met my dad, she had a boy friend who she referred to as "Carney" which I am quite sure was his last name. I think the expression on her face in this picture is just priceless.

Carney pops up in the old pictures quite a few times. Here with someone else who must have been a guest at the Sionilli, the Pearces' summer cottage in Rome just north of Peoria along the Illinois river. I have done several posts on the family's times at their cottage.

Here are Nan and Carney standing near the cottage and you can get a glimpse of the sign across the roof that was the nametag of their place.

The young couple in a nifty old car. I don't know how long they went together or anything else about Carney, but it looks like they were a nice couple at least for a while. I will do a post one of these days on my first boyfriend. (Click to enlarge)

Happy Father's Day to the Dads

This is my father, Charlie, several years before I was born. With him is my cousin from California, Ken, who was visiting that summer. I actually cropped two people from this picture - my uncles Lambert and Harry - but I do think the picture is in a earlier post here so you could see them if you would wish. Dad is looking very sporty with his high top boots, fishing rod and and hat with the brim turned at a devilish angle. Ken's outfit is super cute, too, and his hat's adorable. Here's to all dads everywhere! How we love them. (Click to enlarge)

Another Birthday Girl

I think this is Liz Ann, the daughter of Betty, who was featured in a post a few days back. Betty is the sister of my aunt Del who was married to mom's brother, Harry "Ham". They took Betty in when Del and Betty's mother died. This picture was with the ones of the little girl in the long dress. Don't those cupcakes that are frosted all over look absolutely yummy? I swear they look good enough to eat!

From the Pearces' Pictures But Who Are They

I have used almost all of the photographs that I have of Dan and Maggie Pearce's family and there were many of them. There are still some that I don't know if I have posted or not, but this one I am sure has never been in either blog. However, I don't know who these smiling people are. The woman on the right could be Nelle, but I cannot be positive of that. The one that is interesting to me is the fellow on the right with the jacket over his shoulder. I am seeing a U on his shirt - however, I doubt whether folks wore shirts with words on them way back when. His hat is set at a jaunty angle, also. There they all are standing in a field of weeds. Some of the faces may have been in other photos - I think I will check back and see if any of these young folks appear in any of them. (Click to enlarge)

The Pearces in the News

My grandparents as I remember them from my childhood. This picture shows them holding a little fellow and they have written "Bud", but it looks much more like my cousin, Hap. Will have to ask my brother what he thinks. Following are some very old, very yellow old newspaper clippings of events in the lives of the Pearces. The first one is the announcement of Dan and Maggie's marriage.

Next, an account of a trip taken. That was a lot of miles to drive back in those days.

When my grandfather was on the Peoria City Council, this article was in the Peoria paper. At the time, he was Superintendent of the Garbage Department. Dan was very politically minded.

Here is his card when he ran for City Treasurer. I think he had a third grade education - my mother went to school through the 8th grade. Times were much different back then.

The next article announces the birth of my cousin in California, the first grandchild.

Finally, the wedding announcement of my Uncle Ed and Aunt Henrietta.

(Click to enlarge)

Party Time at the Pearces'

I kind of think this might have been a Halloween party judging from the outfits worn by most of the partygoers. The lady on the right in the front row - I am trying to decide what is going on there. Surely she has some stuffing in her blouse! And I think some sort of makeup on her face.
My mom is the girl far left in the middle row with kind of a silly expression on her face. The little gal just right of the pointed hat is hamming it up royally. Betcha they had a good time together at the party.

Written on a picture directly back of the photo above, is a list of the party girls. The two Monch girls would have been cousins of my mom and her sister, Nelle, who evidently took the photo. There are two Wiltz's and they would be related to the man my Aunt Nelle married. The names Roth and McGann are familiar to me, also, as I can remember hearing those names way, way back. And the girl called Katz has her name crop up in the pictures every so often. The list on the back also pinpoints the place the party was held - 319 Behrends Avenue, the Pearce home. Enjoy the goofy girls. (Click to enlarge)

Nelle, Del, Lam & Ham

and Trixie, Uncle Ham and Aunt Del's much loved dog. Brother and sister Nelle and Ham are on each end and their spouses are in the center. Don't know the fellow shielding his eyes to check everything out nor who belongs to the three shadows in the foreground. One, of course, is the photographer. By the time this was taken, both couples were living in California. As always, Aunt Nelle had documented the folks in the photo on the front of it. Wish more people would identify the subjects of pictures - including yours truly! (Click to enlarge)

A Letter to Maggie

This was a letter I found in with some of the old pictures that belonged to the Pearce family. Maggie, my grandmother, had gone to California to be with Nelle, my aunt. I think she had had some surgery. The baby "Carroll" Dan was referring to was me - and the picture above is of the two of us, taken about the same time the letter was written. He spelled my name like my grandmother's maiden name. I was not the first grandchild, but I was the first one that lived in the area. The letter is a little hard to read, but if you want to click to enlarge it, I think you might be able to make it out. It was written when I was a year and one month old - a long, long time ago. A lovely little memento from the days long gone by. (Click to enlarge)