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vom Saal family Photograph Albums
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Photos organized by Walter vom Saal Old velvet photo albums found at family home in Sharon Springs, NY Several years ago two beautiful old velvet photo albums were discovered at the vom Saal family home in Sharon Springs. One was a very large and heavy red velvet album with silver decoration, dated 1878, with an inscription on the front plate saying "To Mama from Charley." The second was a smaller blue velvet album. The albums contain many family photographs from the late 1800's and early 1900's. The red velvet album is approximately 15-1/2 inches x 18 inches x 3-1/2 inches. The blue velvet album is approximately 9 inches by 11-1/4 inches by 3 inches. I've photographed and scanned both albums. I also cataloged their contents, including information written on the backs of some photos and information on where some of them were printed (many were printed in Germany). This material is available in several web albums. All albums also include links to the original high-resolution versions of every image. Blue velvet album simple version. Blue velvet album index page with filenames and annotations. This index page can be used to find individual photos. Use the "FIND" command in your browser (usually available as an icon and also by pressing Crtl+F). For example, press Ctrl+F and type "FMvS" and also press Ctrl+F and type "Fred" to find all photos with either "FMvS" or "Fred" in either the filename of the photo or the notes on the photo. Red velvet album index page with filenames and annotations. This index page can be used to find individual photos. Use the "FIND" command in your browser (usually available as an icon and also by pressing Crtl+F). For example, press Ctrl+F and type "til" to find all photos that have "Tillie" or "Tilda" in either the filename of the photo or the notes on the photo. I made a chart of all photos in the blue velvet album and the red velvet album. This chart also may be used to find specific photos or information. More on the discovery of these albums. The albums were discovered at the family home in "The Park" at Sharon Springs, NY. They were located in what we called "the barn." This was a large old building located above the main house, at the top of the driveway, beside and at the same level as the tennis court. Perhaps it once was used as a barn, but when I knew it (from the 1950's until Sharon Springs was sold in 1987), one end of it was a two-car garage with a heavy rolling door that rolled around to the side of the garage. From inside the garage you could enter two or maybe three old unused horse stalls. To the right you could enter one bedroom of what was called the "tenant house" or the "caretaker's house." The tenant house also could be entered by going up a set of steps and into a main door that faced down the hill toward the main house. Inside the tenant house were the bedroom just described, a kitchen with a wood stove, and a second floor above the kitchen that could be used as a large bedroom. From the garage you also could go up a set of stairs with a trapdoor at the top, leading to a large attic. The velvet albums were found in the attic in 1987 while many members of the vom Saal family were gathered at the house to clean it out prior to its sale. They are currently held by Robert vom Saal, temporarily on loan to Walter vom Saal to be scanned and photographed. Other old photos I am slowly working my way through other albums as well. I posted a small starter album on March 15, 2009 that contains a few photos of family ancestors. There also are several shots of Sharon Springs, and after I get some more of them scanned I will also post an album of Sharon Springs photos.
Here are a few old photo albums that need to be updated:
Unless there is a notice to the contrary, all photos on this site are ©Walter vom Saal. They may be copied or printed for private use. Please respect the copyright, and, where appropriate, please attribute the source. |