This little print (roughly 2” x 2¾”) looks like my Great Aunt Wanda Kownacki. All I know about her is that she was my Grandpa Pete’s sister, and that she was a nurse. I don’t believe I ever met her. I don’t even know when she died. I have a birth year of 1914 for her, which means this was most likely in the early 1930s. As for this photo I’m going to guess it was taken in Detroit while she was attending nursing school. It just has that feel to it.
When I pulled this picture out to scan it I realized that I had recently posted another shot taken the same day. That one left a bunch of unanswered questions, and this one really doesn’t help matters. All I know for sure is that my Great Grandfather is on the left, and my Great Grandmother is on the far right. I’m still thinking this was taken on the day of a funeral, which would explain all of the dark dresses. I also had questions (in the other post) about the design of the house. Looking at the surroundings it very well could be a farm house. Wherever it was it had some outstanding leaded glass in that front window.
Two shots of my Grandma circa 1929. That would be a guess gauging from her age and the fashion of her dress. While I don’t have any notes to go from on these two photos they do offer some nice glimpses into Detroit from oh so long ago. The one image shows an Orthodox church (that I can’t identify so let me know if you can) and the other shows was a typical street looked like. As for the baby… Well I’m guessing here but I think that this kid is the same as in the previous post, which may very well be Richard Borowski. This was the boy holding the rings at the wedding two posts back.
I don’t know who any of these folks were, but I can tell you that one lady with the fur was hitting high fashion for the 1920s. I really like photos that show a glimpse into what the world looked like beyond the posed subjects. In this case you can see some men walking in the background of one shot, along with other details on the homes and the cars. (For example: That little light next to the windshield on the car the baby is sitting on.) I don’t know what street this was but being it was Detroit there is a good chance that many of those residences are long gone.
The other interesting thought is that this was just six months away from The Great Depression. These folks had no clue as to the hard times that were headed their way.
NOTE: After showing my Aunt these photos over our Christmas visit she believes that the lady in the fur was my Grandmother (her mother). While her face is mostly obscured in these shots you can see her eyes and nose clearly. On second look that does look like it could be her. Also, that looks like her hair style under that hat.
As for the other lady and the baby, my Aunt believes this was Stella Borowski, who can be seen in many of my Grandma’s photos. Now my Aunt can’t remember which of her children came first but she thinks this might be Richard Borowski. (The same boy in the previous post.)
Now the remaining question is where did she get that big fur?
I recently posted a photo of my Grand Aunt Rita Ann’s wedding to Al only to discover a week later that I had a few more shots from their wedding day back in 1940. These pictures were shot in front of my Great Grandparent’s home. Speaking of which, that is them in the last shot, which is in rough shape because it appears to have been taped down at some point. Besides be a bit beat up the one bonus is that it was actually labeled.
Another kid shot. I can’t tell for sure if the older kid is my Uncle Bob, but I am going to guess yes, which would make the baby my Dad. The look of the one car that I can make out would be right for this to be 1942, so I’m going to go with that guess. As for a location, well most likely it was one of Chicago’s many parks. And while I don’t recognize the man at the picnic table it’s nice that he dressed down for the day by not wearing his suit coat.
This is Boniface (Ben) Zabowski and unlike most of the photos this one is dated, June 12, 1927. That so happens to have been my Grandma’s 21st birthday. Ben was two years older, and while I can’t say for certain that he was dressed up for my Grandma’s birthday, I can tell you that the photo was taken in Detroit on Mitchell Street in front of the family home. The lady in the photo was his girlfriend Mary Siedl (Cousin Irene somehow managed to identify her).
When I think back to when I was 23 I’m not even sure I owned a sport coat, nonetheless a 3 piece suit. Oh how the times have changed.
These summer vacation shots appear to be taken at the same place as the previous posting. I had no idea where it was shot, that is until I stumbled upon a later photo that has those cottages in it as well. On the back it’s marked Stony Point, Michigan, which is just south of Detroit on the shores of Lake Erie.
Also, these photos are another fine example of why I love summer. This just looks like a grand time out.
I’ve been sending these around to the family in an attempt to figure out who the gent was in these photos, but alas no luck. The back of one mentions a “long letter” that they were sent with, but of course that letter is long gone. The only other possible clue is the fact that this guy appears to know how to develop and print his own shots since they were “not very dry” when he sent them out. That makes these even more interesting. Sadly, this photographer’s name is most likely lost to the ages.
Most families have that one spot where they like to take the holiday photos or pictures from other special events. For the Zabowski household that spot was usually in the front of the Maxwell Street home. Just take a glance at this site’s archives and you’ll easily see plenty of images of those front steps, a number of which have someone sitting up on that plinth. Now I’m sure there are plenty of psychological reasons academics (like myself) have developed over the years as to why we flock back to that same familiar spot. Overall though, I think it comes down to being a very photogenic location.
And in this offering we have my Aunty Jo (Gable), my Grandma’s friend Stella Borowski, and my Grandma Gen on the end. While there isn’t a date written on back I can guess that this was taken around the end of WWII or maybe a bit later. Comparing it to this other photo you can see that Jo & my Grandma are wearing the same outfits. So most likely these were shot at the same time. One thing that is missing is the men, so maybe they were still occupied with The War. Also, Stella lived in Buffalo by then and my Grandma was in Chicago. So they all worked it out to visit at the same time. As to why they were all in Detroit at the same time, well those little details are most likely lost to the ages.
A shot of my Great Aunt Wanda Kownacki, which made her my Grandma’s sister in-law. Unfortunately, I never met her, or if I did I was way too young to remember. All I know for sure about her is that she was a nurse in Detroit. So at least with that little bit of info I can tell this is her. I’m going to guess that this was a school or hospital that she worked or studied in.
This picture was also on the same roll as the previous photographs that I posted, and fortunately my Grandma jotted down the information for this one as well. Once again we have Melva on the left along with her other best friend Sophie, and it was taken “Winter 1924.” Unfortunately, the exposure isn’t that great on these early photos, but as I’ve mentioned, she wasn’t using the most accurate of cameras. The shutter exposure was however long you held the release for, and the focus, well there wasn’t one. So these early snap shots have an obvious learning curve to climb. Besides that though there is enough detail to make the image worth keeping. The cool topcoat on Sophie alone make this a keeper.
One interesting detail is the paper that was used. It is not a thick sheet which makes sense since these were probably about the cheapest prints one could get. But, I really like the texture of this old paper. It’s hard to explain, but it just has this very rough feel about it that really does make it feel even older than it is. Then again, this picture is 88 years old, which really is getting up there. Anyway, the paper just has this very satisfying feeling in your hand. I wish I could make all of the pictures I print today have this wonderful feeling to them.
The previous shot of my Grandma mentioned her home at 7428 St. Aubin in Detroit. Well, here it is, or was as the case me be. The address puts it right on the edge of the monster Dodge Main / Poletown Plant. This is probably why she kept this postcard of the plant. Anyway, I’m going to assume that when the factory was expanded in the early 1980s the house was knocked down, that is if it hadn’t been raised already. (If you go to the link of the postcard there is a bit about the history of the plant, the controversial expansion that leveled entire blocks, and the old Jewish cemetery that is now trapped inside the plant’s grounds.) The area sure isn’t much of a neighborhood anymore.
I haven’t really researched how long the Zabowskis lived in this house, but I can tell you that by the end of the 1920s they had already moved to Mitchell Street. I also know that they spent most the of the teens in Pittsburgh, so I doubt they lived here that long.
One thing I just noticed is the person on the upper left porch. Now that I’ve seen them up there my eye keeps looking over that way.
This was Kenneth & Bernice Buzza, or simply, Uncle Ken & Auntie Bea. Unlike many of the people in this collection of photographs I actually knew them quite well as a kid. Though one thing I didn’t know was that Uncle Ken served in the Army during WWII. Sometime I will have to see what I can find out about his years during The War.
Here is another WWII era photograph, and like the last one, it too has a sister shot. This one is of Al Nadolski, and it would be a safe bet to say that he served in the Navy during the war. This photo was taken on the side porch of the family home on Maxwell Street in Detroit, and was shot sometime during The War. Al married my Grandma’s sister Rita Ann, who was the youngest of the Zabowski children. Unfortunately I don’t know anything about Al’s service record.
My Grandma Gen Kownacki, nee Zabowski, died in 2002. Shortly after her death I helped my father clean out her house and I came across hundreds of old photographs. Along with the photos there were plenty of negatives (sadly, I haven't had the chance to scan them). I never knew that she loved photography so much in her youth, though it does help explain why she supported my own interest. This collection of photos starts in the 1920s in Detroit and ends after WWII with her living in Chicago. Some of the images are simply snap shots of friends and relatives. Then there are some that are a little bit more. I hope you enjoy this peak into the past. Frank Kownacki (FPKownacki@aol.com)
