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We need your help? |
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...Can
you identify these photos? |
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We often receive mystery photos or memorabilia relating to
Memphis and are asked if we can identify the photo or the
source. We need your help with this and have added this
page for our viewers
input.
If you have any information or any ideas about any photo or
memorabilia on this page, please contact
Gene Gill.
If you have any vintage photos taken in the Memphis area and
you need help in identifying the subject, send them to us and
we'll post them on this page. Please scan the photos as
large as possible, and include any known information about the
photo.
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Click on small photos to
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12. |
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July 7, 2018:
Anonymous
writes: "...Could
you post this image of an oil painting I own? I am trying to
discover the identity of the female sitter. I bought the painting at
the Cronk family estate sale in Memphis and have inquired many times through the estate
company, to no avail, as to who this lady may be. The reverse is
signed by J.W.B. Garrett and dated 1853. Mr. Garrett was a period
portrait artist during the 1850’s in Memphis.
Can anyone help identify the
woman in the portrait?"
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11. |
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photos for an enlargement
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December
3, 2014:
Penne
Wilson writes: "I found this photo that my mother had in the
attic. She might have purchased it in an antique shop at some
time. On the back of the frame it has Wheaton's Fine Art Store
on Monroe Ave, Memphis (Sticker).
Can you help identify the
woman?"
Additional Information: Penne's mother does not remember
purchasing this photo. Her house in DeSoto County,
Mississippi, where the photo was found in the attic, was built in
1978. We do know that Wheaton's Framers was a well-known
Memphis company dating from 1905 up to 1930. However they only
used the name "Wheaton's Fine Art Store" (the sticker on the back)
from 1925 to 1930. That determines when the framing of the
photo was done, but not the actual age of the photo.
The lady's style appears to be older than these dates. |
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10. |
MYSTERY SOLVED!
Thank you Phoebe. |
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Click on the
photos for an enlargement
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December
3, 2014:
Marije
Essink of the Netherlands writes: "I have been trying to find
more information about an event that took place in Memphis in the
Summer of 1977 - the band Dixie Dregs playing at The Ritz Theatre
and also doing an outdoor performance in the parking lot of Peaches
Records, probably on the same day. It is mentioned in an
article from Billboard Magazine. I am trying to find out the
actual date for these performances, so far without any luck. I
realize it's long ago, and is a stretch to find out, but I'm hoping
someone might be able to help me?
Maybe you
have an idea for further lines of research?"
Addition Information: Even though this photo is dated circa
1977, the Memphis Ritz Theatre closed in 1967 and became The Guild
(Circuit Playhouse). In the list of touring dates by the Dixie
Dregs, their only listed Memphis date is 1979. |
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October 1, 2020: Email from Phoebe Moore:
" ...Dixie
Dregs at the Ritz...September 1977. See Commercial
Appeal article below. |
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Based on the 1977 Commercial Appeal article, The Dixie
Dregs performed at the Ritz on Friday Sept 16 and
Saturday September 17. |
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9. |
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photos for an enlargement
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March 12,
2014:
This
"token" was purchased on Ebay. It's the size of a dime.
We think it could be a commemorative surveyor's marker? The
date is obviously important, as are the letters in the center.
We've gone through Equitable Building, Elks Building, Exchange
Building, and the closest we can come to anything happening on that
date is the opening of the Memphis Zoo.
Anybody
know what it is? Or Anybody have any ideas? |
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8. |
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Where is this building ?????
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February 8, 2014:
Steve
purchased this old photo at a Memphis estate sale. On the back
was a sticker that it had been framed by "Wheaton Fine Art Shop, 122
Monroe".
He has no other information other than thinking it was a Memphis
factory in the background. He's asked for our help in
identifying the location or in dating the photo.
From old
directories, we know that Wheaton's Framers were located at 122
Monroe as early as 1905 up to 1930, but their name was "Wheaton Fine
Art Shop" from only 1925 to 1930 - so that, and the autos in the
background help date the photo. Pictured is a group of men -
all of them from middle age to old age and they're all wearing
overcoats - so it's winter. There are no noticeable trees or
grass and the landscape is flat which tends to eliminate Memphis as
a location. The building is definitely not traditional
"Southern architecture". It also appears to be a converted
barn because there are "hay loft" openings on all levels. One
of our team members thinks it could be "...something like a Dairy or
Cattle Convention at one of the Fairgrounds early buildings".
Another thinks the landscape looks more like "...Kansas, than
Memphis".
What do you think? Can
you
identify the building, the location, or provide additional
information? |
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7. |
MYSTERY PARTIALLY SOLVED!
Thank you Joe. |
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February
19, 2013:
Memphian
Mary Mount Curry came across this photo in files of a deceased
relative. She hopes someone can identify the man and/or
provide information about the "Guest" 1931 license plate.
The man has a gun on his side.
Can anyone
identify or provide any
information? |
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Can you identify this man...circa 1931 ...????
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February
20, 2013: Email from Joe Sharp:
" Guest tags were for car owners who lived outside the city
limits and used the Memphis city streets infrequently or
often. The tag was to be mounted to the front license
plate. The cost was 25 cents. " . Another "revenue
generator" for Memphis". |
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6. |
MYSTERY SOLVED!
Thank you Phoebe. |
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This photo
of "Bryant's Place ...For Colored" has been in our files for a long
time. We've tried, without success to find the address of the
building and an approximate date.
Can anyone
identify this restaurant and the location, or provide additional
information? |
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Bryant's Place ????
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February
25, 2013: Email from Phoebe Moore:
" ...Photographer was Dorothea Lange ... taken in 1937.
According to the 1937 City Directory there was a
restaurant/lunch room owned by Thomas M. Bryant at 282 S.
3rd."
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January 6,
2013: Email from Jim Spake:
" ... Hunches ... sScreams
Beale St. to me… the address lines up… north side of the
street. |
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5. |
MYSTERY SOLVED!
Thank you Phoebe/ |
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This photo
was taken in 1907 of the Auditorium Rink (skating) at
1552 Madison.
Can anyone
provide any additional information about this skating
rink or photos? |
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Auditorium Rink - 1907
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October 1, 2020: Email from Phoebe Moore:
" ...Here's the 1907 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map page with
that location and a Commercial Appeal article about its
opening (below). It looks like it was disassembled in
1916 and the building parts were sold off. The building
is gone by the time of the 1927 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map. |
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4. |
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This photo
of a busy A & P Store has been one of our mystery photos for
sometime. We think it's in the Cooper Young area but need your
help.
Can anyone
identify this A & P Store, the location, approximate
year or provide additional
information? |
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A and
P Store ?????
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3. |
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This
postcard, identified as a "Memphis Tennessee Hotel" was mailed from
Memphis to Kalamazoo, Michigan in 1910. Based on the
Memphis Directories of this period, we have eliminated most of the
hotels listed. A "possible" contender is the ZANONE
WAYSIDE INN on Thomas and NW corner of Plum.
Can anyone
identify this hotel , the location, or provide additional
information? |
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Memphis Hotel - Circa 1910???
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2. |
MYSTERY is PROBABLY SOLVED!
Thank you Jim
King
(Below) |
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Can anyone
identify the person or the location? |
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Blowup of the person |
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October
15, 2012:
Diann
McBee of North Carolina
(formerly of Memphis)
found this photo in her Memphis Grandmother's possessions and is
intrigued by it. On the back a handwritten notation says "Tex
Hill". She has contacted Tex Hill, the actor-singing cowboy, and
he says it is not a picture of him. Diann's grandparents
were Fred and Lee (Minor) Burchette, and they lived mostly in the
Hollywood area - Doris Avenue (1937), Gaither Parkway (1938), Person
(1939), Bristol (1940). There is also a possibility that the
photo could have belonged to her aunt, Clyma Glenn Burchette or be
associated with DeSoto County's "Hernando's Hideaway".
Can anyone
identify the person or the location?
The
Goldcrest Beer sign appears to be especially chosen as a
background for the photo. It is newly painted by sign painter
Jim Scott, probably to announce the "new" Goldcrest 51".
Goldcrest Beer was brewed by Memphis' Tennessee Brewery and became
Goldcrest 51 in 1938 to honor 51 years in the business.
Based on the size of the bricks on the background building, the
person in the photo appears to be about 6' 3" tall.
October
17, 2012:
We have now eliminated another "Tex Hill" - the prominent flying
Ace of WWII. His daughter has confirmed that the
photo is not a picture of her father. |
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January
21,, 2014: Email from Jim King:
"...
It's been awhile, but I see nobody has solved the
mystery picture identity of the young man in front
of the Goldcrest 51 sign. I love a mystery and
little by little have chipped away at this one.
Still don't have a definitive answer, but take a
look at one of ... the old Tech High classmates
and tell me what you think. The fellow in question
is Lloyd Arnold McCullough. About the time the
mystery pix was taken, he was an aspiring local
musician, and the location of the sign on Poplar
Avenue is in the Tech High neighborhood. There is
a strong resemblance, yes???? Maybe this will
trigger some other people's memories which are
better than mine. He went on in the 50's to
establish a somewhat successful musical career as
Lloyd Arnold, moving from country into rockabilly
and rock and roll music venues". ...Died 1976. |
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http://www.rockabillyhall.com/LloydArnold.html |
Lloyd
Arnold McCullough |
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January
25,, 2013: Email from Jim King:
"... As I recall, the
Poplar Avenue location building originally was four
sections, one two story on the corner of High Street and
three sections extending east on Poplar Avenue. Two
additional sections were added later, but I'm not sure
when. If you look close at the building roof lines, you
can see that the two new east end sections are a little
bit higher than the old section. So the wall with Jim
Scott's "Goldcrest 51" sign may have been on a different
wall (see arrow indicating original east end of
building).... |
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"...Another bit of trivia about Mr. Scott - he had a wooden
leg. People would gather to watch him paint his signs both for
his artistry as well as his characteristic "high-wire
maneuvers" climbing up and down ladders and negotiating
scaffolding. It got a bit scary sometimes - he worked without
a net!" |
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January 6,
2013: Email from Jim Spake:
" ... Hunches... Sure looks like 356 Main Street to me.
I lived there in the early 80s, and it became "Jakes
Place" later. Again, just a hunch, but the windows
and the light look just like what's still there.
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356 N. Main |
356
N. Main |
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December
30, 2012: Email from Jim King:
"This
picture, I believe, is located in the 300-400 block of Poplar
Avenue. Jim Scott was a personal friend of my father and painted
many billboard type signs around Memphis during the 1940's and
1950's. I was a kid of about eight or nine-years-old then, but I
distinctly remember Jim painting this sign. He also painted signs
for my father's service station on the corner of Poplar and High
where Carroll Street intersects (only the foundation remains today).
This picture appears to be from about 1950 or 1951 and is located on
the side of what was then Curl's Cafe.
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The building still stands and
is today what we call a strip center located on the North side of
Poplar at High Street extending East on Popular . The strip at that
time included Moss Drug Store (now a bail's bond business), Sampietro's Grocery, Thompson's Barber Shop (before Babe and Mace
Thompson moved into a new building two lots farther East on Poplar),
and Curl's Cafe. Across the street on the Southwest corner of Poplar
Avenue and High Street today is the Memphis (Jimmy Stroud) Mission
(former location of my grandmother's home)." |
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"I
recognize the man in the picture, but unfortunately do not know his
name. I was too young to remember at the time, I guess. In the 40's
and 50's that neighborhood was quite lively, but most of the people
of that era have since passed on. " |
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1. |
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All we
know about this photo is that it was taken in 1900
by the famous Memphis photographer, Covert.
There have
been some "thoughts" that it could be University School or Messick
School?
Can anyone
identify the football team, the building, or any of the players?
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historic-memphis.com |
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