Several
years ago, while operating/setting up a what I will call a salvage,
surplus & thrift warehouse store, I & some of my
loyal volunteers cleared out a bunch of stuff from "Sooter
Studios" in Winnipeg. The company had basically gone broke, or
otherwise dissolved, and in a dramatic way.
Would have made for perfect Reality TV drama, for
certain, as it involved a dramatically changed, then nose diving & ultimately failing business
model, jilted spouse, flight overseas by the other spouse, legal
wrangling, etc, etc,etc.
Anyway, we got a ton of stuff. Some was good, some was
bad, and some just sweat inducing from hauling, loading, and carrying it
around.
However, seeing as my eye is always open for vintage items,
even in cases where most items were too modern to be considered "collectible" and the few "vintage" items being of negligible value, I still
managed to rescue a few items from the dumpsters, seeing as I am, was and still
am an antiques picker/dealer.
Fast forward to the present day. I was going through
stuff that I had saved; several things in a box, jumbled together, tossed there
for "later research", and lots of "I'll deal with that
later" sorts of items and I re-discovered a photograph. Well, actually, it is an old photograph and an modern enlargement of the photograph.
No surprise, being that the place did such work as part of its main income....prior to it being turned into a "dollar store" chain business model.
The photo shows a couple, and likely dates from the late teens into the early/mid 1920s; possibly late 1920s, judging
by the Art Deco influence of the design on the cardboard frame, as well as the couple's clothing. As for their
age, I am assuming they are in their 20s to early 30s, and that this was their wedding
photo.
Normally,
someone else's screw-up in a long gone business is not something I would seek to correct. It is
not my problem that the business messed up somebody's order for 100
widgets.
However, in this case, writing on the large envelope that
contained the contents shown indicates that this is some family's photo that
has been mislaid, waylaid, and was obviously just filed under one of the
categories of "Oh well" and "Stuff Happens" or "Meh."
No matter where or with whom the blame lays, I believe that
this photo does have a home somewhere out there. So, even though I have, in the
past,made attempts to locate the family/families of the individuals in the photo, and
that I do have the research skills and "way outside the box" thinking
to do so, this one just has too few clues to guide me.
The photo was taken in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. However,
being that "Sooter Photo Studios" accepted jobs from all over Canada; and likely the US as well, it could have been mailed from anywhere, by
anyone. The photo's frame seems to indicate it was taken by THAMS Studios of Saskatoon, assuming the photo is original to the frame.
Also, on the photo is information/writing that
indicates...
Literally minutes ago, as I was typing the the lines above, I
had a "DOH!"-head-slapping-sort-of-moment....
First, before I tell you why I had the "DOH"
moment, I should explain something.
I am enamoured with history, and I do find many details of
history exciting, despite the treatment the subject receives by all too many
school teachers, who manage to make the most exciting past events into the
driest and most boring lists of facts and figures you have ever come
across.
It is no wonder with each passing generation we loose
so much documentation of our past. We've been taught that history is boring and
all that matters in the future. SO much from learning from history.
Yes, I know, you can see a tangent coming here....well, I
will stop and leave that rant for another day, and get back on track.
Anyway, I have taken interest in "cold cases".
By that I mean unsolved old murder cases, and other unsolved
criminal-related mysteries.
It comes as part and parcel with my quest for knowledge, and
the truth behind the stories and fiction grown up around publicized cases, such
as that of "Albert Johnson", of "The Mad Trapper of Rat
River" fame, a riveting case that had people all over
Canada and the USA glued to their radios for days.
So, back to the photo and my DOH! moment.
When looking at this Bride, the one in the photograph, as I was typing above, I remembered that
case...and the police reconstruction and this gal's image seem (to me) to
have a striking resemblance....
It could be simply the style of the period hair,
and that is what has my eye seeing the entire face as similar, but who knows. I
will have to look at it closely some more later.
However, in thinking about some of my
other research on an entirely different case, and one far more
publicized, it got me wondering if this, the photo, the
"famous" case, and my research on that famous case may all have just
come together...a weird case of serendipity, of sorts.
Perhaps unknown forces have been directing me to put
the pieces together!
Seeing as research is based in facts, I won't go beyond that
little bit of philosophical, slash hippy-dippy-trippy line of thought.
So, the whole mystery about who "Albert Johnson"
really was (they felt "Albert Johnson" may well have been only an alias) was "recently"
covered in a documentary titled "The Hunt For The Mad Trapper" by Myth
Merchant Films.
Long story short, for those of you who are totally in the
dark or not quite up to date on the facts about "The Mad Trapper",
this is a highly condensed version of how it has gone:
For years there has been a growing list of individuals that have been
thought to have possibly been "The Mad Trapper", AKA Albert
Johnson.
Several books have been published by various
authors (most notably Dick North) and their theories on one or more of these "possible"
identities, the related research connecting the dots, and the general
mysterious, near-superhuman individual that was dubbed The Mad
Trapper of Rat River.
There are some candidates that seemed very feasible & solid
possibilities, while others were a little more "out there" in their
potential to be our mystery man.
However, every last "potential" identity that had
any credibility had been eliminated, via DNA testing done in conjunction with
the documentary I mentioned.
So, his identity remains even more of a mystery.
I like mysteries, and as a result, I became more intrigued
with the man I tend to refer to as "AJ."
However, I have been concentrating on a different line of thought,
trying to figure out where he came from, the path he travelled, and I have been thinking
that method may well lead me to his true identity.
Well, I have been doing lots of research, taking a
way-way-outside-the-box approach as I like (tend) to do.
As a result, I may have found a "trail" of
sorts...quite possibly "Albert's" trail.
With old and some previously unknown information I stumbled upon, I have been piecing together evidence to back a theory, essentially a map of movements & activities of "The Mad Trapper".
What theory?
Well, you will have to wait some time for that...or not. It all depends on what the future holds.
Anyway, before I get off on a long tangent, I will stop myself.
(You can thank me later!)
Now, back to the main subject of this post, the photo.
I'd like
to think that I can find the family to which this photo formerly belonged to.
So, if you can assist me to get further than I
already have, I'd appreciate it,
and would certainly give you public credit for your part in
possibly reuniting the photo with the family.
Now, I will only give you public credit if you require or desire public credit. Also, in the same vein, I can maintain your privacy as much as is realistically feasible.
You see, now that I am nearing the end of this post, my babbling in the
many lines above may link together, partially or entirely.
The historical info, interesting stories, and what, for some readers are 3
seemingly unrelated topics, bring to my mind two yet to be answered
questions.
Could this be "THE MAD TRAPPER'S" wedding photo??????
And is the pictured bride the
Jane Doe whose remains were accidentally
discovered at the bottom of a long abandoned well in Saskatoon in 2006?????
I gotta go, seeing as I have much more research to do...!
