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March 06, 2009 |
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Nameless
FOUND by Mice
in Melbourne, Australia
Found this in an old photo framed underneath the floor boards in my boyfriend's old house ... loved it then and still do. On the back is the stamp of the Army Barrack studio which it was taken; uniform suggests WWII era?
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The Motown Man May 20, 2007 |
Take Me To The River August 10, 2006 |
First Job July 21, 2005 |
I'm in Love with ... December 27, 2007 |
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We collect FOUND stuff: love letters, birthday cards, kids' homework,
to-do lists, ticket stubs, poetry on napkins, telephone bills, doodles -
anything that gives a glimpse into someone
else's life. Anything goes...
+ You did it! Congrats to our FOUND friends involved in the Best Picture of 2009, The Hurt Locker!
+ FOUND #7 coverboy Willis Earl Beal, now in t-shirt form!
Um. Darnit. Can't think of a single snarky thing to say.
i always thought those hat straps would be really uncomfortable...
It was the saddest day of his life. He had initially felt proud of joining the army; following in the footsteps of both his father and his grandfather. But when he got to the barracks to have his picture taken he was struggling to hold back the tears. "Why, oh why," he asked his commanding officer, "do I not get a hat-strap that's big enough for my face?"
The derisory look his Sergeant gave him was enough to shatter his previously unblemished faith in humanity. With glistening eyes and a lump in his throat the young private choked "I might as well just die then mightn't I, if I can't keep my hat on right!"
The Sergeant smiled to himself. The message was getting through. It was the happiest day of his life.
That chin strap is so irritating, it's like I can feel it on my own face. AAAHHHH!
i think it's a lower lip strap so soldiers in that era would be refrained from talking ...hehehe just kidding :D
hmmm... but it doesn't lessen how good he looked....somewhere in time...
Burt Lancaster-esque, no?
ecifically warned *not* to secure the straps on their helmets. He thought this made no sense, until the mortar shell exploded, the concussion ripped off hi
I've always wondered why they rolled the brim of the hat up on one side. Seems to me, if it rained, that side of the head would get a good drenching.
Anyway, I love this photo and wish I had it for my collection of very old photos of strangers. I don't know why I collect them, except that it seems sad they've been gone from this earth for so long that nobody remembers them.
That's also why I like to poke around in old cemeteries. People used to put the saying "Gone but not forgotten" on gravestones. But unless you're famous, nobody's going to actually remember you a hundred years from now.
This guy was out waltzing Matilda pretty late last night.
The photograqher made him push it back for the picture, hiking up the chin strap. Usually, Ralph wears his eyebrow restrainer properly.
Those eyebrows could use some manscaping. But he's a hottie for sure.
I wonder if those chinstraps work to prevent talking. I wonder if they come in youth sizes...
@Mountain Girl: You should send some of your photos in to FOUND! You could be the next Robert Keim!
That chin strap was part of the army's policy of "Don't ask, can't tell."
http://tinyurl.com/cbcuwy
Could be circa WW1.
Would be interesting to know the age of the old boyfriends house.
Kind of hard to tell much more than that since there are no other insignia's - which makes me think he was just getting started in the military -
I love this photo. This old soldier (he must be pretty old by now, assuming optimistically that he's still alive) could be 19 or he could be 30 in the photo. I little photoshop wrinkling and he could be 50.
Sweet! A muzzle.
Sad eyes and expressive eyebrows.. another one for my Adopeted Ancestors Album.
I always wonder why people put photos in walls, in floorboards, etc. Are they hiding something? Was it considered good luck? Is it some sort of blessing upon a new abode? Is it a memorial of sorts?
HPD, without looking anything up, I instantly thought "WW1 era," too. Not sure why.
I was guessing WWI as well. It looks very much like the uniforms in the film "Gallipoli".
The style of photography looks older than WWII. It's got soft lighting, from the high right. I'm guessing a frosted northlight window. Flashes back then created harsher shadows.
Great find!
haaaaaaandsome!
This young man may have been shipped off to fight in the Great War (WW1) and never returned. Aussie's had horrendous casualties in that war, their own and British officers using them up like so much cannon fodder, charging them against massed German machine guns.
His body was never returned and the family left the farmed picture there as a memorial, a 'grave' that they could visit easily.
The side of the hat up is because he was a rifleman and it kept it out of his way when he took aim. The chin strap was only worn this way for parades or formal occasions, under the chin when in combat.
I would have left the picture in place, perhaps adding a note for some future discoverer.
'framed' not 'farmed.'
Stan, you're awesome. Thanks for your info. If the Finder sent in a scan rather than the actual pic, they could still put in their own photo and or a note for the little "time capsule." Good idea. (and I thought your little "farmed" slip was an homage to our very own Farmer..)
OMG! That is my Grandfather!
His name was Soren Mylip.
I wish I could better see the insignia on his lapels. I'm happiest imagining he was a member of Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders. Tough, but fair.
Really? That's pretty cool to see an old picture of a relative on here :o
And ya, chin strap, not-so-good looking <.<
@ Stan ... that was my thought when I read Tim in Tennessee's reference to Gallipoli. What a piece of stupidity that action was.
@ Stan: A rifleman, you say. That makes sense.
Anyway, I had to go get my rifle & my boonie hat and experiment, just to see for myself. I could shoot just fine without the brim rolled up. But then again, the boonie has a narrower brim. A good idea to keep brims down in the rainy jungles of SE Asia. Different war, different environment, different style, I guess.
Now as for that chin strap. If I was the photographer, I'd tell those soldiers to tuck those straps up inside their hats to hide them while they're having their pictures taken. I think they look ridiculous like that. I only use mine on windy days.
@ Steven Mylip: Mylip, my ass! Good one, mate.
His nose is beautiful.
@ Another Collector: I have always wondered about secret stashes of photographs, memorabilia, drugs, etc. under floor boards as well. I've never lived in a house old enough to have that kind of history- or removable floor boards for that matter.
Looks like Bing Crosby in a wideawake hat. Wonder if he wore "laughin' sided" (elastic sided) boots as well?
Only missing a few corks on that hat brim and he's ready to ride.
I'm going to carry this and tell people its my boyfriend. Yeah, he's currently deployed.
George Clooney, getting ready for his latest role.
Clark missed his family terribly. He had a little boy, Kenny, and a loving wife, Sarah, and when he went off to fight in the war, they both cried. They wrote all the time and sent him care packages. One day he got a package in the mail, and when he opened it, it was little Kenny's very favorite cowboy hat. Clark loved it so much, he didn't care who saw, he put it on and had his picture taken still wearing it. He didn't care he looked funny. In this picture the faraway look and slight smile are because he's thinking about Kenny and Sarah back home.
<3
This guy rivals Man on Bike for the title of Handsomest Dude From a Find.
http://foundmagazine.com/comments/2886
Never thought there'd be any competition for Man on Bike.
Timelessly hot.
Framed and found under the floorboards? One can only wonder how that came to be. Sad.
I agree w/ Upon a time...that is a very handsome man!
It's always weird when I look at pics like this and realize that so many of the grandparents and elderly that I know or see were probably pretty hot when they were young. Aussie soldier, you definitely were one fine looking man.
His eyes remind me of Jake Gyllenhaal's.
I really like this find, but I can't take him seriously with that chin-strap.
This Aussie has Caterpiller eyebrows...
Upon a Time. . . thanks for linking to the Man on Bike - yes he is also a hottie.
As to how this photo ended up beneath the floorboards, was it in a bedroom? I just imagine there being some young girl long ago who was in love with chin-strap man, but her father didn't approve. He sent her his picture and she lovingly framed it, hiding it under the floorboards in her bedroom so her father wouldn't know they were still corresponding. Alas, he was killed in the war, and though she never got over him, when she married another, she left his picture there, knowing she could pull it out occassionally to stare at his image when she visited her parents. Imagine her surprise when her parents sold their house and moved into a retirement community. She never had the chance to get the picture out and hide it (from her husband) somewhere else.
!
People didn't actually wear hats like that did they?
sara, im pretty sure soren mylip (sore on my lip?) was supposed to be a joke....and if his name was indeed soren mylip then he did a very good job at choosing his destiny.
Great photo, except for the strap. Pretty sure it's supposed to go in the back unless you really need it to stay put.
WWI Australian. Perhaps he got smoked at Gallipoli.
The chin strap was regulation like that for dress occasions, I am not sure why. The brim folded up was not to keep it out of the way for when you fired your rifle, but for carrying it, especially when the bayonet was attached. Thes photos always make me sad.
So handsome!
@ Frottage: what a sad thought
@ Lost in Oz: me too -- especially being abandoned like that.