Zoe’s German Half-Sister
The Housewife’s Journal – Novelty Framing
I find this dour faced lady fascinating in her determination to keep the same unsmiling expression in her three excursions to a photobooth. I wonder if she kept up this photographic po-face for her entire life?
Despite this lack of humour I do like her face. She reminds me of a favourite English actor, Zoe Wannamker. I struggled to find photos of an unsmiling Zoe. She seems to have a naturally sunny disposition. She is beaming happily in most of the Google images I could find but you may be able to see the resemblance in the two pictures below.
I tried to decipher the wording from the bottom of the novelty photo and use a translator to work out what this says. I am not familiar enough with the German language to make good guesses where the text is unclear, so was unsuccessful. Can anyone out there help me?
Photobooth Journal 
That sure does look like an intentional, faux scowl. ggrrr
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Yes, she is very posed and determined to growl. Maybe she thought that was her best look?
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Katherine, what is your best guess as to the year these were taken? I just wonder about that VERY pained expression and what kind of misery she may have lived through if this was a WW ll era photo. German citizens paid a terrific cost for Hitler’s lunacy.
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I’d say early 30s, so I guess that is about the time Hitler was chancellor? Could have been late 1920s at a pinch.
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Yeah, it probably predates the war. But she sure looks miserable, that one.
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she is positively beaming in photo 3. i think during that era people didn’t smile so much. i see photos of my grandparents and they strike a similar pose.
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Tee hee. I guess she is by comparison, Martin!! Re not smiling so much in photos, from what I have seen there is so much variety in people’s expressions in that era, I wouldn’t say it was the norm. Maybe the top two were for more formal purposes, if she’d taken them for identity cards?
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i meant photo 4, but you get my drift… i think she might have been a hipster…
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Yes, the one with the faux magazine cover. I knew you mean that one. Her lips are ever so slightly up-turned compared to the rest. She was indeed, exhuberantly happy in that one!!!! 🙂
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How funny, before I scrolled down, I thought she looked like Zoe Wannamaker, too!
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Hooray, Matt! I am impressed that you know her.
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I love vintage photos!! Such stories to them!!
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Thanks. So many stories and mysteries! Thanks for visiting. I need to spend more time at your fascinating blog!
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thanks for your follow and you are most welcome!!
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Wonderful – seems like there might be a bad smell nearby 🙂 I can . see the similarities with Zoe – one of my favourites. First saw her in Mother Courage with Judi Dench in 1984 – happy days. Thanks for the reminder and your always entertaining blog.
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I am guessing you mean on stage in the West End? Glad you like Zoe. She is wonderful! And thanks for the compliment about my blog. I like yours, too!
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Yes, the RSC production at the Barbican with Judi Dench as Mother Courage – a memorable night.
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mit unfallzer sicherung für sie und ihre familie sewie ….. fur … geghatten gemassden bedingungen – – – with accidental protection for you and your family as well ….. for … have been made according to the conditions.
Best I could do. Two word were illegible. This is a literal translation, it looks like an insurance policy, but given the times in Germany I wonder whether it might have been connected with Jewish immigration.
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You speak German Tony? Fabulous! Given that this is a novelty photo made up to look like a magazine article I doubt there is anything serious in the wording, well I hope not! Having said that they have chosen an unusual subject matter. . .
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PS Thanks for dipping back into the archive. It is fun to revisit older posts. I adore these photos!
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Das blatt der hausfrau – – the housewife’s sheet ( as in a sheet of paper)
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Newspaper perhaps?
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Perhaps a sales brochure?
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Maybe! 😄
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