Please Help To Settle An Argument
I bought this 1930s photobooth photo thinking it was of a very unusual looking man with an even more unusual fashion sense – a bohemian, arty type. No one to whom I have shown the photo agrees. The argument is that a man of that era wouldn’t have hair styled in that way nor wear a hat, shirt or velvet coat such as these. What do you think?
The photo came from Germany and has this information on the back. I’d say the signature was Ludwig something, definitely a male name, but it may not be a signature at all. I’m sure there will be more clues to the identity of the sitter if I could read more of the inscription.
Photobooth Journal 
Try to find out where the shirt is from, that could give you some clues. It seems to be quite distinctive. As for the hair, there were all kinds of styles in the early 1930s.
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Good idea about the shirt. The hair definitely looks like a man’s to me, even if not typical of the era. Thanks for visiting and for commenting!
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Looks like a guy to me. Nice to see you Kate.
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At last someone agrees with me! Or are you just sucking up to me as usual, Mr Fiveson? 😀 x Kate
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No, I agree with you completely and I am real particular about who I suck up to. You just happen to be one of them.
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Thanks Mike. I like being sucked up to!
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That name and writing may be Dutch. Good luck.
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It looks like a man to me too. I disagree about the hat and clothing. I can see an ‘arty bohemian’ being dressed like this, although I am no expert on 1930’s styles. Perhaps an actor or some type of performer.
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Glad you agree with me, Ted. It is defo a man. He seems to me to be channelling Oscar Wilde. X X
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Keen observation. Oscar had a similar flowing hairstyle at times… and wore many a velvet coat I’m sure. GP has a good suggestion… do you know any German speakers in Oz? Or maybe one of your readers does. I don’t, in spite of my surname, and am looking for someone to translate a poem, I think it is, a German prisoner of war wrote while ‘stationed’ at the prison camp my father ran in New Mexico during WWII.
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Ted and Kate, see if my German friend would be willing to translate for you. She lives in Germany but speaks great English. She is also a fervent animal rights person.
https://wolke205.wordpress.com/
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Thanks, Mike. I’ll look her up, appreciate the lead.
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That name and writing may be Dutch. Good luck.
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Wow, your dad ran a POW camp? that is one amazing family history you have, Ted!
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Hi Ted, just give me a link to that poem. I’ll be happy to translate it for you.
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I definitely say – a man. I don’t read German, but it appears to be signed – Ludwig!!
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Yes, GP. Definitely Ludwig. What a cool name!
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Guy that needs his hair re-shaped a bit… looks a bit like Christopher Reeves to me.
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Yes, I agree on both points. Thanks for commenting!
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As far as I could decipher it, the notice reads:
Meiner Logismutter
Möll(?) zum Andenken
an den fremden
Freiheitsbruder
Ludwig Rot…(?)
This translates as “To my lodging mother Möll as a memory of the strange (weird) brother of liberty Ludwig Rot…”
The places marked by (?) are not readable.
Hope that helps – at least it confirms your speculation about a boheminan of some sort.
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Thank you so much for that Wolff! Even if I could read German, I doubt I could have done so well.
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Looks like a man to me. I wonder if this could be associated with the revival of folk dress, folk tales and all that (Aryan) kind of thing going on then. Not that I know anything about it.
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Yes, that is a very interesting observation, Mr E. If that is so, it would be interesting to know his political leanings.
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I don’t think he was crossdressing, but he definitely was the artsy type. He reminds me of those paintings of painters from the Renaissance. I think he was going for the look. Hipster…lol
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I have since found out that it what he is wearing is the formal dress of a German guild of masons.
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