The Iola and Baby at the Beach

So many of the pictures are not annotated and there are very few clues about who, where, when they were taken.  That's the case in this instance.  The pictures were together which may or may not mean anything but it's all I have.  Both pictures look like they date from the 1920's or 30's.

The first picture is of three unknown men and if you look closely there is someone sitting inside. The boat is named "IOLA" and registered in New Orleans.

The next picture is stamped on the back "Made by Purple Pigeon Studio P.O. Box 2 Gulfport, Miss." The baby is wearing a long dress with a long coat.  The appears to be covered with lace and had rosettes on each side of the face.  The hands appear to be covered but in what I can't tell!  Doesn't look like gloves or mittens.

The Brook Hill Dog by Alexander Pope II

Because we love animals so much, particularly dogs, one of our most treasured pieces from Moran Place is a lithograph on tin of a dog from 1911. The artist is Alexander Pope II.  

The lithographs were given to bars in pre-prohibition days to promote a line of Whiskey. The picture is quite large.  The tin itself measures 39 1/2 by 29 1/2 inches and is rather large.  

The picture to the left is when we first unwrapped a few years ago.  

Since that time we have given it a place of honor on our mantel next to Kent's deer head trophy.

Here is a closeup of the name of the artwork:

And here is the artist's signature.

The Moran's actually had two copies of this treasure.  One of them which was in very poor condition hung in the workshop behind the house, unframed, nailed to the wall.  At some point the eyes had been shot out!

The one we have had been stored in Uncle Brud's room and was still in the Mayflower packing box.   It was one of many items that came back when Nathan H. Moran and his family returned to Dresden to take up residence at Moran Place after the death of his parents, James H. and Virginia Moran.  So many of the items the family brought back were never removed from the packing boxes. 

Louise Moran Fashions, ca 1930

This beautiful matching hat & coat is made of velvet and is edged with fur.  It belonged to the very fashionable Louise Moran, youngest child and only daughter of James and Virginia Moran.  It was packed away in a cedar chest with other pieces of Moran clothing including some Trousseau pieces that belonged to Virginia Moran and a baseball uniform belonging to Louise's brother, Nathan "Bub" Moran.  Although Moran Place was packed to the gills with "treasures" I believe the items in that chest may have been some of the most treasured items of all.

Here is Louise at the fair wearing another lovely hat.