This page features sisters Pearl and Margaret Bevans. I wish there was a little bit more information about these photos! I wonder where the beautiful oil-paper umbrellas and dresses came from? It appears that both sisters tried on the light-colored dress. I wonder if it was their favorite of the two?
The first photo includes both sisters, Pearl on the left and Margaret on the right:
The second photo includes only Pearl:
One of the great privileges of caring for a family archive is the opportunity to scan and share photos. I love adding each photo to FamilySearch (and the other websites I choose to use for preservation) in the hope that descendants I don’t yet know will find the photos there and treasure them. ❤️
This post is part of a series sharing this wonderful old family photo album. You can learn more about the album here. A digital version of this photo album can be viewed on Flickr here.
I think having kimonos to use as robes was popular then, as were parasols. These photos were taken during WWI and on the day they were taken four women were having fun trading kimonos and posing for several photos they took of each other. The other two women were Allison Pearl Stewart Neel who was Captain Starbuck (“Cappie”) Neel’s first wife and she died of cancer in the 1930s. They had no children together. i’ve not yet identified the fourth woman, I am suspecting that if she was not just a friend of the group that perhaps she was one of Pearl Allison’s sisters. These photos were taken in front of Pearl Bevans Polley’s house in Turlock.
Thank you for the extra details, Suzanne!! ❤️
They look like they were dressing up at Japanese geisha girls—Halloween perhaps? Or am I seeing things….
Notice the leaves on the ground so it was fall. But did people dress up for Halloween back then?
While people actually did dress up for Halloween back then, this was not for Halloween I am fairly certain. My aunt, grandmother and their friends just liked to dress up and take photos of themselves for fun. I have other photos of them posing in men’s uniforms during WWI, for example.
They definitely look like they are having fun! ❤️
Thanks, Suzanne! They look like they knew how to have fun.
I don’t know! But they definitely look like they were having fun together. My cousin Suzanne commented with more details. She is the granddaughter of Margaret Bevans. She said this:
“I think having kimonos to use as robes was popular then, as were parasols. These photos were taken during WWI and on the day they were taken four women were having fun trading kimonos and posing for several photos they took of each other. The other two women were Allison Pearl Stewart Neel who was Captain Starbuck (“Cappie”) Neel’s first wife and she died of cancer in the 1930s. They had no children together. i’ve not yet identified the fourth woman, I am suspecting that if she was not just a friend of the group that perhaps she was one of Pearl Allison’s sisters. These photos were taken in front of Pearl Bevans Polley’s house in Turlock.”
Wonderful that you were able to get this additional information!
Yes!!
It looks to me like they were copying the fashion of the famous Gilbert and Sullivan show the Mikado. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mikado
Maybe so! ❤️