Figure 1.--This looks to be a family on vacation. We thought they may be the children of H. E. Woolever. A reader tells us that Woolever was a photographer that took thousands of photographs at the beach. The photograph was taken as in Crystal Beach, Ontario, but we are not sure where the family lived.

This photo postcard looks to be a family on vacation. The postcard is undated, but we would guess that it was taken about 1920 meaning it could have been taen in the late 1910s or early 20s. We believe these are the children of H. E. Woolever. That could have been the name of a tourist photographer, but we think it is more likely the family name. The photograph was taken as in Crystal Beach, Ontario, but we are not sure where the family lived. The family was probably on vacation. This means they could have been American or Canadian. Curiously the boys wear long stockings and the girls ankle socks. I think it would have been more common for the children to wear similar hosiery. All the children wear sandals. Notice that the girls wear double strap sandals and the boys single strap sandals. I'm not sure about the colors. A reader writes, "I read on HBC Canandian closed-toe sandal page that sandals were not common in Canada because of the cold climate, bit here are four children all presumably Canadian that are wearing sandals." HBC has only limited information on Canada at this time. Of course we do not know for sure that the children here are Canadian. Our preliminary assessment is that sandals were more common in America than Canada, but we are open to any data readers can provide on this topic.

A HBC reader writes, "This is a useful image because it shows how above- the-knee knickers were fastened and, second, because the boy on the right seems to wearing what looks like a black tee-shirt. I wasn't aware that tee- shirts were invented this early. Also the color black seems to me unusual for a casual beach shirt. Perhaps it was chosen to match the black stockings, but black was such a usual color for boys' stockings that I'm not sure color coordination would have played any role." The tee-shirt is certainly a dark color, but I am not positive that it is black.

Another reader tells us, "Came across your site while doing a search. Thought I'd let you know that H.E. Woolever was indeed a local photographer. He took many, many thousands of photographs in and around Crystal Beach and Crystal Beach Amusement Park." [Wilson]

Sources

Wilson, Erin. Curator of Structural Heritage Fort Erie Museum Services, E-mail message, August 8, 2007.

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Created: 12:26 AM 10/30/2005
Last edited: 4:55 AM 8/9/2007