Photo behind the photo [again]

Today we attended a surprise 70th birthday party for a longtime friend of ours. Earlier in the week, the friend's wife called me to say she had a pile of photos that she wanted to scan and use in a slide show to play on a laptop at the party. She had scanner issues, so I offered to scan the photos.

She brought the photos yesterday and the framed baby photo was one of them. I have a photo of my mom that is varnished or shellacked onto the wood frame and the front of this frame is in pretty bad shape, so I was hopeful I could remove the baby photo.

Fortunately, the back cover was held in place by pivoted tabs, so it was a simple matter to rotate the tabs and remove the back. I removed the back photo and — voilà! — a photo of the baby's dad in uniform!

I thought I posted this before, but I made a similar discovery with a photo of my dad. My brother & sister & I had long seen a photo of our dad in his U.S. Army uniform. When I brought home the photo after he passed away 4+ years ago, I think I wanted to put it in a different frame, so I removed the back and — voilà! — a rarely-if-ever seen high school graduation photo of our dad, https://365project.org/rhoing/365/2012-12-09

So check those old framed photos. Who knows what's behind that front photo!

I was curious about the shoulder patch in the soldier's photo, so I emailed my retired-Marine brother-in-law. His response: "That’s the patch of the 106th Infantry Division. The division was in existence from 1943 until 1950. It was destroyed as a fighting force at St Vith in the opening days of the Battle of the Bulge (wrong place at the wrong time). … [T]he division was never reformed and was quietly dropped from the rolls in 1950." It seems a lot has been written about the 106th!
More:
» http://106thinfantry.webs.com/
» http://www.history.army.mil/documents/ETO-OB/106ID-ETO.htm
» http://106thinfantry.webs.com/historyofthe106th.htm
» http://usdefensewatch.com/2015/11/the-desperate-hours-the-demise-of-the-106th-infantry-division-during-the-opening-desperate-hours-of-the-battle-of-the-bulge/

1 year ago (“If you’re going to *post* in B&W…”): http://365project.org/rhoing/365/2016-02-24
2 years ago (“The power of the tripod!”): http://365project.org/rhoing/365/2015-02-24
3 years ago (“Coontie”): http://365project.org/rhoing/365/2014-02-24
4 years ago (“Sure, shoot us in B&W…”): http://365project.org/rhoing/365/2013-02-24
5 years ago (“Low-back rocker: ‘John D. Raab Chair Co.’”): http://365project.org/rhoing/365/2012-02-24
6 years ago (“Fenton Art Glass”): http://365project.org/rhoing/365/2011-02-24

[ IMG_4563S9x12B20C15tm :: f/5 (–0.7) :: 1/60" :: ISO-800 :: 52mm :: bounced flash ]

[Danette Thompson]

Great find for your friend.

[Tami Skipper]

Great find! My dad gave me a bunch of framed photos from my grandmother's house. I, too, found photos behind frames. I actually looked in the frames on purpose for that very reason. I am also the family historian. :)

[Thom Mitchell]

@tskipper Hmm. My brother's the genealogist, but my wife & I are the ones who [generally] take the old furniture:

http://365project.org/rhoing/365/2012-01-06
http://365project.org/rhoing/365/2012-01-21
http://365project.org/rhoing/365/2012-01-20
etc.!

[Tami Skipper]

Thanks for sharing your heirlooms. I have a few old pieces of furniture. I bought an old chest with a row of drawers on one side, a small mirrored storage area, and then a mirrored storage on the right side. It looked just like the one my grandmother had in her house when I was a kid.😊