I have a large group of photographs that are "unknowns". I call them the "Hicks or Hunsucker Collection". Within that collection is a group of photographs all featuring this chair. The pictures all date from between 1920 - 1940. I know this because the back of the photographs look like this:
Many photo post cards have manufacturer marks to identify the paper the postcard was printed on. In this case, and in all the cases featuring the chair, the paper says "DEFENDER" with a diamond where the stamp would go. This manufacturer used this mark between 1920 and 1940. I took the liberty to mark "1920 -1940" on the back of all these photographs because as of right now, that is all I know about them.
The only book I have on fashion, stops around 1900. So, it will take a while to pinpoint the clothing styles of these children. I don't think that all the photographs were taken at the same time. Likely, this was just a favorite prop for this photographer.
I do have one clue though. This picture says "Myra Elizabeth Hunsucker" on the back. But, who is Myra? I haven't found her in my family tree. Robert Henry married Vesta Hunsucker, so Myra must be a niece of Vesta's or in some way related. Because this photograph is labeled, I can assume that all the models are Hunsuckers. As, families often lived in the same area, and frequented the same photographer. Too bad there is no photographer's mark. If there was, I could research the photographer's place of business and then figure out who was living in the area of the photographer around 1920 -1940.
This family photograph features the chair. The low waist and the length of skirt on the mother, looks like the 1920s to me. From a brief search on Google, it looks like the 1930's dresses had higher and tighter waists. I have an earlier picture that I believe features this same baby, but not the chair. The hat looks identical in both photos.
I have another clue to the chair portraits. It involves a picture of a little girl without the chair.
The back of this picture says "Dorothy Hunsucker".
I actually have several pictures of this girl. She has distinct facial characteristics and expression. But this is the only photograph that is labeled. I compared this picture to another chair picture.
It looks like this is Dorothy to me. Another brief Google search leads me to believe that this was in the 20's also because of the mom's hair. But, she is showing off a lot of leg in this picture. Was that appropriate?
I have another picture that I labeled "Probably Dorothy and sister".
And finally, I have an picture of an adult Dorothy, that is labeled.
Could this be the same girl? It is labeled Dorothy Hunsucker.
I have one other picture, not involving the chair. But I believe it was taken in the same studio as the chair, because the carpet is the same. It also has the DEFENDER manufacture mark on the back.
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My educated guess, is that all the subjects here are Hunsuckers. They must all be related to Vesta, or they may even be Vesta. Vesta Hunsucker was born in 1893. She would have been in her late 20's early 30's in this time frame. Vesta married Robert Henry Hicks on November 21 1909.
