My last post shared photographs of Helen Goldsmith as a child and as a young woman. In this post I will share photos of Helen and her family from the time of Helen’s marriage to Edwin Meyer in 1914 through her adulthood. Once again, I am grateful to my cousin Marilyn, Helen’s granddaughter, for sharing these wonderful photographs with me. Most of the identifications of the people in these photograph came from Marilyn based on information she had.
To start, here is a photograph of the place cards that were used at Helen and Edwin’s wedding:
As Helen noted, the wedding was on January 18, 1914 (the date is cut off on the photograph so it may look like it says 1912 or 1917, but it was definitely 1914). Helen was 24, and Edwin was 23. I wrote about Edwin and his background here.
A little over a year later, Helen gave birth to Edgar on February 27, 1915;1 a second son Malcolm was born three years later on January 17, 1918.2 This photograph of the two little boys must have been taken some time in 1918 as Malcolm looks about six to nine months old:“Uncle Art,” to whom this photo must have been sent, was Edwin Meyer’s younger brother.
UPDATE: Peter Klopp kindly edited this photo to fix poor Edgar’s face:
Here is Edwin Meyer with his two young sons about a year later, I’d guess.
This one skips ahead to about 1923; Edgar looks about eight, Malcolm five.
In the next one Malcolm is a teenager so taken perhaps around 1935. This was a family golf outing, but not all the people in the photograph could be identified by Marilyn. Standing in the back from left to right are Helen Goldsmith Meyer, then two unidentified people, then Helen’s brother Walter Goldsmith, Edwin Meyer, and an unknown man on the far right. Kneeling in front are Edison Goldsmith (Walter’s son) and Malcolm Meyer.
I don’t know when this next photograph was taken, but I’d guess it was taken around the same time as the golf photograph based on a comparison of Helen’s face in the two photographs. This is a photograph of Helen (right) with her sister Florence. I love Helen’s comment: “Just sisterly affection brought out in the sunshine.”
We skip ahead now to the 1940s and this sweet photograph of Helen hugging her son Malcolm, who was in uniform. Malcolm served in the US Army from May 4, 1942 until March 2, 1946, including serving overseas from August 20, 1943 until January 24, 1946.3
In 1948, Helen and Edwin became grandparents when both of their sons had daughters. Here is a picture of the whole family showing off the two granddaughters. From left to right, standing: Esther Orringer Meyer (Edgar’s wife), Helen Goldsmith Meyer, Carolyn Schnurer Meyer (Malcolm’s wife). Front, Edgar Meyer holding his daughter, Edwin Meyer, and Malcolm Meyer holding his daughter.
Finally, Marilyn shared these three photographs from the 1950s. In the first, we once again see the family playing golf. Dated October 19, 1952, from left to right are Milton Goldsmith, Helen Goldsmith’s brother, about whom I wrote here, here, and here; Milton’s second wife and cousin Fanny Goldsmith Goldsmith, about whom I wrote here; Helen Goldsmith Meyer; and Edwin Meyer’s sister Leah:
I was excited to see a photograph of Milton and Fanny. And here is another one, taken in June 1958:
And finally, this is a photograph of Florence and Oliver, the same two siblings depicted on either side of Helen in the earliest photograph I have of her, so I am posting them together. Despite the changes that aging carved in their faces, you can still see the same expressions sixty plus years later:
Thank you again to my cousin Marilyn for sharing this wonderful collection of photographs.
To all who celebrate, I wish you an easy and meaningful fast. May you be sealed in the Book of Life for another year. G’mar tov!
- Edgar Meyer, World War II draft registration, The National Archives in St. Louis, Missouri; St. Louis, Missouri; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147; Box: 1695, Ancestry.com. U.S. WWII Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947 ↩
- Malcolm Meyer, World War II draft registration, The National Archives in St. Louis, Missouri; St. Louis, Missouri; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147; Box: 1695, Ancestry.com. U.S. WWII Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947 ↩
- Malcolm Meyer, Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania, Veteran Compensation Application Files, WWII, 1950-1966 ↩
Great photos!
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Thanks!
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Edgar was the spitting image of his mother! Wonderful photos!
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Yes, those eyes!! Thank you. 🙂
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Oh the picture of Florence and Oliver is wonderful! Malcom reminds me a lot of Oliver (as a young boy) The photo’s themselves, are wonderful and really tell the story of their lives beautifully. 🙂
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Isn’t it amazing how the expressions on Florence and Oliver’s faces are so similar in the childhood photo and the older adult photo? Thanks, Sharon!
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It really is amazing and I loved seeing the photo 🙂
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I am so glad.
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Not only a great comment “Just sisterly affection brought out in the sunshine.” but she told you where they were standing. How cool is that?
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Very!!
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What a great idea to end the post with the side by side photos of the siblings sixty-plus years later!
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I just figured out how to do that!
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In a photo editing program or on WordPress editor?
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I used the Media Gallery option on WordPress.
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Amy, you have been very fortunate in receiving so many photos of the Helen Goldsmith/Meyer family. They make your ancestors come alive.
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I agree! Thank you, Peter.
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What a great group of photographs, a real family treasure. They are made even better by all the known family stories about the people in them.
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Thanks, Charles. And you are so right!
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