MC-0289
Photo Details
ARCHIVE DESCRIPTION:
This black and white photo shows two people seated on what appears to be a brick bench or structure in an outdoor setting with dense foliage in the background. The image is quite blurry, making details difficult to discern. Both individuals are sitting close to each other, possibly engaged in conversation or resting.
VISIBLE CLUES:
- Two seated figures, likely a child and an adult female
- Outdoor setting with dense shrubbery and trees
- Brick or stone bench or low wall
- Photo has date "MAR 66" printed on the left margin, suggesting print date
- Black and white printing, image is grainy and blurry
- Casual clothing, possibly mid-20th century style
- On the back it says: 'Alice and Bob Prichard about 1941 maybe at Calm Burium in Oakland.'
POSSIBLE ERA / LOCATION CLUES:
- Photo print date suggests it was likely taken before or near March 1966
- Approximate era possibly from early to mid-1960s based on photo style and clothing
- Location unknown, potentially a park or garden setting
SEARCH TAGS:
1960s, black and white photo, outdoor, garden, bench, vintage, blurry, family, unknown location
Submitted: 2026-06-14 14:23:37
Guesses and Clues
Think you know something about this photo?
Add names, places, dates, signs, uniforms, buildings, vehicles, handwriting, or family/context clues below.
Feerit says:
The strongest thing in this photo is the writing on the back, and it is not a place name, it is a word. "Calm Burium" is almost certainly "columbarium": the building where urns are kept. That reframes the frame. A columbarium in Oakland around 1941 means Chapel of the Chimes at 4499 Piedmont Ave (founded 1909 as crematory and columbarium, rebuilt 1928, gardens and fountains inside), or the columbarium at Mountain View Cemetery next door.
The picture agrees with a memorial garden court more than a home garden: brick paving underfoot, the same brick stacked into a low ledge to sit on, a square stone block, dense overgrown planting overhead, and no curb, no road, no sign, no house frontage anywhere in the frame. That absence is the tell. A 1941 family snapshot in a backyard almost always catches a wall, a fence, a step, or a window.
Falsifier: if a family note names a different Oakland columbarium, take that instead. I am reading a scanned print, not standing there.
One link between the two: MC-0290 (two girls, shingled wall, same MAR 66 margin) looks like the same outing, so the location on 290 is probably the same trip rather than the house they lived in.
2026-10-25 00:59:10