Charles (Karl) Blieffert photograph album
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Date
Creator
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Abstract
The collection comprises one photograph album dating from circa 1900 to 1917 that includes 249 black and white photographs of young friends of Charles Blieffert in the Coney Island, Sheepshead Bay, and Brighton Beach neighborhoods of Brooklyn. The collection also includes four tintypes of Charles with his family at various locations in the Coney Island neighborhood of Brooklyn.
Biographical note
Charles (Karl) Blieffert was born on May 10, 1891 in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn. His mother and father immigrated to the United States from Nuremberg, Germany. The family lived at 18th Avenue near Gravesend Avenue where Charles spent his childhood. He was the only child. While working in a Milwaukee insurance company during the Great Depression, he met his future wife Helene. They married after the death of both of Charles' parents. Charles and his wife spent their summers at a fisherman's lake cottage in Wisconsin. He died in May of 1984, at age 92. He Americanized his birth name "Karl" to "Charlie" and pronounced his last name "Bly-furt" rather than "Blee-furt."
Scope and Contents note
The Charles (Karl) Blieffert family photographs collection, measuring .25 linear feet, includes one personal scrapbook album measuring 6 3/4" x 11 1/4" containing 8 double sided pages of photographs affixed vertically and overlapping down the page and 4 loose tintypes, dating from circa 1900 to 1917. The album includes 249 black and white photographs of young friends of Charles Blieffert in Coney Island, Sheepshead Bay, Brighton Beach, and other unidentified locations in Brooklyn. The photographs show bathing fashion, boat rides, dinner parties, and other social gatherings. Highlights include a shot of the Knickerbocker Field Club (1917), a dead shark being pulled from the water (1916), the Blieffert family home at 18th Avenue near Gravesend Avenue, and a clam bake at Felton's. Many of the photographs are dated and identified with handwritten information on the verso.The collection also includes four tintypes of Charles with his family at Coney Island.
Subjects
People
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Donors
Conditions Governing Access note
Open to researchers without restriction.
Conditions Governing Use note
Copyright held by the Brooklyn Historical Society. Permission to publish or reproduce must be secured from Brooklyn Historical Society.
Preferred Citation
identification of item, date (if known); Charles (Karl) Blieffert family photographs, 2015.010, Box number, Object ID number; Brooklyn Historical Society.
Photograph records
Item-level description and digital versions of images from the collection are available for searching via the image database in the library.
Immediate Source of Acquisition note
Gift of Mr. Mark Frappier, 2006.
Other Finding Aids note
Item–level description of the tintypes are available for searching via the image database in the library.
About this Guide
Processing Information note
Minimally processed to the collection level.
