HAJ rescued these portraits from a basement in New Rochelle where they had sat for 40 years after the Jefferson Ave house had been emptied and sold. Prior to that they hung on the parlor wall at Jefferson Avenue. They are now in Delaware. They were probably created in connection with their marriage. The portrait of Albert's mother (seen elsewhere on this site) was probably done at the same time. Some viewers may notice, as Tibor did that the portrait of Albert shows the jacket button sewn to the left side of the jacket and the button hole on the right side, contrary to the custom for men's clothing. This is probably because the photographer reversed the image so that Albert and Julia could be looking at each other as they hung on the wall instead of both gazing off in the same direction.
Here are (on the left) Albert, Sr. and Albert, Jr.(12/13/1907-3/29/1930) and older sister Marie. The year could be 1918 with Albert approximately 11 years and Marie 15. Albert, Sr. would be 54. They are dressed in their Sunday best standing in front of the Jefferson Avenue house. Albert, Jr. is wearing a suit that was the fashion at the time. His shoes were probably made by his father. The trousers are "Knickerbockers" or "knickers." On his left arm is a ribbon indicating that this was a special day, probably his Confirmation Day.
Albert, Jr. died 13 years later in 1930 at the age of 23.
On the right (also approximately 11) is Harry Jensen (10/9/07-10/30/89) in 1918 wearing the same style suit as Albert, with the same hair style, with the same ribbons, differing only in the addition of a breast-pocket on the left side. It's possible that both families either bought or rented the same style suit for this special occasion. Harry is only two months older than Albert. At the time of these pictures the families had no connection with each other and did not come together until many years later.
