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Old Photographs, Recognition, Handwriting Deciphering => Handwriting Deciphering & Recognition => Topic started by: maddys52 on Wednesday 23 March 22 01:08 GMT (UK)
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Hello,
Any suggestions for what this man's name might be? It came from a photograph in the collection of lady named "Jessie", which is not quite what the inscription looks like, though I'm pretty sure it was intended for her.
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It may say To Josie at the beginning.
As for the signed word that's really puzzling me lol.
The 1st letter looks closer to the "T"
above it at the beginning.
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The last name looks something like TEFOO / TEFOS
I wonder if it could be a pet name or nick name?
Is the man in the photo “ foreign” looking? - as in English not his first language.
The first name seems to have been written as JOSEE.
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My guess is his name is TEFAS and she is JOSIE. Do you have a full face picture as Tefas is a Turkish name.
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To Josie from Texas
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Thank you all very much for your interest and suggestions.
Not sure why I didn't think of it before, but your suggestion of a nick name made me realise that the photo belonged to Jessie JOSEPH, so indeed, it could be addressed to "Josie/Josee" as a pet name for her.
Jessie was a nurse during WWI in Sydney (Australia), I have another photo of her laughing surrounded by men of different armed services. Perhaps this was someone she nursed, though I would think he would then send a photo in uniform. Perhaps not related to the war at all. Though I think it unlikely he was Turkish (though it was a good suggestion shume).
"Texas" is an interesting suggestion - again a possible nick- name, though not much help to me in trying to work out who he may be! :)
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The name is Texas.
Possibly a nickname for a chap from Texas, though I have heard of it used as a given name.
Sue
ADDING
Is that a scar down his forehead or a crease in the photo?
ADDING again
As a WW1 soldier as was thought of as a possiblity he would be classed 'mature age' in my opinion
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The first letter of the name isn't quite like the 'T' in To, though I admit it's fairly similar.
There's an uncommon English name Cephas (biblical, from Greek; about a dozen born each year in England and Wales in the late 19th century), and I'm wondering if this might be a version from another language, ie Sefas.
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I was thinking the same as you, Arthur. The T in To is slightly different but I couldn't think of a suitable word. maybe it is Sefas, as you say.
Add - just adjusted the angle, f is different from the f in from. could it be a p?
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Oops, I totally overlooked the 'f' - though when my handwriting was more cursive I think I varied it a bit. But looking again at the formation of that middle letter, I do now wonder if Sue (sparrett) is right with Texas. :-\
Maddy - you wondered if the man was an ex-patient but should have been in uniform, but could he have been invalided out some time previously, gone (back home?) to Texas, and was now sending a photo to say "Look at me now"? (So it's not a name but a place.)
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Not sure about the X - didn't we write it as back to back c.
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I think it's Texas too.His tie has the stripes going from right to left,the way Americans were them..
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Not sure about the X - didn't we write it as back to back c.
Yes we did, but I think for me the 'x' may have been one of the first casualties when my writing became less cursive and more italic. In any case, styles vary, and you've inspired me to investigate how handwriting was taught in the USA in that period. According to Wikipedia they (mostly? exclusively?) used Spencerian script, devised by Platt Rogers Spencer:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spencerian_script
This is described in the Spencerian Key to Practical Penmanship, on p.47 of which he describes the letter 'x' as a downwards diagonal, finished off with an upwards diagonal crossing it:
https://archive.org/details/spenceriankeytop00spen/page/46/mode/2up
I think that could be what our signature shows, but it would be interesting to have the comments of anyone who is familiar with specifically US styles of handwriting.
(Good spot about the tie, hepburn.)
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I'm not convince on the T or the X but, as a left hander, I may be biased.
I spent many years marking essays and dissertations and medics scrawl, mind, when most of them wrote by hand (definitely not cursive though)
;D
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Personally I think it may say Texas like has been suggested previously.
It could be a nickname i agree with that statement. However It seems to end a little abrupt for me to think it could be a person's name without signing something like "love ....." but that's just an opinion. The context is what's most important I would surmise.
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The central line goes through the hair and so is not a scar ... see pic. the other looks as though it might also go through the hair and stop just above the top of the hair, but I'm not so sure. However, there looks to be a scar over his left eye.
cheers, Ian
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Thank you so much everyone for interest and thoughts on this photo.
I think I am tending to "Texas", though still not entirely convinced. Very interesting about the tie. I didn't know the differences in the way stripes went indicated anything in particular. :) Would an American soldier be nursed in Australia during WWI? Although, there is nothing to indicate he was a soldier, just the date.
Definitely creases in the photo, not scars through his forehead, though as Ian says, there could be one above his eye.
As an aside, does anyone think this may be the same man? I have no indication who, where or when this was taken, other than it appears to be on a ship. (Might try to scan it again to see if I can get it any clearer, I realise it's not very sharp.)
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Yes, I do think it is the same man. A snappy dresser. :)
Could have been a doctor working at the same hospital as "Josee"??
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Yes I think it is the same man. Before Neale1961 asked about the possibility of him being a Dr I had already made up a lovely story about them meeting when he was wounded, head wound, and how they had these nicknames for each other........Josee and Texas but.....
The Dr aspect is worth looking at.
Also have you checked the records to see where she might have been posted, are you sure she did not go overseas? Or perhaps she was a military nurse based in Sydney? Also patients were coming from to this hospital from where? Any chance of seeing the photo with the different soldiers in it?
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Thanks neale and shanreagh, good to have a second opinion that confirms my own. :)
A doctor is an interesting possibility. Indeed - a snappy dresser!
I don't think it was intended to be romantic in any way ... Jessie was married on 12 March 1918, so a few months before this photo was signed. (to Donald McIntyre MacKENZIE) She was born 1880 and died in June 1923.
Here is the photo, it's not very clear I'm afraid.
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Mmm...So do we think the gentleman at the front with the cross on his sleeve is Texas?
Sue
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I don’t think the well dressed man in the 2 photos was ever in military uniform - so not in photo three of the service men.
He gives the impression of being quite wealthy, and he has a very confident pose.
Do you think his age in the first photo (dated 1918) iis about 40?
This is a wild shot ….. but …..
There was a “Texas” Green who was a member of Parliament. ???
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/103802969?searchTerm=“Texas%20green”
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This is a wild shot ….. but …..
There was a “Texas” Green who was a member of Parliament. ???
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/103802969?searchTerm=“Texas%20green”
With photo:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Green_(Australian_politician)
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I don't think the man in the 1918 photo is in the one with the service men. (Does anyone else think the man on the right looks a bit like Peter Falk ? ;) )
Thanks for investigating "Texas" neale - have just discovered there is a town in southern Queensland named Texas. :D Though whether it's something to do with the name on the photo, if indeed it is "Texas" I think will remain a mystery. Jessie lived in Brisbane (actually she was born at sea and the family lived a few years at Maryborough), then Chambers Flat (near Brisbane) and Toowoomba before coming to Sydney. So she did move around a bit.
Thanks again everyone for your interest and help. :)