Waterloo, NY
Waterloo, NY is an interesting little town. It is not too far from Willard and I have passed through it a lot since it lies on one of the main routes between the Thruway and Ithaca. There was a Masonic Lodge on this corner (Virginia and Williams Streets) which was torn down in 2007. When that building came down, this sign became visible again.
I walked up to the brick to get a closer look and it is in very good condition. It is a complete shame that the Masonic building had to be razed, but at least something interesting came out of its destruction.
Willard Suitcase #15
It has been too long since I have posted a suitcase here. I have been very busy shooting and have also been feeling a bit rushed about mailing out the rewards for the kickstarter backers. It has been a long and interesting process, and helps me feel the connection that I have with all of you who have supported the project.
This suitcase belonged to Thelma R.
She had a very interesting collection of items.
Many of them were of a religious nature.
I especially like to come across miniature dogs and Thelma had three. I really like the way these Scotties looked up at me while I was working.
There is usually one anomalous item in each case and in this one it was this small figurine. It didn’t seem to fit in with the rest of her things.
One of the envelopes was full of photographic negatives. There were no prints but most of the shots were of friends and I presume, family.
This is one of several small banks that I have seen. I like the lock painted on the front; the real access to the money was from the bottom.
I wasn’t sure what was contained in these envelopes as they were all sealed, but the word curl makes it a bit obvious. I held one up to my lights and it looked and felt like a lock of hair. Thelma’s surname was not Sullivan, but that name appeared in most of the papers and books in her suitcase.
This is the only recording that I have found in a suitcase. I really like the design of the label, and the record seemed in perfect condition.
I have obscured the last several letters of her name here. This piece of paper was in one of her notebooks, and tells a bit of a story about her origins.
The post mark on this card looks to be 1943 or 1945. One of the labels in the case says that she came to Willard on 9 July, 1946, so she would have been in her early 20s when she received this.
Many of the cases have day books or diaries, but in every instance but one, they all have only a few entries. On the first day of the new year Thelma found a penny in Camillus and wrote about it.
Her next comment came almost 3 weeks later, and only one more entry followed this one.
Thanks again to Craig Williams and the New York State Museum for granting me access to the suitcases, and thank you all for following this project.
Albert Bierstadt
I have always liked this painting. Bierstadt was apparently quite the operator. / I’ve been in DC the past few days and had the chance to spend a few hours at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. It is the best museum in a city full of great museums. It shares the old patent office building with the National Portrait Gallery which in itself is pretty cool. While there I got the chance to see some of the people that Peter Carroll and I worked with on the Lunder Conservation Center project, and had a really nice visit. / Back to Massachusetts tomorrow and will mail out the next level of rewards for the suitcase backers.
John Wilson Painting
I love this painting. John had given it to me in December, but since it needed to be taken off the stretchers for transport back to the States I wasn’t able to get it until Peter and I were back in the UK in March. We rolled it into a big cardboard tube and I was able to carry it onto the plane. Michelle at Hope and Feathers did a fantastic job restretching it and built a great frame. I was so happy to pick it up yesterday. It looks great in the living room.
Dog
I shot UMASS women’s lacrosse for my friend Thom Kendall on Sunday as he was tied up with the A10 track meet. It was fun and I even got this nice shot of a fan with his dog.
Bulbs
Cris and I planted bulbs in the garden 5 or 6 years ago. The daffodils continue to come up in droves, but this year only one tulip bloomed. I remember reading that tulips don’t last for more than a few years, but we had a pretty good run with them.
I have been keeping an eye on the tulip which initially bloomed about 2 weeks ago. I think the weather conditions this year have been almost perfect for the longevity of all of our flowers. About a week ago I noticed that one petal of our tulip started dropping and today it looked as if it was ready to fall off. It offered a perfect view of the important reproductive bits. I was never good at science in school, but the two words “stamen and pistil” come to mind. Am I even close?
Jon Crispin's Notebook 
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