Among the loose photographs in the Welsh album is this one of a beautiful young lady wearing a pearl necklace. It always makes me stop and wonder who she is. Taken by J E Purdy & Co. of 145 Tremont Street, Boston, it dates to the 1920s but unfortunately there are no other clues. It is presented in a brown folder with the photographer’s name written ornately on the front.
I recently came across a batch of small vintage photographs, depicting gruesome scenes that immediately intrigued me. Scanned and enlarged I realised they were mostly of model figures. On the back of one is written ‘Tiger Gardens, Singapore’ and another mentions ‘Chinese Gardens’. So I leapt onto the internet (what did we do in the days before Google Search?!) and soon found information about Haw Par Villa, Singapore, aka Tiger Balm Gardens.
According to Wikipedia, the gardens opened in 1937 and remain open today. I would guess that these images were taken in the 1950s. One is labelled “Another pleasant pastime – the Bandwagon!” and another, which makes me smile, says “Would you say he is happy at his work?!”.
During my search I also came across the following video, with similar images set to music… enjoy!
Forgotten Ancestors 