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John FitzGerald

John FitzGerald club

Posted: 23 Jan 2019

Taken: 22 Jan 2019

13 favorites     26 comments    306 visits

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old photos old photos

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egypt •
aswan •
doris hedine •
old cataract hotel •

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The two Dorises

The two Dorises
Submitted to the Vintage Photos Theme Park in the category "Friends", as a theme about people. This was also the Theme Park's first theme.

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It's about time I restored this. I believe the Doris Hedine in this photo is the Doris Hedine of Winthrop, MN, who worked overseas for the US Department of Agriculture for many years. About Doris MacArthur I have unfortunately been able to find nothing.

The Cataract Hotel is now the Old Cataract Hotel. It has housed many important people over the years, including Tsar Nicholas II, Winston Churchill, Margaret Thatcher, and François Mitterrand. As people pointed out to me when I posted this before, Agatha Christie may have written Death on the Nile while staying there, and parts of the novel are set in the hotel.

Today it looks as if the boulder Doris and Doris were sitting on has been replaced by a concrete pad for sunbeds, as we see at this link:
www.ahstatic.com/photos/1666_homom_00_p_1024x768.jpg

I bought this photo at the weekly St. Lawrence Market collectibles show in Toronto.

Smiley Derleth, Alan Mays, Deborah Lundbech, Will S. and 9 other people have particularly liked this photo

26 comments - The latest ones
 J. Gafarot
J. Gafarot club
Those sails always make click in my heart.
Thank you for the Hotel History John.
6 years ago.
John FitzGerald club has replied to J. Gafarot club
Yes, I liked the boats in both the photos, José.
6 years ago. Edited 6 years ago.
 Andy Rodker
Andy Rodker club
Fascinating! And many thanks for the info too, John.
I wonder what he / she wrote with. This was just before the age of the ball-point pen and it just doen't look like a fountain pen was used (I'm probably wrong here), nor a pencil.
6 years ago.
John FitzGerald club has replied to Andy Rodker club
I had a look at the original, Andy, and I think a black ballpoint was used for the top line and a fountain pen filled with blue-black for the rest. I suspect the ballpoint was added later. "Doris" and "right" in the top line seem to be in a different hand to "Doris" and "right" in the rest of the inscription. They're both very good hands, though, and pretty similar otherwise.
6 years ago. Edited 6 years ago.
John FitzGerald club has added
And I found a capital Ds similar to the one in the top line on the back of a couple of other old photos I have. Maybe I bought part of a set of family photos.
6 years ago.
 Ulrich John
Ulrich John club
Fine composition and a nice travel to the past !
6 years ago.
John FitzGerald club has replied to Ulrich John club
Thanks, Ulrich.
6 years ago.
 Keith Burton
Keith Burton club
This photo and the one in the link make a great pair of comparison shots! I wonder what the time gap between the two was?

Fascinating stuff John ;-)
6 years ago.
John FitzGerald club has replied to Keith Burton club
The photo seems fairly recent, Keith. It's from a page on the Sofitel site that has "Sofitel 2017" written at the bottom. I wonder if Mrs. Thatcher ever used the sunbeds.
6 years ago.
 Diana Australis
Diana Australis club
Very interesting, John....
6 years ago.
John FitzGerald club has replied to Diana Australis club
Thanks, DIana.
6 years ago.
 Sarah P.
Sarah P.
Interesting bit about Agatha Christie. I wonder if the hotel is in the movie version of Death on the Nile.
6 years ago.
John FitzGerald club has replied to Sarah P.
Indeed it is, Sarah.
6 years ago.
 Fred Fouarge
Fred Fouarge club
Die oude foto's vindt ik steeds mooier
6 years ago.
John FitzGerald club has replied to Fred Fouarge club
Certainly the older photo here is superior to the newer., Fred. Not only is it better composed, but the hotel seems to have been modified unimaginatively over the years.
6 years ago.
 Steve Bucknell
Steve Bucknell club
It all looks more fun back then.
6 years ago.
John FitzGerald club has replied to Steve Bucknell club
I agree, Steve. The hotel has a more institutional air now. And Doris and Doris actually seem to be enjoying themselves just being young and alive.
6 years ago.
 tiabunna
tiabunna club
An interesting old photo and information, John. Have to wonder about the back story of the image.
6 years ago.
John FitzGerald club has replied to tiabunna club
The hazy back story is often part of the attraction of old photos, I guess, George. Thanks for raising the point -- I have spent lot of time looking up the back story without finding much conclusive, and now realize the remaining mystery is a large part of the photo's attraction. And as Alan Mays pointed out to me when I posted this before, the search for information is a large part of the attraction of ephemera, too (Alan's been very successful in solving the mysteries of his cards and photos).

I have found out that Doris Hedine was known in high school for giggling, that she was a stalwart of the English-language Lutheran congregation in Berlin, and that she worked at the embassy in London. All of that just makes the mystery more interesting, I guess.
6 years ago.
 Will S.
Will S.
Whoa; great find!
6 years ago.
 John FitzGerald
John FitzGerald club
Yes, it's a fine photo. The additional information I was able to find was a bonus.
6 years ago.
Will S. has replied to John FitzGerald club
Indeed.
6 years ago.
 Alan Mays
Alan Mays club
Great photo and info, John! Your information search really paid off. I always find the then-and-now comparison of photos quite interesting, too.
5 years ago.
John FitzGerald club has replied to Alan Mays club
Thanks, Alan. Yes, I enjoyed learning about Doris H., who seems to have had an interesting career. You may be familiar with the user Collations (Patrick Cummins) on Flickr. He has a huge number of then-and-now comparisons of Toronto buildings:
www.flickr.com/photos/32175940@N06/albums/with/72157608718683032
5 years ago.
 Ulrich Dinges
Ulrich Dinges club
wenn man da selber gewesen ist, die Feluken hat segeln sehen die Stromschnellen im Nil rauf und runter gefahren ist dann sagt einem dieses alte Bild mehr als irgendein x beliebiges altes Foto
3 years ago.
John FitzGerald club has replied to Ulrich Dinges club
Everything's becoming more and more alike these days, Ulrich.
3 years ago.

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