Who is This Man?

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Last week I posted the full length portrait of this man. I only knew he was somehow related to Charlotte or her husband Danny.

Sharon of Branches on Our Haimowitz Family Tree suggested that I put the cropped faces together to compare this man’s face with other known relatives. When I cropped the mystery man’s photo, I was surprised to see how deeply set and shadowed his eyes were.

Lynn at In Search of Men and Women with Initiative–Solving Family Puzzles thought that the man looks like Rose Goodstein.

In the first comparison, Rose is the woman standing behind her mother Anna. I included Anna so you could see Anna’s face as well.

In the next comparison, the man is compared with Max Goodstein, Rose’s father.

In the final comparison, we see him next to Danny Vendola, Charlotte’s husband.

For this most unscientific study EVER, I am including a poll. Please vote for Rose/Anna, Max, or Danny!

It was also suggested, first by Val of Colouring the Past, that I pay attention to the letters at the bottom of the photo.

There is a capital M there, right? Then another capital letter, as if the first initial is M, and then the last name name begins. What do you see?

The problem is that I can’t find any lists of photographers from 100+ years ago from Castelgrande, Italy, or Tiraspol (Russian Empire). Clearly, the letters are from the Latin alphabet, which seems to rule out Tiraspol and put us into Italy.

Nevertheless, there is no proof that the photo wasn’t taken in the United States.

Oh, help!!!

If I don’t post on this blog for a little while it is because I want to work on the research a bit and write up posts when I have a little more cohesion than I do right now.

23 thoughts on “Who is This Man?”

  2. While this doesn’t rule it out completely, I think the eyebrows are different from Max Goodstein and the jawline looks heavier. I can’t tell if Rose looks like him from the photo of her as it looks like it’s a photocopy or a very badly-deteriorated photo.

    Luanne, send me a full-size copy of the photo of your unknown man and I’ll try to get the words at the bottom of it clearer for you (free!), then you can repost it here. I can’t see that anyone will be able to tell from the original version.

    But one thing – remind me where this family originate – was it from an Ashkenazi family? If so, it might have been taken in Russia or a nearby area. If so, what looks like an ‘M’ may be a Russian ‘T’! Also I think some of the handwriting may go over the bottom edge of the photo (but I’m not sure.)

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  3. I voted Rose/Anna and want to tell you why. The mystery man’s mouth looks to me exactly the same shape as Rose’s (his sister?), and his eyes are like Anna’s (his mother?). The mouth shape seems to come from Max (his father?). Comparing photos is tricky so of course I could be all wet with my guess! It’s fun to try, though.

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    • I thought that about Danny’s eyebrows and face shape, too. The hairline. But yikes, this is so difficult. Probably because we are missing too many pieces of the puzzle!

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  5. I think he looks more like Rose and Anna and bit like Max so I think he is Goodstein—the eyes and nose and shape of the face are what lean me in that direction. But who knows…I am bad at this. I think he could resemble all of them! As for the lettering, I really can’t see it well enough—can you make it lighter? Crop it a little less closely? Is there a date range?

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    • Val worked up something for me on the lettering which I will post as soon as I can. It’s cropped like that because that is all there is. The photo is a copy and that is how it was copied. Not sure on the date although aren’t all these old photos between 1880 and 1920 hahaha? Interesting about the Goodsteins. I never would have thought it until it was picked up on last week.

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  6. First of all, I think he looks just like the actor, Matthew Broderick!
    I wasn’t entirely clear on which woman was which in the top photo, but I think the shape of the eyes and brows match the lower woman. I don’t think he resembles the others much at all. But children can come out not looking like anyone in the family, so it’s always a wild guess.

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    • I guess a lil bit he does! It is such a wild guess. To make it worse I found a note from Charlotte saying she didn’t know who he was. And it was her photo! I think if it was John Vendola, her FIL, she would have known!

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  7. No idea, Luanne, but I voted for Danny. Good luck!
    My cousin is visiting. I’m trying to explain the family tree to him. Haha.
    115 there?! Yikes! It was close to 100 here the other day (probably more in the sun), but also humid. We’re having thunderstorms now.

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  8. Pingback: Mystery Man Not Solved! | Entering the Pale

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