George Sodder saw a picture of a young girl in a magazine that he believed was Betty

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Just popping in... I am reading all of the posts about the Sodder Family, and I am in thread 3.

There is a photo in posting #23 of this thread; the little girl in the back row (upper left of picture) really looks like Betty. No one has commented on this photo as far as I can tell. Was it ruled out for some reason? Has the Granddaughter's mom had a look at it?

Back to my corner...
 
I believe it was the May 1946 edition as Sodder wrote in his letter...the information that it was a photo of a ballet class comes from a family member and is less reliable than the evidence we have (the letter from Sodder stating that it was a May 1946 magazine). So most likely, the child resembling Betty shows up in a different photo in the magazine. Has anyone seen and scanned a copy of this edition?
 
Sylvia's daughter does not think this is the photo because Betty was a very shy child. But she never saw the actual picture that Mr Sodder saw.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Laura_Bean said:
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One of the sources for this image indicates that it was taken at the School of American Ballet in 1948, which wouldn't line up with the May 1946 date given in the letter.

Someone a few pages back in this thread indicated that they had a copy of the issue and would upload photos from a different kind of class that looked possible (in case the ballet was misremembered), but it looks like they were never uploaded.
 
It would be believe to think the kids survived the fire, but there is no way any sort of positive ID can be made from that photo. The quality simply isn't good enough. She could be anyone.
 
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Guys you will not believe this. I'm almost positive I found the picture. http://www.gettyimages.com/license/112507282
Third girl from the right.
The date is off, perfectly fits the description of the picture; kids around 6, ballet class, two girls upfront, and the rest in a row behind them. The girl has the same eyebrows, straight nose, small mouth and shy demeanor. Please respond soon, I'm very excited about this.
 
K.s.canivet said:
Guys you will not believe this. I'm almost positive I found the picture. http://www.gettyimages.com/license/112507282
Third girl from the right.
The date is off, perfectly fits the description of the picture; kids around 6, ballet class, two girls upfront, and the rest in a row behind them. The girl has the same eyebrows, straight nose, small mouth and shy demeanor. Please respond soon, I'm very excited about this.
Click to expand...

This picture was taken in London in 1948.
 
In today's world, magazine lead times can be as long as six months.

When a publisher or editor asks for a certain lead/lead time or describes a magazine's "lead," they are simply describing production and print schedules for their particular title. For example, if a writer is pitching an article on the winter holidays, the advertised lead time may call for this article to be pitched in the middle of summer.

https://www.thebalance.com/what-is-lead-time-1360478

Print publications like Entrepreneur or Inc. plan their issues*four to six*months in advance.*

http://janetabachnick.com/media-lead-times/

But did you know that magazines work about 3-6 months in advance of their issue publication date?

That means that if you want to get your products featured in a magazine’s December Holiday Gift Guide issue, you’ll have to pitch as early as July.*

https://www.launchgrowjoy.com/magazine-lead-times-how-to-know-when-to-pitch-your-products/

And that's in today's world, with digital content and computerized layout, instant communication via email, etc. In the 1940's it was significantly longer than that, since articles had to be typed on manual typewriters, submitted by USPS mail (no overnight deliveries back then), layouts were done by hand, typesetting was manual, etc.

If George Sodder saw the magazine in the spring after the fire, he was looking at a picture that was taken probably a year in advance of the publication date, and certainly long before the fire.

The Sodder children died in the fire that night, and the parents clung to any possibility of hope that they might have survived. Understandable, and heartbreaking. I have no doubt in their situation I would have grasped at any possible evidence of a kidnapping. Unfortunately, I don't believe that was the reality.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
 
I'm aware that the images description doesn't fit, but remember, this is the only existing version of this photo I've found. There's no other discription or copy of the editorial we can fact check with at the moment. Getty images owns MILLIONS of photos, and this image would be bought rarely if at all. It's not that out there to believe their discription is off considering it's so insignificant to them.

Besides, nothing about this letter has been correct so far. From the name of the publication to the school it was taken at, it's not far fetched to think the date it was published is off. It's already been discussed that the year could have been misread (the typewriter was messy so the six could have been an eight, no remembers what year it was written) and if they letter WAS sent in 1948, the publish date is only 6 weeks off, and could've been mistaken for an earlier issue. Sure it's a stretch, but the resemblance is uncanny.

Granddaughter do you know who the lady who called before the fire was asking for? I remember reading that it was Erico something but I can't find it.
 
K.s.canivet said:
Guys you will not believe this. I'm almost positive I found the picture. http://www.gettyimages.com/license/112507282
Third girl from the right.
The date is off, perfectly fits the description of the picture; kids around 6, ballet class, two girls upfront, and the rest in a row behind them. The girl has the same eyebrows, straight nose, small mouth and shy demeanor. Please respond soon, I'm very excited about this.
Click to expand...

The eyebrows are different. Betty's are practically a straight line and the girl in the pic has quite an arch.
 
Has anyone considered investigating the author, Betty Sodders who wrote "Michigan on Fire?"


christine2448 said:
Originally Posted by Shadow205
I need help researching and trying to find an old magazine. You will remember mentioned that George Sodder saw a picture of a young girl in a magazine that he beleived was Betty. He traveled to New York in an attempt to identify the girl but was not allowed to see her. Here is the letter that he wrote to the school;

Walt Whitman School
25 East 78th Street
New York, NY
Attn: Miss Louise Krueger, Director

Dear Miss Krueger:

The enclosed picture of several of your students appearing in the May 14, 1946, edition of LOOK magazine is self-explanatory.

For your information, the little girl to which the arrow points quite definitely resembles one of our children who disappeared during the latter part of 1945, and I shall appreciate it greatly if you will, at your earliest convenience, favor me with the following information:

1. Her name
2. The date of her enrollment
3. Any further information you may feel at liberty to supply.

Needless to say, your cooperation in this matter will be more than appreciated.

Yours very truly,

George Sodder
According to Jennie(Granddaughter) it is not known if he received a reply to the letter or not. She thought that she located the correct magazine and purchased it but the picture that she was looking for was not in it. So, evidently there was a mistake on which issue the picture appeared in. Anyone that would like to help could search for anything to do with the school, classmates.com, reunion sites, any place where we might find pictures of students from that time period, any info on "Ms.Krueger".

Any ideas on where we might go with this information?

Jennie also said: My mom remembers the picture showing little girls lined up at a ballet class.
I found a site that lists old issues of Look Magazine and describes some of the topics featured in them:

http://www.pastpaper.com/List-Look40s.htm

The February 5, 1946 issue lists "Ballet Fashion Show". Not sure if that is what we are looking for. I find it hard to believe that Mr. Sodder would get the date of the magazine wrong. Perhaps the magazine has pages missing from it?



ALSO
Copied over from #2 thread...

I found this posted in thread one, but I can't get it to open...anyone?
Click to expand...
 
K.s.canivet said:
Guys you will not believe this. I'm almost positive I found the picture. http://www.gettyimages.com/license/112507282
Third girl from the right.
The date is off, perfectly fits the description of the picture; kids around 6, ballet class, two girls upfront, and the rest in a row behind them. The girl has the same eyebrows, straight nose, small mouth and shy demeanor. Please respond soon, I'm very excited about this.[/QUOTe

This could be the photo he saw. Or the one his granddaughter remembers.

Nothing seems to explain how or why he believed the photo was from a particular school, a particular magazine, or a particular date, since none of them match. Could he have been delusional in his grief? I don't think the girl IS Betty, but in his distress maybe he thought it was.

The person he wrote at the school said there was no doubt about the parentage of the girl in question. So she must have seen the actual photo and known the girl?
Click to expand...
 
it appears that all the children looked alike to each other. Are there any up to date pictures of the surviving children that we can see? Maybe there is someone out there that will recognize them at an older age?
 
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