Dating the Photos

[Mr. E]

Carbuff, you're right, those must be gloves with the tags in them. And while it's probably insignificant, she's using a small plate or saucer instead of a real ashtray, which would have notches molded into it to rest cigarettes on.

The orange tweed armchair looks pretty commonplace.

http://cnnnancygrace.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/00801.jpg

*

Thanks to the vacuum afficionados at Vacuumland.org, we have an I.D. on the sweeper in this photo: http://cnnnancygrace.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/00123.jpg

It is a Hoover Convertible Special Model 589 in "dusky lavender" and made from 1969 to 1971. Here's the thread if you want to see how they identified it (and as I posted there, I'm beyond impressed.)

http://www.vacuumland.org/TD/THREADS/VINTAGE/8412.htm?4

Wow, those people really know their vacuum cleaners. It's amazing to me that so many details and facts can be discovered from one slightly blurry photograph. Thumbs up!

 

[Billylee]

You don't see pictures of the man himself here, except this one.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/photogalleries/localnews2011323273/1.html

Isn't this the same girl, in this Christmas photo?

http://cnnnancygrace.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/01221.jpg

Could this be his sister? If so, wouldn't the investigators know that before releasing these? The Christmas picture has been bugging me because those look like real candles on the tree. How many years has it been since someone used those. Definitely 50's 60's, my guess.

 

[dsntslp]

You don't see pictures of the man himself here, except this one.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/photogalleries/localnews2011323273/1.html

Isn't this the same girl, in this Christmas photo?

http://cnnnancygrace.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/01221.jpg

Could this be his sister? If so, wouldn't the investigators know that before releasing these? The Christmas picture has been bugging me because those look like real candles on the tree. How many years has it been since someone used those. Definitely 50's 60's, my guess.

The candles are not real. There is one that is bent over and still turned "on". All of the flames are the same size, too uniform. They have to be electric, IMO. The younger girl on his knee and the girl in the Christmas pic do look a lot alike to me though.

I'll put it on the big screen and see if I can read any tags for you.

ETA: Apologies, it's too distorted, maybe someone else can read them.

 

[Billylee]

The candles are not real. There is one that is bent over and still turned "on". All of the flames are the same size, too uniform. They have to be electric, IMO. The younger girl on his knee and the girl in the Christmas pic do look a lot alike to me though.

You're right one is burning "sideways" shoulda caught that! Though I've never seen that particular decoration, and I'm kinda' of a nut over Christmas stuff. I still have (and purchase on Ebay old Christmas ornaments). The tinsel on that tree also looks like the old tinsel that was really tin (or aluminum or whatever it was made of), it always got wrinkled and you could store it and save it for next year. Wonder what year they quit making that stuff? Interestingly, some of the ornaments on there look like they are pictures, but they are too blurry to make out. Is that an "Alvin" from the chipmonks as the tree topper?

 

[Kimster]

You're right one is burning "sideways" shoulda caught that! Though I've never seen that particular decoration, and I'm kinda' of a nut over Christmas stuff. I still have (and purchase on Ebay old Christmas ornaments). The tinsel on that tree also looks like the old tinsel that was really tin (or aluminum or whatever it was made of), it always got wrinkled and you could store it and save it for next year. Wonder what year they quit making that stuff? Interestingly, some of the ornaments on there look like they are pictures, but they are too blurry to make out. Is that an "Alvin" from the chipmonks as the tree topper?

"Aluminum Christmas trees were first manufactured in 1958, remained popular into the 1960s, and were manufactured into the 1970s"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminum_Christmas_tree

 

[Billylee]

"Aluminum Christmas trees were first manufactured in 1958, remained popular into the 1960s, and were manufactured into the 1970s"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminum_Christmas_tree

Not the tree I was referring to, but the tinsel:

By the 50s the aluminized paper used to make it became a fire hazard when coupled with copious lights, decorations and dry Christmas trees. Today, it's mostly made from PVC-that's Polyvinyl Chloride. PVC is a controversial vinyl used in many products. It's difficult to recycle and there have been questions about its toxicity because it must be mixed with toxic additives to be of any use.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1091139/the_history_of_christmas_tinsel_and.html?cat=30

So, since I remember the old "aluminum tinsel" that would have been in the early 60's. I'm still trying to find out when the PVC stuff was first manufactured. (Gosh I hate that stuff!!!)

The other thing about this picture that strikes me as odd is all the different wraps and bows on all the presents. Not red and green, nothing matching..... like they all came from somewhere else, weird is all I can say.

 

[dsntslp]

Not the tree I was referring to, but the tinsel:

By the 50s the aluminized paper used to make it became a fire hazard when coupled with copious lights, decorations and dry Christmas trees. Today, it's mostly made from PVC-that's Polyvinyl Chloride. PVC is a controversial vinyl used in many products. It's difficult to recycle and there have been questions about its toxicity because it must be mixed with toxic additives to be of any use.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1091139/the_history_of_christmas_tinsel_and.html?cat=30

So, since I remember the old "aluminum tinsel" that would have been in the early 60's. I'm still trying to find out when the PVC stuff was first manufactured. (Gosh I hate that stuff!!!)

The other thing about this picture that strikes me as odd is all the different wraps and bows on all the presents. Not red and green, nothing matching..... like they all came from somewhere else, weird is all I can say.

There are a bunch of egg decorations too. I passed that off as a Faberge' (sp?) knock off thing though.

 

[carbuff]

Not the tree I was referring to, but the tinsel:

By the 50s the aluminized paper used to make it became a fire hazard when coupled with copious lights, decorations and dry Christmas trees. Today, it's mostly made from PVC-that's Polyvinyl Chloride. PVC is a controversial vinyl used in many products. It's difficult to recycle and there have been questions about its toxicity because it must be mixed with toxic additives to be of any use.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1091139/the_history_of_christmas_tinsel_and.html?cat=30

So, since I remember the old "aluminum tinsel" that would have been in the early 60's. I'm still trying to find out when the PVC stuff was first manufactured. (Gosh I hate that stuff!!!)

The other thing about this picture that strikes me as odd is all the different wraps and bows on all the presents. Not red and green, nothing matching..... like they all came from somewhere else, weird is all I can say.

That's what our presents look like. We're just a random sort of family.

I remember having the metallic tinsel into the 70's. I used to have to go searching for it, but it was around.

 

[shannon2008]

Wow, just reading through all the posts tonight...great work you guys and gals!:woohoo:

Way back somewhere someone asked about the album in the rack on the picture of the young woman with the bowl, walking across the room in her panties.

I messed around with a cropped selection of that album cover and to me it appears to not be a man with a guitar and a spotlight. Instead, it's a far-off shot of a band on stage, wearing white, in sort of a domed shaped stage. I can make out the drums and the legs of another performer. The red blip on the cover is a switch of some sort to the lights attached to the rack, I think.

The thing I thought was a spotlight is a purple circle with what looks like 3 letters in the center. At first I thought it said "BOB" as in maybe Bob Seger, but now that this looks more like a band and not a solo singer, I can't really make out what the letters could be.

I think the blue box in the corner is a company logo but I'm so tired right now I can't remember which one that is. It really is familiar though.

Original photo here:
http://cnnnancygrace.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/00123.jpg

 

[dsntslp]

Wow, just reading through all the posts tonight...great work you guys and gals!:woohoo:

Way back somewhere someone asked about the album in the rack on the picture of the young woman with the bowl, walking across the room in her panties.

I messed around with a cropped selection of that album cover and to me it appears to not be a man with a guitar and a spotlight. Instead, it's a far-off shot of a band on stage, wearing white, in sort of a domed shaped stage. I can make out the drums and the legs of another performer. The red blip on the cover is a switch of some sort to the lights attached to the rack, I think.

The thing I thought was a spotlight is a purple circle with what looks like 3 letters in the center. At first I thought it said "BOB" as in maybe Bob Seger, but now that this looks more like a band and not a solo singer, I can't really make out what the letters could be.

I think the blue box in the corner is a company logo but I'm so tired right now I can't remember which one that is. It really is familiar though.

Original photo here:
http://cnnnancygrace.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/00123.jpg

Could the letters say "Live"? The male with no shirt reminds me of Frampton from what I can see.

I bet we could send this pic to an older DJ and find out quickly.

Are we in agreement this is an apartment in New York and have we narrowed the time frame to the four years he attended college there or are we still trying to define a time frame for pictures taken in this apartment?

ETA: I looked through Frampton album cover images online and I don't see a match. Still looking.

 

[TechWriter797]

Wouldn't this be the back of the album and not the cover?

 

[tatertot]

Re: Timelines for these photos

In 1968 Alcala fled after attacking "Tali S.," "leaving her surrounded by photography equipment" in his De Longpre, Hollywood apartment.

Source: http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/predators/rodney_alcala/2.html

He ran out the back and fled to NY, and wasn't arrested until August 1971 at the summer camp in NH. He served 34 months for the attack on Tali S.

Source:
http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/predators/rodney_alcala/3.html

So if he fled, wouldn't he have forfeited all his belongings he had up to that point? What would police procedure have been? Did they search the place for evidence and then release the apartment and its contents to his landlord (who, I imagine, kept or sold what he wanted and put the rest out on the curb for a free-for-all) or were they legally required to notify Alcala's relatives of the abandoned property?

Can anyone find any reference to Alcala archiving his photos at his mom's home? If he did not, then is it safe to assume he lost all his photos taken prior to whatever month he fled in 1968? If we can be sure of that, then he had to have taken all these photos in 1968 or later, even the ones that are cropped and are hard to otherwise date because there's nothing but the headboard of the bed visible in them.

Also, if those are definitely two different apartments (the blue-walled one and the white-walled one) then there's enough of the same furniture seen in both apartments to suggest he didn't fit it all in the Datsun F10 to move. My guess is he hired a truck or U-Haul or maybe made several trips in the F10, but I'm not even sure that big dresser/chest of drawers would have fit in the hatch.

*

Someone suggested this girl as a match for 9-year-old Julie Moseley, one of the missing Forth Worth trio. Any ideas how old the girl in this photo could be? I'm stumped.

http://www.latimes.com/media/photo/2010-03/52806037.jpg

 

[dsntslp]

To me the pictures that appear to be a head board may be a fireplace mantle. The girls height is different in one of the pictures as if she is standing on a base (what do they call that?) of some sort. The molding and trim above the dental molding on what I think is a mantle also suggest this to me.

Just a guess but I think the girl referenced in the pic above (Julie Mosley ref) looks about 14 or 15. JMO

 

[CarlK90245]

Wow, just reading through all the posts tonight...great work you guys and gals!:woohoo:

Way back somewhere someone asked about the album in the rack on the picture of the young woman with the bowl, walking across the room in her panties.

I messed around with a cropped selection of that album cover and to me it appears to not be a man with a guitar and a spotlight. Instead, it's a far-off shot of a band on stage, wearing white, in sort of a domed shaped stage. I can make out the drums and the legs of another performer. The red blip on the cover is a switch of some sort to the lights attached to the rack, I think.

The thing I thought was a spotlight is a purple circle with what looks like 3 letters in the center. At first I thought it said "BOB" as in maybe Bob Seger, but now that this looks more like a band and not a solo singer, I can't really make out what the letters could be.

I think the blue box in the corner is a company logo but I'm so tired right now I can't remember which one that is. It really is familiar though.

Original photo here:
http://cnnnancygrace.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/00123.jpg

This photo clearly shows the album Surrealistic Pillow (Jefferson Airplane 1967)

Not real helpful in pinning down the timeline, as we already know the timeline doesn't go much before 1967, but it may give an indication of his musical tastes in trying to figure out the others.

 

[carbuff]

Wouldn't this be the back of the album and not the cover?

It looks like the back of a Moody Blues album that I used to have -- Days of Future Passed? Every Good Boy Deserves Favor? On the Threshold of a Dream? I found lots of photos of the arty fronts on line but I can't find a shot of the back...

 

[carbuff]

Post 490 above, pic of the blond, bottom left corner...is that a brown purse with a flower design on it? Looks like it might be to me. Light brown, maybe suede with a fuzzy fur type trim around the edge.?

The Laurie Partridge article says the contents of her purse were found but does not say the purse itself was found. A brown purse with an embroidered flower design.

The blond in the Alcala pic's appears to have shown up there well dressed and with her suitcases though. What if the suitcases are really not hers?

The blond in the Alcala pic's does not appear to have the mole Laurie Partridge does.

Looking at the pic of the blond, sitting in the chair next to the suitcase I do not think she looks like Partridge at all.

I do wonder why this blond has suitcases and winter boots that look like they are water proof snow boots though.

I can't make out anything on my laptop -- not enough resolution. I agree, I don't think the blonde looks like Laurie Partridge, but she might just be sitting next to that handbag and the suitcases. They might not belong to her -- they might even be his, for carrying all those lights and other equipment. I need to go back through the photos; I'm pretty sure one of the girls has a mole on her cheek. Worth checking, anyway.

Good point about the winter boots, and also furry gloves. Maybe that means the photo was taken in the winter in NYC.

 

[Billylee]

Speaking of record albums, don't know if anyone brought this up already, but the pictures of the Beatles on the wall in this photo were freebies that came from included with the White Album which was released November 22, 1968. So this photo would have to be after that sometime.

http://cnnnancygrace.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/01431.jpg

http://www.jpgr.co.uk/pcs7067.html

 

[Donjeta]

This photo clearly shows the album Surrealistic Pillow (Jefferson Airplane 1967)

Not real helpful in pinning down the timeline, as we already know the timeline doesn't go much before 1967, but it may give an indication of his musical tastes in trying to figure out the others.

Who is the man in the album next to her shoulder?

 

[JoeFromLB]

Who is the man in the album next to her shoulder?

Leonard Bernstein, the long-time conductor of the NY Philharmonic and composer of musicals, etc (West Side Story). I googled his albums to try to find the exact cover, but there are so many.

 

[Donjeta]

Leonard Bernstein, the long-time conductor of the NY Philharmonic and composer of musicals, etc (West Side Story). I googled his albums to try to find the exact cover, but there are so many.

I didn't see that cover in http://www.leonardbernstein.com, it might be sold with a different cover now.