While looking through all the photographs the Archive has amassed of Hans Halberstadt, two things become clear. First, he got around. He clearly traveled a great deal. There are pictures of him all over his European playground. Second, he really enjoyed people. Lots and lots of people.
Below are some selections from a couple of sources. Some of these are on the wall at Halberstadt Fencing Club. Some came from the Halberstadt scrapbooks that HFC still has in their possession. Several, in particular the ones with the greatest number of people in them, came from the Halberstadt Box. See that story here: http://westcoastfencingarchive.com/2015/01/08/the-hans-box/
In the last case, I had initially overlooked the photos as just some group of people where Hans took a picture of the group at some event. However upon closer inspection, I was eventually able to find Hans in every one of these. It happened a bit by accident the first time. While scanning one of the group photos and looking at the scan, I was surprised to spot Hans. Going back to look more closely at others, sure enough, there he was.
So, let’s play a little Find HH! We’ll start easy:
Front left. Easy!
This one is from his San Francisco time, so a bit later in his life. Looks like a fun party… for Hans!
This photo is dated 1908, so Hans would have been around 23 years old.
Ok, everybody get the idea of the game? Now that we’re warmed up, let’s make it a bit more interesting!
Yet another party! This one isn’t too terribly tricky, although there are two gents with the Hans mustache and for once Hans isn’t smoking.
Another one from later days. It’s possible that this was taken in 1958 at the Italian/Hungarian demonstration at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco. See the story here: http://westcoastfencingarchive.com/2015/02/13/the-fairmont-exhibition-1958/
Did you find him? There in the back, that’s him.
The interesting thing is that Hans is often the one doing the clowning around in these photos. Not always, of course. But enough to make you think that he was having a better time than many. So here he is at the beach with friends, stretched out on some shipwreck tossed up on who knows what shoreline. Hans is the one in the middle of the group, arms outstretched.
What? Another party? I think this must be the same group as some other shots I have of Hans and they seem to have been taken at many different locales. A traveling party. This time Hans has the cigar, making him a bit easier to find.
And then there’s this one. No date on this school photo. Probably around 1895? A ten year old Hans, perhaps? By now your eye is tuned up and ready to find a smaller version of Hans, even without the mustache and cigar. Got him? Front row, second from right. That’s him.
And finally, just for fun:
There were several like this. Crazy big groups, many taken at the beach. And yes, Hans is in there. Here’s a close up view to help you spot him:
How did Hans wind up with photos – several photos – of group shots like this? Maybe it was just like now, when you’re at Disneyland or some other tourist spot and a photographer offers to take your picture. Of course, in Hans’ day it would have required a great deal of time between shooting the photo, printing it (with chemistry!), mailing it, payments back and forth, etc. Who knows how long it took for all that.
So that’s our little game of Find HH for the day. Enjoy!
