Store owner? | J. M. Shafer Staff Photographer Altoona Mirror
Auto mechanic? | J. M. Shafer Staff Photographer Altoona Mirror
J. M. Shafer Staff Photographer Altoona Mirror
This man shows up in several of these photos! | J. M. Shafer Staff Photographer Altoona Mirror
J. M. Shafer Staff Photographer Altoona Mirror
Grandma in middle | J. M. Shafer Staff Photographer Altoona Mirror
Goby with a male cast member (maybe director?) | J. M. Shafer Staff Photographer Altoona Mirror
Goby in diner | J. M. Shafer Staff Photographer Altoona Mirror
J. M. Shafer Staff Photographer Altoona Mirror
I found these photos among my maternal grandmother’s memoirs of her time as a vaudeville performer. They were all stamped on the back:
J. M. SHAFER
STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
ALTOONA MIRROR
These nine photos were among my grandmother’s photos of her time as a trouper with Egyptian Follies. I searched the Internet for information about J. M. Shafer and found this mention of his time as a staff photographer with the Altoona Mirror in an obituary:
Mr. Shafer retired as photographer on May 21, 1980 [sic. Must have been 1970.], after more than 41 years’ service. He began his service with the Mirror on March 8, 1929, as a messenger to Daniel N. Step, president and publisher.
On March 8, 1933, he became the first staff photographer under the late J. Edward Benney, then city editor.
–Altoona Mirror [edits mine]
References
Altoona Mirror. (1983, August 5). Retired Mirror employee dies. Death Record, p. 4. Altoona, Blair County, PA: Altoona Mirror. Retrieved from http://boards.ancestry.com/surnames.shafer/739/mb.ashx
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