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Archives For November 30, 1999

Christmas and New Year’s Eve at Medway

By mchughck
Posted on 18 December 2014 | 10:25 am — 

Known as “Charleston’s Grandest Dame,” Gertrude celebrated New Year’s Eve with a lavish costume ball at Medway for over half a century. This post includes photos of party-goers, staff, and menus, as well as Gertie’s annual Christmas card sent to friends and family.

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Gertie as a showgirl, circa 1950

 

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Gertie and Bokara, 1955

 

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Gertie was sure to get photos of each guest in full costume upon their arrival, 1955

 

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Two guests, 1955

 

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Bokara and guests, 1955

 

 

 

 

 

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Opulent dinner in full costume, 1955

 

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The buffet line, 1955

 

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A full band plays the night away, 1955

 

 

Christmas dinner, circa 1926-1929

Christmas dinner, circa 1929-1932

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Gertie’s Christmas card, undated

 

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Christmas, 1973

 

 

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Christmas, 1972

 

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Christmas, 1974

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“The whole staff, Christmas ’56”

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“Xmas Day – ’56”

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Gertie’s Christmas card the year after she returned from being a German Prisoner of War during WWII.

 

 

 

Bokara Legendre

By mchughck
Posted on 14 November 2014 | 11:40 am — 

Gertrude’s second daughter, Bokara (affectionately nicknamed “Bo” or “Bobo” for short), was born in 1940. Below are some photos of Bokara at Medway, in New  York (NY), and with Landine and Gertrude.

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Bokara dining with Gertrude

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Young Bokara, undated 1943

 

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Bokara with Gertrude, 1943

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Bokara with Landine, undated 1943

Bokara with actors Darryl Hickman, Monica Moran, and Kevin 				McCarthy, undated

Bokara with actors Darryl Hickman, Monica Moran, and Kevin McCarthy, undated
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Bokara in New York (NY), undated

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Bokara at Medway, undated

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Bokara with Landine and Gertrude in the “Trophy Room” at Medway, undated

 

Scrapbook conservation

By mchughck
Posted on 13 May 2014 | 9:29 am — 

This collection includes a large amount of scrapbooks and photo albums created with a wide variety of bindings, papers, and photo types. Some of the albums are in great shape, and others are in need of a lot of TLC.

The first scrapbook I worked with is “Around the World, 1963.” It includes ticket stubs, brochures, and 3×5 photographs chronicling Gertrude and Bokara Legendre’s mother/daughter worldwide excursion in 1963. This album has sustained significant water damage, and almost all of the materials had to be removed from the original binding and placed in chemically inert enclosures. Scroll through the photos for more details!

Original binding

Original binding

 

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Severe water damage. All pages had to be removed from original plastic page covers, and all photos and ephemera were removed and placed in archival enclosures.

 

 

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Side view of album before conservation

 

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All pages had to be kept, because each photo included a handwritten title below it! We matched each photo with its corresponding title before disassembling the album.

 

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Original spine rusting and damage

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The finished product!

 

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This is what the album looks like now! All materials are safely cataloged and will remain preserved for future research.

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