Masha Blumen 1909

Masha Blumen 1909

L.A. Bloom was the oldest of 7 children, two boys (Sasha was the youngest) and 5 girls between them: Rita, Anna, Sonia, Masha, and Luba. In this picture Masha is depicted in 1909 at the age of perhaps 8 or 9. She died 9 years later in 1918 of the world pandemic of that year. Undoubtedly, it was in her memory that Rita named Masha Grodsky Odinak.

Research shows that the photography studio which took the picture was prominent, which must have meant that the family was financially successful, otherwise, how else would they have afforded to spend money on a photograph.

The photograph was taken by William Louis Koehne Photography studio at one of his three locations in Chicago. Koehne was a prominent photographer in Chicago.

<a href="https://www.cabinetcardgallery.com/tag/william-koehne">William Koehne</a>

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The photograph was taken by the Koehne & Bretzman studio in Chicago, Illinois. William L. Koehne (1869-1965) was a prominent portrait photographer in the windy city. One source reports that he was a photographer for the Chicago Tribune. Charles F. Bretzman was born in Germany in 1866 and emigrated to the United States at age 19. He settled in New York and found a photo studio job. He came to Chicago in 1894 and worked there six years until he moved to Indianapolis where he opened his own studio and worked as a staff photographer for three newspapers.

1909

1909

1909