#PC89
Ca. 1940s
Oblong Quarto (ca. 17x27 cm or 6 ¾ x 10 ¾ in). 23 card stock leaves. 113 mounted gelatin silver photos from ca. 7.5 x 5 cm (3 x 2 in) to ca. 13 x 11 cm (5 x 4 ¼ in). Period brown album; front cover soft sheep with colour stamped title and vignette; back cover brown cloth; binding fastened with a string. Period inscription on front cover. Binding rubbed on extremities, several mounts with minor tears and creases, a few photos mildly faded or with mild silvering, but overall a very good album with strong photos.
An interesting collection of gelatin silver photographs documenting the US Pacific campaign in the Solomon Islands (1942-45), life in Guam after the Battle of Guam (1944), and portraits of Melanesians in likely Vanuatu.
The album opens with thirteen photos showing troops and tanks, with some soldiers posing with a captured Japanese flag and fallen soldiers after battle, likely in the Solomon Islands. Three of these photos show the wreck of Yamazuki Maru, a Japanese troop transport beached and abandoned in 1942, and a salvaged Japanese submarine at Tassaforonga Point, Guadalcanal. Over sixty photographs depict Guam after US recapture in 1944. Views of Inarajan (a village on the south coast of Guam) and St. Joseph’s Church are followed by pictures of Umatac (a village on the southwest coast of Guam), including the police headquarters, school, Umatac Outdoor Library, and San Dionisio Church. Several photos feature the students and teachers of Umatac School. Many photos showcase the landscapes of Guam and the villages constructed during the rebuilding of Guam. The album includes twenty-three portraits of Chamorro (the Indigenous people of Guam) men, women, and children and four photos of traditional Chamorro dress. There are also ten portraits of Melanesian men, women, and children in traditional dress—likely Ni-Vanuatu based on clothing and cloth patterns.
Overall, a historically interesting collection of photographs showing the Solomon Islands campaign, the aftermath of the Battle of Guam, and portraits of likely Ni-Vanuatu.
