Maternal Grandmother - Hachfeld History

An old family photo with 6 boys standing behind a man and woman who are sitting. One of the boys holds a photograph.

What We Know

Nothing was written on the back of this photo.
Photo was taken in Munkács, Austria-Hungary.
“Locker István” is the photographer.
One of the boys is holding a photo of two unidentified people.

Hypotheses

Family Unit: 2 parents and 6 sons OR 2 grandparents, 2 fathers, and 4 grandsons
The unidentified people seem to be a man and woman, but the photo is blurry. It could be a photo of the two oldest people before they had children.

István Locker

After googling this name, I found a couple other photos taken by the same photographer.

The mounting of this cabinet card is similar to the mystery photo. The logo is identical.

Eperjes, Hungary is known today as Prešov, Slovakia. He also could’ve had multiple photography studios, or he might’ve moved at some point during his life.

Nóra Mészöly (Flickr)
*Cousins of the Lovcsányi Family*

According to Nóra (Nori) Mészöly’s post, Istvan Locker was born 1872 and died 1953. Part of the background in this photo is identical to my mystery photo.

If we assume that István didn’t start his photography studio until at least age 18, the photo was taken between 1890 and 1953.

The older boy on the right resembles Anton, slightly younger than when his military photo was taken. The military photo was taken between 1914-1917, and Anton was born in 1896. His approximate age in the mystery photo is between 13 and 21.

If this boy is Anton, that narrows the date range to between 1909 and 1917.

Anton’s known siblings are:

Minnie (born 1883) immigrated to Duluth in 1903.
Michael (born 1885) immigrated to Duluth between 1904-1908
John (born 1887) immigrated to Duluth between 1910-1911
Josef (born 1891) was still in Czechoslovakia when the 1921 census was recorded. He was the head of household. His mother Anna, wife Anna, brother Anton, and son Johannes (born 1920) were living with him.

Theory

The photo was taken around the beginning of WW1. I think that the two oldest people sitting down are Anton’s parents, Anna and Anton. The older boy on the left is Josef, on the right is Anton. The four younger boys are Josef’s children.

This is only a theory.

Do you see something I missed? Recognize the people in the photo?

Comment down below.

A Mysterious Love Letter

T(isztelt) Womácska/o Boriska kisasszonynak
Német Kucsova út
Munkács
Bereg megye

H(onoured) Miss Womácska/o Boriska
Németkucsova Street
Munkács
Bereg County

Kedves Boriska,
it(t) küldöm magamat néked.
Isten véled aviszt látásig.
Ölelem a k(edves) szüleidet is a Teréz is sokat/soksz.

Dear Boriska,
I’m sending myself here.
Goodbye until we meet again.
Hugs to your dear parents and Teréz too.

A variant of the given name Borbala, Boriska is a Hungarian girl’s name. In English, Borbala is equivalent to Barbara. The sister of Anton’s future wife, Barbara Vomacsko, was Terezia, born in 1903. Barbara may have been known by the nickname Boriska.

This may explain the unidentified “Boris Vomacsko” who announced Maria Vomacsko’s death in 1911.

Tracing the History of A Military Photo

Anton Pfeifer is pictured wearing the uniform of the Austro-Hungarian army sometime between 1914 and 1918. At this time, his village of Németkucsova was part of Austria-Hungary.

While I do not have any official records of his service, the specific nature of Austro-Hungarian uniforms allows me to gather information about his rank and time period of service through this photo.

In 1869, the Austro-Hungarian army replaced their white uniforms with dark blue (dunkelblau) ones. When World War I began, they switched to the M1908 pike grey (hechtgrau) field tunic (feldbluse). It is likely that this is the uniform worn by Anton in the photo. Later on, the field grey color (feldgrau) was introduced as supplies allowed, replacing the pike grey.

From Head to Toe

In the photo, Anton can be seen wearing a ski cap known as a feldkappe. The cap has flaps that can be pulled over the ears for warmth, and a royal cypher emblem on top. By 1917, the feldkappe was replaced by helmets, so the photo was likely taken before this time.

In the photo, Anton’s stand-up collar does not display any stars indicating his rank. This means he was a private, also known as a gemeiner. The stand-up collars were eventually replaced with stand and fall collars due to discomfort. Anton is also wearing a stock tie, or halsbinde, to protect his neck from irritation.

Upon closer examination, Anton’s upper right leg and pant seams appear to have woolen decoration, which is a signature of the Hungarian army. However, it is difficult to confirm this for certain. Anton is also wearing gaiters, which suggests that he was an infantryman.

What About the Pom-Poms?

Qualification lanyards were given to soldiers who demonstrated proficiency in certain skills, such as marksmanship or engineering. Based on the fact that Anton was an infantryman, it can be inferred that he earned his lanyard through his marksmanship skills. The lanyard would have been either red or green in color.

Sources

Austro-Hungarian Army Marksmanship Lanyards

Galician soldier’s equipment of the 13th Infantry Regiment

Category: Maternal Grandmother

The Stoic Family of Eight by Istvan Locker