Dormer, Dormer and Dormer

No, not a bunch of lawyers, just a photograph in the family's possession of the three brothers. From left to right they are Ted, Joe and Ernie Dormer.

Ted, on the left, is Georgia and Nancy’s great grandfather. The connection is shown in the diagram at the foot of this post. All three are looking very smart - they have handkerchiefs tucked into their breast pockets and although this is only a sepia photo it looks though they are all wearing very similar light ties with a bold pattern.

Ted, Joe and Ernie Dormer
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They each have a tie-pin, not at the bottom of the tie keeping the tie from flapping in the wind - their buttoned-up double-breasted jackets would do that - but at the top of the tie and behind it, holding down the collar. An expert on the fashions of the day could probably put a rough date to the photo just from that one clue; sadly I am no fashion expert. Their shoes all look highly polished and shiny and Ernie has smart pin-stripe trousers.

When was the photo taken? Well, Ernie, the eldest, was born in 1910, Ted in 1911 and Joe, the youngest, in 1915. By scanning the image, Microsoft’s How-Old.net estimates their ages as Ted, twenty; Joe, thirteen; and Ernie, forty seven (!). It does show shows their gender correctly as male. My own guess is that they are from mid to late teens. If Ernie is, say, nineteen, then that would make Ted eighteen and Joe fourteen and the photo would have been taken in the late 1920s or early 1930s, about 85 years ago at the time of writing.

How-Old.net's guesstimate of their ages - I don't think they got Ernie's quite right!

Where was the photo taken? I can’t even give an approximation here. They appear to be standing together on a balcony and the two letters ‘U’ and ‘N’ appear in reverse on the left-hand side of the picture, with the word ‘THE’ below the ‘U’ and the ‘N’. Not much of a clue there, then, and there is nothing written on the back of the original.

So there you have it. Three smart young lads, out and about, all dressed up in their best finery. I’d love to have known what the occasion was…

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