Being able to view the Coronado Grammar School, as written in on the page selected from this scrapbook, is wonderful considering how clear the photo is. The photos on the second page of this selection mentions famous Coronado photographer Harold A. Taylor. It writes, “First job printing and developing film at Harold A. Taylor’s - April 16 - 1921.” One has a single exposure depicting the San Diego Harbor, whereas the second, with the writing mentioning Taylor, is a double exposure of the paper to the film.
There is more to learn about the West in the early 20th century through looking at this scrapbook. Moving between San Diego, Mexico, and a variety of National Parks, the Holmes Family scrapbook tells the story of what it was like to live at the beginning of the 1900s. On page 114 there is a small piece of paper asking to prevent wildfires in National Parks, such as today’s Smokey the Bear (who wasn’t created until 1944). Glimpses like this into the past show how similar life and the way people choose to document it is to today.
