What's Your Name (The Rabbit Hole)

What I know: This fantastic photograph came from Pat Sides Jennings' collection, so these are likely Mariencheck or Durling ancestors. Piecing together clues from the image itself revealed the entrance to a rabbit hole that I’m trying desperately not to dive into head first. For example: The quilt behind the woman shows 9 country flags. Top left is Greece, top center is Panama, top right is Argentina, and obviously the center square is the U.S. flag. Did the woman make this quilt? Or is it simply a prop? What’s the significance of these flags as a group? What are the other five? The other photographs behind the couple do not seem to be additional photographs of them. So who are they? Are they relatives and friends or simply props? Finally, the photographer: The stamp on the photo reads Mitchell Art Studio Mitchell St. Milwaukee. Mitchell Art Studio, located at 478 Mitchell Street, was operated by photographer Bruno Koszewski. He appeared as such in census records and Milwaukee city directories in 1920, 1924, 1925, and 1929. Based on the clothing styles (and the disappointing fact that I can’t find much about Mr. Koszewski past 1929), we can narrow our field of possibilities to 1920-1930.

Time to play! The couple appears to be in their 20s, so let’s cast the net toward Mariencheck and Durling ancestors who were 18-25 between 1920 and 1930. That leaves us 6 possibilities: •    Genevieve Mariencheck (born 1906) •    Joseph E. O’Callaghan (born 1898) •    Joseph W. Mariencheck (born 1908) •    Lynn Sides (born 1909) •    Martin O’Callaghan (born 1895) •    Philip W. “Buster” Mariencheck (born 1910) Lynn Sides was the first husband of Theresa Mariencheck. However, Lynn and Theresa didn’t marry until 1935. That’s beyond the scope of our time range. Also, that’s definitely not Theresa in the photograph. So Lynn can safely be eliminated from the suspect list. Although Buster Mariencheck does fall into our range, he’s the youngest of our group and would’ve only been 20 in 1930. And, this man doesn’t look like Buster to me. I’m eliminating him as well. That leaves Genevieve, Joseph O., Joseph M., and Martin. Here’s where I confess: I REALLY want this to be a picture of Genevieve and Joseph O’Callaghan. A year before his death, my grandfather, Buddy Mariencheck (Genevieve’s brother) gave me one of her diaries. Since reading it, I’ve felt like I know her and have been searching for a picture of her ever since. Genevieve married Joseph “Happy” O’Callaghan in 1926. She was 20 years old that year and Happy was 28. Do you know who this is? If you have photos of Genevieve, Happy, Joe Mariencheck, or Martin O'Callaghan (Happy's brother), please share them with us! Special thanks to the wonderful librarians in the Humanities Department of the Milwaukee Public Library for their research assistance with Mr. Koszewski.