Studio photograph of Mary Ann as a Maid in the Revellers Court, 1938–1939
Book 2, Page 172 ·1938–1939
Transcription
A black-and-white studio photograph of a young woman, hair softly waved, seated on a low cube-shaped pedestal in front of a cloudy painted backdrop. She wears a fringed knee-length costume — a fitted bodice with appliquéd Maltese-cross emblem at the breast, a fringed skirt, and a single feather rising from her beaded headband. Cross-gartered sandals laced up the calf complete the costume. Her hands are folded in her lap and she gazes calmly to one side.
Pencil caption beneath the print, in two lines:
Mary Ann — Maid in Revellers Court during her debut year 1938–1939
AI Notes
Album page with a single black-and-white studio photograph mounted at center. The image shows a young woman seated on a low square pedestal in front of a painted cloudy backdrop, wearing a fringed costume tunic with a Maltese-cross emblem on the breast, a feathered headband, and laced cross-gartered sandals running up the calf. Her expression is poised and confident; her hands rest in her lap. The print is captioned by hand in pencil along the lower margin and is paired with the related Ye Mystic Revellers program cover on page 173. The caption reads: ‘Mary Ann — Maid in Revellers Court during her debut year 1938-1939.’ Mary Ann Walker (b. 8 Jun 1918) would have been age 20 in the 1938-1939 ball season — debut age. The ‘Ye Mystic Revellers’ carnival society was founded in Jacksonville, FL, in the 1930s.
See the Ye Mystic Revellers 1939 program cover mounted on page 173. “Ye Mystic Revellers” was a Jacksonville, Florida carnival society whose annual ball featured a court of debutante maids. Mary Ann Walker, the compiler’s youngest daughter, would have been twenty at her 1938-1939 debut.