Friday's Faces from the Past: Mystery Lady

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GeneaBloggers just added Friday's Faces from the Past to it's list of daily prompts! Here is what they wrote:

Friday’s Faces from the Past – NEW! – Have you come across photos with people and places that you can’t identify? Do you rescue “orphaned photos” at flea markets and antique shops? Or do you just want to tell the story behind a cherished family photo? Friday’s Faces from the Past is a way to highlight photos, of known ancestors or complete unknowns suggested by Smadar Belkin Gerson of Past-Present-Future.

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Today I give you a lady from the past. There are only two clues to help identify this elegant lady. The first, this photo postcard was printed in a studio in Philadelphia. The second, the photo was on the same Kranowitz cousins page as the boy with the bicycle from last Friday's post. Next to this beautiful woman's portrait was a photograph of Bernard Kranowitz and another of his nephew Harold Eisenberg (son of Bertha Kranowitz), both from New Britain, Connecticut. On the opposite page of the album, two pictures of Louis Kranowitz, all properly labeled except for the Philadelphia lady.

Aaron and Sophie Kranowitz of New Britain had five children, Louis, William, Bernard, Lena and Bertha. I have photos the first four, but not Bertha. They were my great-grandmother Minnie's first cousins. Minnie speaks very highly of their family in her memoir. Their home was open to Minnie and each of her siblings when the first arrived in America.

Lena E. Kranowitz of Mason Drive, New Britain, CT

I have an old Newspaper clipping of Lena Kranowitz. Lena, the chairman of the Benefit Fund for Refugee Children seems slightly older than the woman in question, but certainly shows some resemblance. I can not rule out that the unidentified lady is a younger Lena, or her sister Bertha.  I don't know enough about their lives to know what either of the Kranowitz sisters would have been doing in Pennsylvania. To my knowledge they were both longtime residents of New Britain, Connecticut, which suggests our mystery lady may not be a Kranowitz after all. (According to the 1934 New Britain Directory, Lena resided with her sister Bertha's family on 73 Mason Drive).

I've made a note to check out all of the New Britain's high-school yearbooks when I visit the local library. Until then, I welcome all of your input!

Have a wonderful weekend!

More from Friday's Faces from the Past:
A Bicycle & A Boy
A Success Story
Mystery Man
Harrison
Goldie and Bobbie Rosenbaum
Julius Burakoff