This photograph shows a group of coworkers at an unidentified location. A man at lower right is conspicuously holding what appears to be a screwdriver.
The man at far left is wearing an apron with something dark on it, perhaps oil or ink. The man next to him is holding a pencil. Between them a woman’s hand is visible which also has something dark on it. She’s trying not to touch her skirt with it.
You can see her below in a group with three other women standing arm-in-arm.
The brick building behind them doesn’t look old, but may have been added to an older wooden building at far right. Fleur-de-lys ornamentation is just visible there.
Here you can see the whole thing in higher resolution, divided into two parts. Click on either half, then select “View full size” in the lower right corner of your screen. After the image loads, you can click it to expand it to full size:
Tokens of Companionship 
Any idea what is between the two doors on the left? Is it a plate of some sort or a hanging picture? And can I ask – what resolution do you scan at? If you could use a very high res (say, 1200 ppi), without any automatic image correction (so that it doesn’t wipe out any detail by over-exposing it) – you should be able to see the very tiny detail. (Though unless you have a lot of storage space, I wouldn’t recommend this for all photos! I scan postcard size photos at a minimum of 600ppi – 800 ppi and smaller between 800 and 1200 (occasionally higher, depending on what I can’t see!)
This is a fascinating photo. I wonder if both photos were impromptu and the men were just called to join in?
The girl with her fingers splayed out does look like she’s trying not to get it on her dress, and I wonder why the girl to her right (our left) is holding on to her like that – maybe restraining her? She doesn’t look like she’s in a very good mood, does she?
I note that only one person is wearing a hat. I wonder why?
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I scan at the same resolutions you do, Val. I’m pretty sure the thing hanging between the doors is a thermometer with some kind of writing on it, probably advertising. I went up to 1600 dpi but still couldn’t read it. Frustrating! Maybe I’ll go back and scan just that part of the image at 2400 and see if something becomes visible. It could be the key that unlocks the location of these photos.
I think the girl with the dark bow is simply embracing the one with the dirty hand in an assertive way. She may be annoyed that she ended up behind the other three.
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The girls n the photos look rather too well-dressed to be factory workers,maybe they’re retail assistants. Anyway, they are good pics to have in your collection.
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Thank you, Judith!
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