WE have a photo of my Great Grandfather from around 1920 - 1925 we
believe.  On his shirt it says LIFE and than BPO (or BPQ) and the
third line says GUARD.  It is a very similar outfit to the publicly
available photo of Ronald Reagan as a Life Guard (tank top and
bottoms)....excpet on my great
grandather's it says "BPO" or BPQ.  He was born in 1904 in Manhattan
an Irish/Ukrainian American in 1904 and also lived in the Bronx.  Can
you help me identify where he was a lifeguard.  He looks like he is
standing in sand with an overpass behind him of some sort and a house
beyond that.

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Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 09 Jul 2006 15:07 PDT

Is it possible that your grandfather was a member of the Elks?

BPO is a part of the organization's formal name:


http://www.elks.org/

Let us know what you think.


pafalafa-ga

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Clarification of Question by nyma-ga on 10 Jul 2006 08:31 PDT

not sure about the Elks.  I know his son was an elk.  i have searched
around and cant find any elk lifeguards.  With the overpass I suspect
this may have been Rockaway Beach, Breezy Point or Coney Island

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Request for Question Clarification by tutuzdad-ga on 10 Jul 2006 08:42 PDT

Here are some lifeguards from Rockaway Beach in the 1920's. Is this
the uniform shown in your photo? If so, then this is probably the
place. On a longshot, you may even see your grandfather in this photo.

http://www.farrockaway.com/lifeguardsfrom1920a.jpg

Let me know.

tutuzdad-ga

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Clarification of Question by nyma-ga on 10 Jul 2006 09:18 PDT

wow great photo - it's not the same however.  Same outfit but instead
of the emblem in the middle is just the letters BPO (or BPQ).  One
thing that is similar is that it looks like the same type of overpass!
This is the fist time I have used google answers - thank you all for the help!!!

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Request for Question Clarification by tutuzdad-ga on 10 Jul 2006 09:23 PDT

I don't think the structure in thhis photo (and presumably the one in
yours) is an overpass, rather I'm fairly certain it is a pier. One
other thing to note is the the Boy Scouts of America also has
lifeguards and frequently had patches in the middle of the uniforms
that said BSA. This might also be a possibility unless of course you
are absolutely certain it says BPO.

tutuzdad-ga

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Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 10 Jul 2006 09:28 PDT

Any chance you could upload a copy of the picture so we could have a
look at it?  If it's Coney Island, there's a chance I'll recognize it,
as I grew up near there.

paf

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Clarification of Question by nyma-ga on 10 Jul 2006 19:08 PDT

thanks for all the feedback - not sure how to post the photo (can't do
it here can I)?  The photo from Rockaway absolutely looks the same (i
dont see the lifeguard house but a pier (or what i first called an
overpass).  of course i should have realized that an overpass would
not be typically over sand.

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Request for Question Clarification by tutuzdad-ga on 11 Jul 2006 06:37 PDT

To post your photo you'll need to sign up to one of the free image
hosting sites. Post your image. copy the link to it and post the link
here. We'll take a look at the photo for you.

Google: ://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=free+image+hosting

tutuzdad-ga

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Clarification of Question by nyma-ga on 11 Jul 2006 09:26 PDT

THANK YOU!!  Here is the image

http://img244.imageshack.us/img244/3231/lifeguard6ya.jpg

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Clarification of Question by nyma-ga on 12 Jul 2006 19:20 PDT

thank you tutuzdad-ga.  i really appreciate your comments!

BPO probably means 'Bathing Pool Orderly' and the presence of sand
certainly eliminates Brighton Beach (here in the UK) because it is
entirely shingle.

In that context B N O is more likely the initials of the beach or pool
Organisation he worked for.
Try for local names

B N O, Kemlo?

Now, where did you get that from?

Sorry  a typo 
The N is next to the O  and I pushed the rong one
Kemln

The 'n' is next to 'o'?

Not on my keyboard ...

Have you been imbibing again?

Having seen the image, I believe that the Life Guard in question was
working for the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra who were having a day
out, probably at Coney Island.

Good try, PB, but the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra wasn't founded until 1979:
http://www.bostonphil.org/history.htm

The more usually known "BPO", the Boston Pops Ochestra under Arthur
Fiedler, was also founded much later than the photo.

Perhaps it was the Bronx Philharmonic!

Sorry. Still a mystery to me for the moment. I originally thought it
might be BPO which might have stood for Beach Patrol Officer or some
such position but I've found no certain indication of that. As for the
"pier", I now believe it is a boardwalk. I would also draw your
attention to the burned place on the photo. Note that there appear to
be two or three words on the wall in the background, one situated on
top of another. The top word appears to begin with "M". The second
word begins with what appears to be an "A" and the bottom word (if
there is one) is unreadable.

I know it's not much help, but those are my observations.

Good luck;
tutuzdad-ga

If it is a "Q" - could it be for Queens.  Breezy Point is in Queens. 
They also have a pier.  How old it is though, I don't know.  A
suggestion would be to contact a historical society in that area or a
library with a genealogy collection.  Both of these organizations
sometimes collect old photographs and they may know more of a similiar
one.

On a side note, I wanted to comment under your cause of death
question, but am unable.  I keep getting a "Log In to Comment" button
which justs keeps looping me around.  So for that question, a thought
would be to track down the funeral home.  Sometimes older funeral home
records have more information than what is collected today.  Just an
idea.

roosevelt1904

I come from the Bronx and have seen that background before, possibly
in a Bronx history book, but I just can't place it.

You might want to send a copy of your photo to Bill Twomey at the
Bronx Times Reporter @ 1111 Calhoun Avenue, Bronx, NY 10465.  He's a
Bronx historian and if anyone would know it would be him.

Good Luck!