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Third Cliff House

"Elenore Rahnn, 1915" (rev)
Note: although entirely speculative there is an individual named Elenore Rahnn in the Ancestry.com database who could be a match:
SSDI: born 29 Sept 1910 Cal, died July 4, 2001, buried in Cypress Lawn, Colma along with husband Benton Porter Price.

Images courtesy of Sean William Nolan

"Barry Hamilton & Ben"
"Ben Alexander, Famous child star / in Griffith movies"
Image courtesy of Dennis O'Rorke
(reverse)

Picture of Ben Alexander for reference
Source: https://www.picsofcelebrities.com/celebrity/ben-alexander-actor
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0018273/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm

man holding flowers (reverse)

The below photos are courtesy of the John Freeman Collection

Laurette (Hallum) Noble (L) & friend (R)
Scan courtesy of Devin

"November 7, 1926"

John Freeman Collection

Partial translation of the reverse

"ON OUR HONEY MOON", dated June 10 1924 on reverse
(rev)

Billington's Studio Car License Plate

The license plate on the prop car shown in the below photographs belonged to John R. Billington, who was a photographer near Cliff House. The June, 1913 list of California Registered Motor Vehicles proves that this license plate number was assigned to him. Not only that, but we also know from the 1914 list that the car it was attached to was a 1913 Kissel Kar. Furthermore, we know that he was the first person ever assigned California license plate number 108986 because this number was never issued until June, 1913.

The year 1913 was the last year that California citizens had to supply their own license plates. They were given a small disc with a number on it, and they then took it to someone and they made up the license plates. This led to a variety of license plate styles being seen on California cars. A simple Internet search will show plates made of leather, porcelain, metal, wood, and occasionally another material. Many states had similar systems in place.

The year 1914 would see California issue their first standardized license plate. This resulted in Billington being assigned a new license plate number for 1914, and it made the 1913 license plate available to be attached to the studio car. Therefore any photos with the 108986 license plate must have been taken in 1914 or later.

Ace Zenek, automobile historian (10/5/2016).

California Registered Motor Vehicles, June 1913

Courtesy of Dennis O'Rorke

Courtesy of John Freeman

Ella Cruise, Florence Cruise, and Aileen Cruise. (They are sisters.)
Courtesy of Thomas J. Brugge

Courtesy of Dennis O'Rorke

Note the mirrored background image. It is assumed that the paintings were intentionally mirrored to compensate for tintypes, which reverse the image (example).
Later photographic processes did not mirror the image, leaving the painting mirrored instead.

Reverse: "TAKEN AT THE CLIFF HOUSE, SAN FRANCISCO CAL, BY J. R. BILLINGTON" (image)

"This is Joe Housel, who married my mother's cousin, Margaret. Joe managed the Cliff House and the
St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco and later managed a hotel in Hawaii. He was a very nice person."

Image courtesy of Dennis O'Rorke

ebay image