Carpenters Newville Avenue and Karen Photos from Dec 1982

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

I have never seen these photos before, especially the 2 of Karen from December 1982 with her dog. The photo of Karen w/ her dad I have seen but not this good quality. The photos of Newville Avenue really give you an idea of what it must have been like when the Carpenters lived there, an inside look at what it was like then.

There is also a photo of what appears to be Karen's stuffed animals, it looks like a snoopy and that winnie the pooh (head down in pic) looks an awful alot like that photo from that person who was selling stuff from Karen's condo.

Here is the link to the photos: (scroll to the top)

http://www.flickr.com/groups/thecarpenters/pool/with/1190689838/#photo_1190689838

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

Thinking about these 2 photos of Karen with Mush, I'm not so sure they were from Dec 1982, because her hair looks too short. I agree about the one with her and Harold being Dec 1982. It almost looks like Karen is wearing that same shirt with the red collar as she wore with her parents outside. What do you think? This photo below looks more like 1981 or could this be Dec 82?

 

[SongForYou]

I think the above photo might be fom 82 for some reason. God, just look at this photo for proof of what her family (aka Agnes) did to her...

 

[newvillefan]

The above photo was taken in April 1982, when Karen returned from New York for a brief stay in Downey and recorded tracks such as 'Now' and 'You're Enough'. Check out Karen's top with the picture of the Empire States Building on it .

The photos of Karen with her dog definitely look like 1981 to me. If you compare them with the photo of Karen with her dad at Christmas 1982, her hair is much longer on that photo. I'd even say it's April 1981 as well, as Chris points out, she's wearing the exact same outfit as the picture taken outside the house with Agnes and Harold.

That 1982 photo is very cool to see by the way, that's a first for me. It's scary to look at because you can see right there exactly what Richard meant when he said there was no life left in her eyes. You can definitely see that in this photo. Also, that's the same outfit she wore in January when she attended the Grammy Awards:

 

[newvillefan]

Correction on the above, April 1982 not April 1981

 

[Rick-An Ordinary Fool]

Stephen, you confused me when you change your dates lol. The thing is those 2 photos of Karen and Mush, if you look at one of them closely you will see a christmas tree in the background. So those had to be Dec 81. I'm thinking? It's obvious the tree looks different than the Dec 82 photo.

That leads me to wonder if the outside photo was also Dec 81 or maybe your right the outside photo could be April 81 and she wore that sweatshirt again in Dec.

 

[newvillefan]

Sorry for the confusion Chris! My bad

I do know the photos with the Mush are not from December 1982 as stated. During '81 into '82, she wore her hair quite short as we also see in these photos. So I'd agree with you it's likely Christmas 1981, given that there's clearly a Christmas tree in the background (tinsel etc). She looked quite different by the time she was finished with the New York therapy at the end of '82.

I did spot something else though that defines the timeline even more. Look at the second photo of her with Mush: she's not wearing her wedding ring, the third finger of her hand is clearly visible in the shot. So this must be after 25th October 1981, the night they went out to dinner to celebrate Harold's birthday and Tom walked out on her at the house afterwards.

 

[cam89]

The bottom of the shirt says LOVES NY...but I don't or can't see any writing on the bottom of the one where she is standing in front of the house with her parents....

 

[newvillefan]

The bottom of the shirt says LOVES NY...but I don't or can't see any writing on the bottom of the one where she is standing in front of the house with her parents....

If it's two different times, I'd still say the photos with Mush are of Karen at Christmas 1981. She would have already started her sessions in New York and returned home for the holidays, which is where the LOVES NY top may have been bought. To my eyes, she does look worse in the photo outside the house which was taken April 1982, which ties in with Richard's comments that when she came back for a visit, "the sight of Karen shook us all". The confusion seems to lie in the fact that she's wearing pretty much the same outfit in the photos inside and outside the house.

 

[Dave60640]

Whenever they were taken, thank you for sharing. I love seeing "new" pictures and the Mush photos really capture KC as an unassuming, genuine person, not persona. Her gentle, sweet (I hate to say it) girl-next-door side really shows here.

 

[John McGowan]

Hi! I am completely brand new to this forum so please forgive me if I'm still learning as I go along. Very soon I will be buying my first house. It has been a dream of mine to recreate the Mediterranean dining room chair and table set that was once a part of the Newville house. I was fortunate enough to visit Downey and talk with the owners back in 2011, but unfortunately this set was sold at the Carpenters yard sale they had.


Does anyone have, or know where to locate pictures of the dining room set? I know a company who will gladly customize a dining room set to any design I would want so this dream can finally become reality with a little help. Any ideas would be most appreciated.

Thanks,

John

 

[ullalume]

Thinking about these 2 photos of Karen with Mush, I'm not so sure they were from Dec 1982, because her hair looks too short. I agree about the one with her and Harold being Dec 1982. It almost looks like Karen is wearing that same shirt with the red collar as she wore with her parents outside. What do you think? This photo below looks more like 1981 or could this be Dec 82?

Just realized that Agnes has her hand around Karen's shoulder in the above April '82 photo. Maybe she was starting to be more demonstrative toward the end after all.