As mentioned in the post about the Junction Civic Club, Edward Zygila was a well-known photographer in Toledo’s Polonia, having two photography studios, one in Lagrinka off of Lagrange Street and the other in the Kuschwantz on Junction Avenue. For a time, his location in the Kuschwantz was on Nebraska Avenue.

For a number of years, Edward had a partner named John Mroczka. Eventually John Mroczka left to go to Cleveland, but he and Edward had a thriving business and eventually Zygila’s Photo Studio was a family business for Edward and his wife, Katherine Perzynski. Edward’s daughter, Delphine, became known as the “Snapshot’s daughter” in the neighborhood. Zygila’s Photo Studio advertised frequently in the local high school yearbooks and newspapers. It seemed most of his business was word of mouth as I’ve found almost no advertisements for his studio in the Toledo News Bee or Toledo Blade from about the time he began his studio with John Mroczka about 1916-1917. For a time they were also advertising in the Toledo Union Journal after Edward’s death in 1940. However, he did a large business with portraits, wedding photography, event photography, including high school year book portraits.

Edward was robbed on 9 April 1937 and what little news I was able to gather indicates he was injured in the robbery and did not recover fully. He died a little over three years later on 9 July 1940. His wife continued on with the business for a while as I have found some advertisements for the studio in the Toledo Union Journal in the early 1940s.

Occasionally, you may come across an older wedding or group photo in Toledo and see the Zygila name on the photo or the cardboard frame.

While trying to find information on Edward Zygila’s photo studio, I literally stumbled on Kentucky Kindred Genealogy. A post was made there that identifies a photo as taken by Zygila V. Mroozkos at 902 Junction Ave., Toledo, Ohio. Knowing what little I do about the Zygila photography business, I believe this was Edward Zygila’s work.

I believe the Mroozkos name is a poor transcription of Edward’s partner’s name. John Mroczka left for Cleveland sometime before Edward’s death in 1940. If you can identify one or more of the persons in the photo in the link above, please contact me or leave a comment on Kentucky Kindred Genealogy’s blog. It would be interesting to learn how a photo from Toledo’s Kuschwantz landed in Kentucky.