Business as usual.
The Bill Smith Family poses for a picture one gusty Sunday afternoon.
There is so much going on in this old tattered photograph.
It is not a cabinet card format. This was almost always a 3 3/4 x 5 1/2 inch photo mounted on a 4 1/4 x 6 ½ inch rigid card. That format seems rather a standard throughout the world. The photograph above is close to 4 5/8 x 7 1/8 on a card that is 6 x 8 1/2 mostly. The card is curved at the top and the left side.
The building has an oddly shaped façade on the front. There is a squared area like many shops had. But there is an added triangular area above that giving it a bit of a steeple appearance. Was it added just to cover the parts of the building that the other façade left showing? The top is cropped out. Is it a cross or just a lightning rod?
The building itself seems a rather slap-dash affair. There is sunlight streaking through the porch roof. The front of the porch roof is a wavy line supported by only four slender posts, unevenly spaced and not all exactly vertical.
There is a solitary window, 4 panes over 4 panes, toward the rear. The front has two windows each two pane over two. The back portion seems to have been part of another building at one time, but moved and tacked on the rear of this one leaving a triangular gap where the top meets. The main building is vertical board siding while the add-on is lap siding.
There are five signs visible, four on the front and one on the side of the building. Only one is legible. It says: Meals. The small one below that is probably a price.
There is a white rope attached to the building, just at the corner. The other end of the line is out of the picture on the left. There is a small white cloth or paper hanging on it. Perhaps it is a clothes line but maybe it is a line marking where the front of another building will be. There is a box of rocks behind the horses. Is the land is being cleared for another building?
There is a chest on the left end of the porch. It looks suspiciously like a coffin but is probably just a tool box for the construction starting next door.
There are eleven people, two horses and one dog.
Maybe it’s Bill Smith and a couple brothers on the right.
Bill Smith Family Detail,
originally uploaded by anyjazz65.
The same printed fabric was used for the clothing of the two women on the left end of the porch. The dress fabric on one child seems to match that of the woman just behind on the porch.
The day is cool but not cold. Some have coats and caps, others do not. The door is standing open. It is not a windy day but there was a gust just as the photograph was taken. The cape and coat tail of the man on the right is in motion. The children’s clothes seem caught the breeze, and the skirt of the girl on the porch to the right of the dog appears blurred.
There are standing pools of water on the right but the dirt in front of the building seems dry.
Let’s say it is about three in the afternoon. There is no construction going on so it must be Sunday. Church is over, some have changed clothes, some have not. It is a warm spring day. No smoke from the chimneys. There has been some recent rain but the horses’ hooves are clean and there are no deep prints visible on the ground.
Life was hard.
There is so much going on in this old tattered photograph.
It is not a cabinet card format. This was almost always a 3 3/4 x 5 1/2 inch photo mounted on a 4 1/4 x 6 ½ inch rigid card. That format seems rather a standard throughout the world. The photograph above is close to 4 5/8 x 7 1/8 on a card that is 6 x 8 1/2 mostly. The card is curved at the top and the left side.
The building has an oddly shaped façade on the front. There is a squared area like many shops had. But there is an added triangular area above that giving it a bit of a steeple appearance. Was it added just to cover the parts of the building that the other façade left showing? The top is cropped out. Is it a cross or just a lightning rod?
The building itself seems a rather slap-dash affair. There is sunlight streaking through the porch roof. The front of the porch roof is a wavy line supported by only four slender posts, unevenly spaced and not all exactly vertical.
There is a solitary window, 4 panes over 4 panes, toward the rear. The front has two windows each two pane over two. The back portion seems to have been part of another building at one time, but moved and tacked on the rear of this one leaving a triangular gap where the top meets. The main building is vertical board siding while the add-on is lap siding.
There are five signs visible, four on the front and one on the side of the building. Only one is legible. It says: Meals. The small one below that is probably a price.
There is a white rope attached to the building, just at the corner. The other end of the line is out of the picture on the left. There is a small white cloth or paper hanging on it. Perhaps it is a clothes line but maybe it is a line marking where the front of another building will be. There is a box of rocks behind the horses. Is the land is being cleared for another building?
There is a chest on the left end of the porch. It looks suspiciously like a coffin but is probably just a tool box for the construction starting next door.
There are eleven people, two horses and one dog.
Maybe it’s Bill Smith and a couple brothers on the right.
Bill Smith Family Detail,
originally uploaded by anyjazz65.
The children are holding hands; the one on the left seems to be a boy in a play smock. Children, boys and girls, both wore play smocks or dresses while they were small.
The rest of them are women.
The two on the horses are a bit of a question but most of the details visible point toward them being young women. The coat of the rider on the left, buttons right-over-left. The coat of the other is nearly obscured by the horse’s mane but seems to be the same style. The narrow shoulders and posture give them the appearance of young girls too.
It’s a toss up really.
The same printed fabric was used for the clothing of the two women on the left end of the porch. The dress fabric on one child seems to match that of the woman just behind on the porch.
The day is cool but not cold. Some have coats and caps, others do not. The door is standing open. It is not a windy day but there was a gust just as the photograph was taken. The cape and coat tail of the man on the right is in motion. The children’s clothes seem caught the breeze, and the skirt of the girl on the porch to the right of the dog appears blurred.
There are standing pools of water on the right but the dirt in front of the building seems dry.
Let’s say it is about three in the afternoon. There is no construction going on so it must be Sunday. Church is over, some have changed clothes, some have not. It is a warm spring day. No smoke from the chimneys. There has been some recent rain but the horses’ hooves are clean and there are no deep prints visible on the ground.
Life was hard.
Labels: dress, Found Photograph, Old Buildings, Old Photograph
posted by anyjazz @ 5:22 PM
6 Comments:
At Friday, February 09, 2007 2:27:00 AM,
MXI said…
I keep coming back here fascinated by your astute dissection of the photo and the very natural easy way it is written. Although I disagree on the time..I thinks closer to 2:45!
At Saturday, February 10, 2007 12:53:00 PM,
anyjazz said…
Thanks for your visit MXI. 2:45 it is! My Flickr friends and I really enjoy examining these old photographs. If you really look at an old photo long enough it begins to speak.
At Wednesday, February 28, 2007 6:04:00 PM,
Anonymous said…
This photo is a bit smaller than a boudoir card (typically 5 1/4 by 8 1/2 inches, mounted on a larger card.
I find that the boudoir measurement varies a good bit more than the cabinet measurement, so it's possible that one might consider this photo an example, though it's aspect ratio is skewed towards the vertical.
As to whether or not these folks are German, perhaps, perhaps not, though if you look at the geographical distribution of emigrants to the United States, and imagine that this photo comes from a Plains state, or somewhere on the Northern Plains, you will find that the odds go way up.
My mother's grandparents inhabited a "house" that, when I visited it, was in the middle of a pasture, and being used for hay storage. There was a little room in front that served as a community store, and then, going back, I think, perhaps a cooking area, and behind, the parents' bedroom. Upstairs there was a small bedroom in front for the two girls, and a not much larger bedroom for the seven boys.
My great grandfather was a horse trader who went from the mountains of Virginia up into Kentucky, bought horses, brought them back to
Virginia, and traded them. One of his horses at one point had an evil reputation, and he knew to be wary of it, but somehow his attention wandered. The horse kicked him in the back, and for the rest of his life he suffered from curvature of the spine. He was, according to family lore, crippled up like a question mark. The ten children (one died in infancy) came after.
That house was (well, it may still be there) a good bit narrower, and not as extensive as this. I'd say this house would have been a step up. And all of those nine children (two of the boys held horses in the Civil War, being too young to fight) went on to get at least some higher education.
At Thursday, March 01, 2007 10:57:00 AM,
anyjazz said…
Thanks very much mrwaterslide. Your observations bring us closer to the reality of those times. The settling and taming of the American continent is an oft told story but we are still-and-all losing the richness of the details. Few of us realize how physically difficult and demanding it was. Your sketch of your great grandfather and his family adds more clarity to the picture of life three and four generations ago.
Your comments on the physical aspects of the mounted photo are helpful too. I can’t decide if it has been roughly trimmed to fit some area or if it has just worn at the corners and edges into the present shape. The bottom and right edge seem fairly straight, parallel to the edges of the mounted picture. The top and left edges are clearly curved but it is impossible to tell if the card was trimmed that way or if it was made that way originally. The space between the photo and the left edge of the card is considerably wider so maybe the right was originally that way too.
As ever, our ultimate goal is to find someone who can positively identify the photograph. Each bit if detail and speculation we can conjure may help in focusing someone’s recognition of the family.
Thanks again.
At Thursday, March 08, 2007 10:48:00 AM,
Anonymous said…
I think the dog is Bill Smith . Being a Smith myself I can tell an Irish family when I see one.
The girls in the Hutterite spots are Plains Indians who work for the Smiths in their trading post and dress shop.( No kidding.)
The kids on the horses were well known as far south as the trading posts in the vicinity of what is now Duluth.
They were Blunderbuss Betty Smith and Fanny the Blade Smith, my great great great Aunts.
They were renowned for helping the folks in that Part of Saskatchewan "loose " stuff.
At Thursday, March 08, 2007 6:29:00 PM,
anyjazz said…
You may be close to the truth! The dog is probably running things. And I always wondered why no one stands together in these outdoor shots... Are they highly unrelated? Are each of them wary of the other's light-finger skills? Is there a lack of bathing facilities?
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