The Family Ponder

This dim photo held a few surprises when scanned and given a bit of restoration. The postcard backing shows it to have been made between 1910 and 1918.(See Kregal at the bottom of the page here... ) It is 90 years old. It was an occasion. They hung a sheet on the log cabin wall and gathered what family was there for the picture. It probably took half the afternoon to get everyone dressed and everything thing set up. Oddly, judging from the shadows at the left of the building the sun appears to be behind them. Most photographs of that day were done with as much bright sunlight as possible. They are sitting in the shade. The photographer might have been hired from the nearby town. Perhaps he was just an iterant journeyman, working and living in a covered wagon or caravan. Poverty and hardship is the dominant theme here. Sadness and futility show on the faces of the adults. There are no smiles. There seems to be three adult women and a couple teenage girls; the one in the checkered dress was apparently at least partially blind. The teens could be twins or cousins. They are identical height, hair combed alike and both faces are heart shaped. That is probably the wife and mother sitting at the left holding the latest baby. Her hands are large and sun-baked, tough from working in the fields, still gentle enough to hold a drowsy baby on her hip. She looks too young to have two teen age daughters. Perhaps she is the second wife. There is a second baby being held by the tall woman standing on the right. The two babies are probably not twins, as twins are usually pictured as close together as possible. No, this is probably the tall woman’s baby. But there is no tall gentleman with her that might be the father. World War One was raging when this picture was shot. The war to end all wars… Or perhaps her husband is the one behind the camera. Her height, her hair, her very countenance, all seem out of place with everyone else except the boy on the far right. That boy standing at the right rear is quite sedate and mature. He is wearing a suit with short pants. He even has a watch chain. His hat is sitting on the potted plant just behind him. His hair is carefully combed. He is wearing shoes. The woman on the far left, looks like a Modigliani painting. Maybe she, the tall one and the seated mother are sisters. The two adult gentlemen are related by ears; probably father and grandfather. Dad is the only one wearing a hat. He is unaccustomed to holding still. He sits, toes turned in, ready to jump up and get back to work. His hair is darker than anyone else in the picture. His eyes are grey or blue and his stare is almost invisible. He does look old enough to have teenage children. So perhaps the baby and woman on his right are the beginning of a second family. The two barefoot young boys in front stand unaware of the difficulty of their times. They seem bent on mischief or mayhem. The father has them both corralled in his big arms. The barefoot boy on dad’s left appears to be planning some kind of orneriness to be carried out soon. With his cocky stance and tilted head, he peers ominously from under his brow at the camera, vowing, threatening to be a relentless source of noise and annoyance as soon as the session is over. The boy on dad’s right is getting an extra pinch of encouragement to hold still. His stance shows that it is painful. All the males have coats although they seem out of place on the impish barefoot pair. The smaller boy has what appears to be a watch chain clipped to his collar. And look at the small girl on grandpa’s lap. With the two new babies she is no longer the center of attention. Her two older brothers tease her without mercy or end. She fidgets perpetually. Grandpa has her securely gripped with both hands and has her kicking legs clamped between his knees. Just as the shutter clicked, she shook her head and put a blond curl in front of her right eye. Her legs, still in motion, are invisible in the print.

Yes, I refuse to use Kleenex until THIS stops.