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Flashback Friday

Old photographs have a story to tell.  Sometimes they say a lot, sometimes very little.  Sometimes they have secrets locked away in them that will never be discovered.  The picture below is one that, for all its simplicity, has a mystery that will remain forever unsolved.    



My Dad is on the far right in this photograph and it reveals just enough to tease, but then quickly returns to its enigmatic self.  What was the occasion?  Who are these people and why are they with Herb?  Who was the picture taker?  A horse and a car?  




Giving more info than simply listing names would have helped in the investigation, but sadly, that is all we have.  If one goes left to right:   Orville, Penny, Minor, Betty, Juanita and finally Herb.  Is Betty the horse?  

Lost in history, and more specifically this second in time, are the characters in this play.  I will hazard a guess that this was taken somewhere around Smithshire, where Herb lived with his family growing up.  I am also going to make another assumption, a rather large one, that this was taken by Orpha, his mother.  My assumption is based on the shadow in the foreground that has a similarity to Herb's dad, V.G.  I can see him standing next to Orpha  while she snaps the shutter.  This also just may be a mirage, since in the time I was around Orpha and V.G. they most assuredly were not picture takers.  

Also somewhat interesting is the listing of names on the back of the photo.  All of the first names are listed, but when we come to Herb it is "Glen H. B."  Odd that of all the kids there, his name is listed in such a fashion, unlike all the others.  

I can't make out the year or model of that car, but if I had to guess I would say Herb was around 10 or 12.  That would make it somewhere around 1932-33.   

Maybe its not so much a story pictures tell as much as creating a mystery.  The truth is we will never ever know what was going on at this second of time.  What is the season?  Summer, but the tree looks kind of sparse for high summer.  Is it early or late?  Kids out playing, or did they gather for some purpose?  All three boys are wearing three different types of hats.  The girls are wearing dresses:  was this the dress of everyday or were they going someplace and wearing their Sunday best?  And if they are playing, why would adults be there taking their pictures?  The shadows are fairly long - morning or evening?  There is info on the photo but maddening little to piece together what was happening on this day.    

Maybe it is enough that today, on this site, we resurrect these kids in whatever brought them together 80 years ago.  To be together once again, at play or work, to gaze in our direction, and entice us with their mystery. 

Comments

  1. jeffsutorSeptember 5, 2014 at 6:51 AM

    Oh the frustration. Sometimes knowing a little, like first names is worse than knowing nothing. I'm going through literally thousands of family pictures. You see people over and over knowing they are somehow related but nameless. Then by chance one day you happen upon a picture with a name and another piece of the puzzle falls in place. Keep digging and asking, perhaps the answer is still out there waiting to be discovered.

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