Oldies on the Prairie.......

This is the latest in fashion when you live on the farm on the prairie. It is probably the 1940's or later.  Wearing a hat is required just because everyone must wear a hat. It probably was cold outside as they had their coats on and two out of three have them closed to keep warm.   The young man has a different style of hat than what one would wear on the farm.  It almost reminds me of a beret.  The bib overalls were a common sight and I am really surprised that the dad isn't wearing them.  Farmers rarely wore belted pants when I was growing up.  My dad wore belted pants only when there was a wedding, funeral, or a big family reunion. 

Back porches on farmhouses were also essential as a buffer zone.  It was needed as a place to remove the boots or shoes.  Also it was the first barrier to stop insects from coming into the house.  Flys would be the number one intruder.  To the right of the group is the outside door that goes to the basement.  It is a fancier style on this house  as a lot of them had outside stairs dug into the ground that went down to the basement and not a door at the top of the stair going into the basement. 

Both of the photos I am sharing today are unknown relatives.  The little girl could be the same in both pictures because the hat and the stockings seem to be the same.  The bottom photo is a springtime shot as the lambs are young and the grass looks like it is high enough for the lambs to enjoy.  My mom always complained about the stockings that she wore that were like these in the picture.  She said they were impossible to actually keep them up and yet they were expected to do so. Gravity can be a bad thing when it comes to stockings.

As in both photos it seems to be the smart thing to do to have your subjects stand outside in the sunlight.  It does cause problems though with the pesky shadows and also the squinting of the eyes.  Photography was an unstudied skill so all those photos that turned out darker than necessary because there wasn't enough light merited everyone to seek the sun.

Sepia Saturday is happening on many blogs today.  Please check out all the others who are participating in the event by clicking here. 

The Good Old Days.........

Feeling a little rebellious today I will share a grayed photo, in color, which has no liking to a sepia shot.  It is a few years old and I think water is in the shot.  It is Lake Superior.

I am reminded of the musical "Music Man" when I viewed this photo.  In the musical, everyone on the street breaks out to singing about the Wells Fargo wagon that will be comin' down the street and what it might be delivering to them when it finally arrives.   The boat in this scene is a large cargo ship that has come from some far country to the harbor in Duluth, Minnesota.  The crowds gather during the warmer weather and wait for the large ships.  The ships come in to enter a waterway canal to go into the protected harbor.  The vessels are so big that when you see it as a speck on the horizon you can plan on a forty five minute wait or more before it comes into the harbor. Large crowds gather by the time it finally arrives.  One can stand along the waterway and watch it  go by as I am sure it has done for over a hundred years. They are a couple of football fields long.

It is a gray day along the Maine coastline bordering the Atlantic Ocean.   Somewhere out there is Newfoundland.  It may be further north than here but it  is out there,

Water on a gray day reflecting the sky in my fish pond.  The two bricks are there to keep the waterpump weighted down and also for birds to land in order to get drinks of water.

A brighter day is this view on the shore of Lake Superior.  The deepest lake I believe in the world.  Miles deep and very cold.  It does empty into our Mississippi river when the people who control the water are generous.  South of here is the city of Duluth, Minnesota which has a long history of trappers and hunters in their early years and now a shipping center for coal and iron ore.

Water in the Des Moines botanical center that has many large koi gracefully swimming up and down an artificial river or pond.

Jordan Pond is on the island of Mt. Dessert.  Acadia National park may sound familiar to you as being the location of the pond.  The area has an interesting history of a man named Jordan who brought in famous authors and artists to stay with him at his lodge next to the pond. That was in the early 1900's. Noteworthy people did stay there for the summer but I am not able to give any specific names at this time.

The peninsula like land form in the Bar Harbor area is filled with winding roads and swamp or pond areas all along the way.  In the background is a heron, great blue maybe, standing as still as a stick, waiting to slam its beak into water to catch fish. Our kids live near the area and the Atlantic is near by as you travel up and down and around the winding roads.

I promise to behave next week and find sepia, older looking photos.  I have enjoyed sharing those things that I have found under this theme of "water."

Check out all the others who are participating in Sepia Saturday this week.  Don't be surprised that there are many out there from all around the world.