Addie Schanel
This rather stern looking woman is my grandmother, my mother's mom. I never knew her as she died several years before I was born. So really my most vivid image of her is from her old photographs and she always looked like the school principal that you never, ever wanted to see.
She suffered from poor health most of her life, I think it was asthma or something close to it, in fact the reason the family moved to California from the mid-west, was that the dry climate would be of benefit to her. So I suppose that not feeling well coupled with the fact most people never smiled in photographs account for the sternness pictured.
I do though remember my mother telling stories about grandma and what a practical joker she was. One story was that she would appear to be having a hard time opening a jar and my grandfather in a very manly manner would say, "Here, let me do that" and then when he twisted off the cap one of those spring snakes would pop out!
Below is another example of what had to be a very elaborate joke of some kind:
This is a picture of my mom and her 'twin' brother. Or is it? As is easily seen in this old photograph it is actually two pictures made in to one. On the left is my mom dressed as a very proper young boy and on the right she is dressed as a little girl.
My mother had her own bizarre sense of humor as well, as I clearly remember seeing this photograph as a child and my mom telling me that this was her twin brother who died. How weird is that? But when you look at the photograph and see the trouble it clearly took to dress up these 'two' kids you have to admit it took more than just a moderate sense of humor. I suppose none of us will ever know the real reason behind this stunt, but it is pretty funny.
This is SO funny! I imagine you having a sense of humor like that...is this so? It had to take a lot of work to dress up twice and then put the picture together..thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeletemare
Hi Mare, yes I think my sense of humor is a bit twisted like that as well. I guess you can't overcome your genetic makeup. I'm rummaging again, it's fun coming up with stuff.
ReplyDeleteantique photoshopping! I wonder if there was some "fmaous" photo or story of the day, that they were emulating? I think the lack of smiling had to do with exposure times too. It was easier to "hold" a face without a smile for the requisite 30 seconds or more needed at the turn of the century. very cool!.
ReplyDeleteGood point Casey, I had forgotten that those old photos weren't "Instamatic". Nice to see you.
ReplyDeleteI took a really close look at your grandmother's picture. A really beautiful lady. Also, I am taken with the jewelry and beautiful clothing. So well made and ironed. Do you want what the "profession" was in the midwest..were they farmers? This is so intriguing to me. (why? because I'm snoopy I guess! AND, I find it interesting to see people who came from the midwest who are so well "taken care of" )
ReplyDeleteyour snoopy friend
mare
Mare - I shall post an answer for you tomorrow. I hope it won't disappoint, sometimes what we imagine is more interesting than the reality. lol
ReplyDeleteIt's funny that parents were allowed to play with their children's gender back then!
ReplyDeleteThat's an interesting point Ish. I have a daughter 15 months older than my son and once when he was about two we put him in one of his sister's dresses, just because we thought it would be fun. He hated it and we never did it again. Not sure our motivation was anything more than having this dress handy that fit this kid and just doing it for kicks.
ReplyDelete