McBeth.
I have been scanning old family photographs in hopes of one day being able to provide each of my sibs and other interested kin with a photographic collection of the few pictures we have remaining between us.
This photograph makes me grin each and every time I look at it. To the left, my maternal great-grandfather Clyde. To the right, his brother (whose name currently escapes me. But I do have it written down. Somewhere. Really. I do).
I'm fairly sure my great-grandfather was part bulldog. Cute bulldog, of course, but probably growly and drooly and occasionally (!) ill-tempered.
4 comments:
My own family tree happens to be full of Quaker Oat Man clones. Do you have all the photos or are they strewn about various relations houses? How are you storing them? I'm sort of obsessed with my immediate ancestors and their artifacts. The idea that we replay our stories over the generations is all at once comforting and disturbing, but always fascinating to me. Sometimes it seems our lives are set into motion before we are born.
I had to laugh at this. Why is it that all these old photos have everyone so looking so serious. I think I read once it had something to do with having to hold a position for a rather long period. Pictures of my great-grandparents seem so strange without their usual smiles.
For what it's worth, I'd have rather been raised by my poodle anyway.
mercuryfern: Quaker Oat Men... now that's funny. Have you seen the new Quaker Oats commercials on TV - the ones with the big life-sized cutouts of the Quaker Oats guy hanging out wherever John Q. Public would be - like on the soccer field (Quaker Man takes a shot to the head), etc.? Amusing but for some odd reason that life-sized cutout kinda creeps me out. Maybe too realistic looking, like he's a fella for whom rigor mortis set in but people just couldn't stand to part with. *shudder*
Though my paternal family photos are scattered far and wide I do have a good deal of the maternal family photos I convinced my mother to 1)gather into one general pile and 2)hand over for safe keeping, currently stored in two Rubbermaid totes in the corner of my living room until I figure out a better place for them. In this digital age it seems the most sensible/practical idea to simply scan them, do whatever minor touch-ups that can enhance the many years of damage and wear, then let each person have his/her own CD filled with those final images, to do with as each sees fit.
And Donna: The nature of photography DID mean sitting very still in order to capture the image. But (un?)fortunately, Clyde came with that bulldog glare honestly. His mammoth head, the downturned mouth, the direct icy blue stare ... ah yes, that's the great-grandfather I remember! : )
I've also heard that since photographic technology advanced faster than dental hygiene, everyone was sheepish about showing their neglected teeth for the camera. Not that Clyde isn't really a bulldog.
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