Little Della does not look so happy. Of course, getting a photo in those days was not a fun thing. You had to be perfectly still for a long period of time. I'm surprised that there are not more photos from the period, of children screaming. I've read that having to sit still so long for the photograph was the reason few people were smiling in them. The photographer would ask that they not smile. It's hard to hold a smile for that length of time and not have it turn into a grimace.
Anyway, it's a great photograph of my grandmother as a child. But, there is a back story to this photograph that makes it even more special to me. Grandma did not like the photo. She said she could remember that being taken like it was yesterday. When she put on her stockings her finger tore a hole in one and she knew when she got home and her mother discovered what she had done she would be in trouble. All she could think about was the whipping she was going to get later.
When I look at this photo I want to take that child into my arms and hug her. I'm so happy that I have a photo of her at that age, yet, it's not the happiest of pictures when you know the story.
#52Ancestors #photographs #Alexander #genealogy
No comments:
Post a Comment