Figure 1.-This looks to be a succesful farm family with a nice little pooch who fits right in the middle. If you look at the back ground to the left, we think it is safe to say that this was a farm family. We do not know where, but given what we can see, the Midwest seems likely. As was commonly the case with farm families, it was a large family.

We still see a lot of farm family images at the turn-of-the 20th century. More than half of Americans still lived in rural areas. What is different in the 1900s decade is thast we now commonly see farm families outside the studio, commonly posed in front of their homes. The unidentified family here is a good example. We can see a substantial family home meaning the family had been farming successfully for some time. This looks to be a succesful farm family with a nice little pooch who fits right in the middle. If you look at the back ground to the left, we think it is safe to say that this was a farm family. We do not know where, but given what we can see, the Midwest seems likely. It certainlyb looks like a Prarie location-- you can see the table flat treeless landscape. As was commonly the case with farm families, it was a large family. There are eight children, although it is possible that the baby is a grandchild. There are three boys who look to be about 6-12 years old, all of whom are wearing knee pants. Knickers began replacing knee pants about 1908, but farm families would not have been at gthe cutting edge of fashion. The portrait is undated, but we think was taken about 1908. We say that because it was a postcard back photograph, meaning it could have not been taken earlier than about 1903. And the fact that there is no stamp box suggests to us that it was a fairly early card, confirmed by the fact that the boys are not wearing knickers. American boys very rapidly switched from knee pants to knickers beginning about 1908. Another fact is that it was a divided-back post card which iun America began about 1907. So we date the card to about 1907-08. The two older boys are wearing double-breasted suit jackets, knee pants, black long stockings, and high-top shoes--standard boys wear at the time. The two oldest wear double-breasted suit jackets.. The younger boy is just wearing a blouse. The younger boy wears a blouse. The girl wears what looks like a white dress with a matching hair bow.

Created: 8:38 PM 12/6/2023
Last updated: 8:38 PM 12/6/2023