“Pretty smart cart you’re riding, miss.”
Could this be the precursor to the Dodge Ram?
Tucked away in my aunt’s papers was this photo. I would love
to know the story behind it, but now, all I can do is guess. Unlike the many
others among my grandmother’s photographs of her daughters, this one bears no
label.
I had trouble at first, deciding whether this was a picture of my
mother or my aunt, but settled on my mother as the subject for two reasons.
First, though the “Dutch Boy” haircut was favored by my grandmother for both
her girls, my mother’s hair was darker, even in childhood; my aunt’s hair had a
blonde gleam to it. Then, too, this subject’s facial appearance more closely resembles
that of my mother, especially around the eyes.
I wish I could tell, from what little of the house appeared
in the photo, where the scene took place. There are so many possibilities.
Though I tend to doubt it would be the Tampa
setting of her maternal grandparents, there was always the possibility of a
tourist stop along the drive to Mama and Papa’s home. Then, too, the old
McClellan farm in Wellborn, Florida, could
have been a stop on the way to Tampa.
Of course, though it may not have fit the setting for Mrs. W. D. Davis’ Tourist Home itself, in Erwin,
Tennessee, I can’t imagine anyone there
being very far from a farm.
Whether in Tennessee or Florida or any place in
between, that special cart was made just right for a great childhood memory.
Now, if only someone would have told me a little bit more about
it…
Laffs at "Dodge Ram"... even lacking details as to "what/where/who" this photo is precious!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm kinda partial to it, myself, Iggy. I'd like to tinker with it on Photoshop to see if I can brighten it up and improve the contrast. I'm glad this one has weathered the years, but it sure is showing its age.
DeleteI have a very similar photograph! It was taken in the nineteen-teens in western Iowa. The little boy photographed - my great-great-uncle - lived in town, and the ram and cart were likely used by a traveling photographer to entice parents to pay for prints of their children posing in said cart. The Family Curator had a post a few months ago about this topic - ponies were a popular choice. What is on the back of your photograph? Mine is a postcard print. What a fun find!
ReplyDeleteMaybe this photo was the prototype for someone's business...there was nothing on the reverse of this one, other than the usual backing.
DeleteThanks so much for mentioning that tip. It likely was just that, considering you've encountered the same and similar treatments. With that in mind, the location could have been any of the relatives' homes the Davises were visiting--Florida, Tennessee or elsewhere along the way.
What a fun photo! Yes I agree a Dodge Ram for sure! I thin a photographer had a good gimmick:)
ReplyDelete...and a very compliant assistant! :)
DeleteI had a similar photo in a blog post two years ago, and a reader responded with a photo very similar. We think that the two photos (1936 and 1948) may be the same traveling goat cart photographer. You can see both photos at this link http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/05/goat-cart-update.html
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing that, Heather. I agree, both of your photos seem to have a very similar set-up (though I can see the point in your comments about the halter being slightly different on each goat). I imagine there were a lot of itinerant photographers who found this a great way to drum up business.
DeleteWho knows what the story behind this idea and these photographers might be. Perhaps a search through Google Books might uncover a magazine article with this idea posed as a suggestion. Of course, added to the time span you've discovered (1936 to 1948) consider the fact that mine had to pre-date 1930, and you're talking about the span of an entire childhood here--doubtless much more than the work of one brief time period or even of one person's sure-fire business idea. There are probably a lot of photos like these out there, somewhere...