Interesting Ancestral Photographs

[bethzaring]

my grandfather at school. This photo includes his two sisters. Grandpa has the 4 written over his head

[texasgirl]

Great old photos!! I love to look at the black and whites. But, have you noticed in those old photos that people didn't smile?? What is up with that? I guess if I lived without electricity or running water I wouldn't be a happy person either. LOL

[Barbara L]

Originally Posted by texasgirl

Great old photos!! I love to look at the black and whites. But, have you noticed in those old photos that people didn't smile?? What is up with that? I guess if I lived without electricity or running water I wouldn't be a happy person either. LOL

I don't know about these particular photos, but with some of the earliest cameras the people being photographed had to sit or stand for an extended amount of time, and it was hard to hold a smile that long (especially, I would think, in a large group photo).

Barbara

[buckytom]

beth, your pics are fascinating.

there are several reasons for why people didn't smile in old pics.

barbara's explanation of the exposure time is the most common and reasonable. it would be tough to hold a smile for that long.

but cultural aspects, everything from poor dental care to the assumption that a photographed smile was likened to pornography, also has been thought to be the reason for the grim faces.

since a photograph was almost always done professionally back then, people took the occasion and no doubt the cost into account and treated the event very seriously.

it's interesting what tg said. indoor plumbing and power happened to become more common around the same time that film speeds increased, and cameras became available to common people. so maybe she's on to something, lol.

[bethzaring]

this is one of the older photos I presently have, I have yet to take possession of some much older family photos, this is my great great great grandfather on his horse in front of his house in Sandwich New Hampshire, taken about 1870

[bethzaring]

and this photo is of my great great grandparents with their only two grandchildren. The grandchildren are my grandmother, in front, and her sister, behind her, who would eventually raise my father after my grandmother dies. This is the only photo I have of this great great grandmother, I have many of the old man. The old man is a son of the gentleman on the horse in the above photo. This photo was taken about 1895.

[bethzaring]

here is a "recent" one, from 1937, this is my mom with three of her high school friends after church. Mom is on the right.

[bethzaring]

my mom and her parents went camping a lot, from the early 1920's into the 1930's. Here is one photo when mom was about 6 years old, with her dad.

maybe 2 pictures here?

[Andy M.]

Beth, I can't explain the gutter systems on that old farm house.

The gutters visable on the main roof and the right side of the porch roof have no downspouts. When it rains, the gutters would fill with water and overflow at the low point(s). If the low points for the gutters on the main roof are at the corners in the valleys or at the ridge corner that's visable, the overflow would feed into the gutters on the porch roof.

Maybe there was a rain barrel at the forward end of the right side porch roof gutter...

[bethzaring]

Originally Posted by Andy M.

Beth, I can't explain the gutter systems on that old farm house.

The gutters visable on the main roof and the right side of the porch roof have no downspouts. When it rains, the gutters would fill with water and overflow at the low point(s). If the low points for the gutters on the main roof are at the corners in the valleys or at the ridge corner that's visable, the overflow would feed into the gutters on the porch roof.

Maybe there was a rain barrel at the forward end of the right side porch roof gutter...

Thanks for looking Andy. I'm seeing 2 down spouts from the main roof and 3 down spouts from the two porches. I guess I'm wondering why the gutters are so high up on the roofs. It does seem like they are collecting rain, but why not hang the gutters like they are today? I will have to look for more photos of this house. I really need to organize these photos.