OLD PICTURES

This past week-end I was searching for a teenage picture of myself. I didn't realize how hard that would be. I thought I could put my finger on the box, but instead I found the box with my sister's pictures in it. There were no pictures of me as a teenager.

What I did find were treasures. One set of my great-grandparents lived in Southwest Virginia and Southeast Kentucky. I found old, I mean old, pictures from their my grandmother's growing up there. They are fading and I am trying to preserve them in case my children want them when I'm gone. It is a part of our families history.

My maternal grandmother's family must have loved to have their pictures made. I found a wonderful picture of my great-grandparents with their five oldest children. There were two or three more after the picture was taken. What I found interesting was the clothes. I've researched for pictures of clothes in the early 1900's and I had them in my hands all the time.

One picture of friends of my grandfathers are standing on a porch of a newly constructed house in Virginia. I'd say the town was Stonega and the house was a mining house. Today we would call a duplex, Two families lived side by side in the same structure. I remember a railing dividing my aunt's front porch from my great-grandfathers.

In this picture, there are five people on the porch of this house. The thing that struck me different from most pictures is the fact this is a post card. One man has written on the back in pencil that there is work there painting houses and my grandfather should come. The clothes are dark pants and skirts and white blouses and shirts. One woman has a big black bow at her collar. The women wore belts with shinny buckles. These are probably their Sunday best. The postmark on the card is 1912. That picture is 100 years old and I'm holding it in my hands.

That is the time period I am interested in, so this was a great find. I had not thought about my family having the information I need. You never know where a writer can be inspired.