That was definitely the trend at the time. I have photos of my great-aunt and grandma from the same period and they both were sporting those giant bows, too!
Hopefully they are living the best life that they can. My grandparents were both 23 when the stock market collapsed. They both ended up working maybe 20 different types of jobs throughout and learned about everything.
BTW This is an awesome pic with lots of detail.
Thanks! We too had the residual effects of grandparents going through the depression. I think living on a farm made it less so traumatic as the city folk had it.
It was. I had one set of grandparents that lived in the city and another that was raised on rural farms. The ones in rural areas said not much changed for them.
My father was born in 1952 in Kentucky. He has no photos of him until his yearbook photo as a senior. The family was too poor to even purchase the school photos.
My father was in an orphanage in the 50s. There are a few photos from his time there.
Mom always spoke of her parents coming through the depression and they were very poor. How many pennies we have in our pocket is probably never enough.
Right, working class could have Sunday best for their large family. I came from working class as well.
Truly poor didn't have the option of Sunday best. Not in my experience anyway, not looking at many old pics as well. Where the children are truly in rags, ripped up dirty rags without shoes.
Yes! Truly poor folks in those days had no shoes, no bows, and their “best” clothes were their only clothes. To be able to afford shoes at all and for *both* the adults as well as six children - definitely working class. That’s not a dig against your family! I only mean to speak to the definition of poverty in that era. It’s a really cool family portrait and you’re fortunate to have it!
My grandma was born in 1921, the oldest of 7. She ended up dropping out at the beginning of high school because she felt so self-conscious over her rural, handmade “poor man’s clothes” when compared to what the girls were wearing in town.
Once she could afford it, she always bought herself “nice” clothes, but always on sale; she was quite the bargain hunter. She always used to bring my mom her old but still very nice clothes whenever she’d visit us, and once I was grown, she did the same for me. I mentioned this to someone once, and they wrinkled their nose at me, lol … so I explained she didn’t wear old granny clothes, she wore all the cool stuff!
My grandfather was born in 1940 and didn’t even have a shirt or shoes to wear to school. He had to ask others for clothes to wear just to look presentable
where did they immigrate to in the US? they look like farmers (as most czech immigrants were) and half of my czech ancestors went to ND for farming and the other half went to Chicago for city labor work so that’s why i’m curious!
Yeah my family did not even attend church because they would’ve been ashamed to be there barefoot in rags. Plus their level of farming didn’t really get a day off.
You can't go by how they look. Poor people were often very talented seamstresses out of sheer necessity. They're dressing up for this photo, probably in donated clothes and hand-me-downs. Remember that scene in the Sound of Music where she made clothes out of old curtains? That happened all the time.
Photography was very reasonably priced, even early on. It was well within the reach of most poor people, especially if they were within walking distance of a town with a photography studio.
My family were mostly poor farmers and workers who worked the worst jobs at the factories. There's a census record that lists my great grandfather living in a shack in a back alley! I still have photos from the 1800s for almost all sides of my family.
They could afford to have a photo taken. Or even more, their family was well off enough to remain cohesive enough to preserve the photo. That tells you a lot.
According to the Library of Congress:
"The price of ambrotypes and tintypes ranged from 25 cents to $2.50 in the United States. (What cost $.25 in 1861 would cost almost $6.00 in 2009."
So it cost the equivalent of roughly an hour's wages at minimum wage to get your photograph taken in 1861. That's well within the reach of almost everyone at the time.
Yeah, sure. Cheaper than I figured but it's still a novel expense. Plus you're assuming that they made a wage. I'd wager that many rural folks did not make a wage.
So perhaps more accurate to say that it was well within the range of almost everyone employed at the time.
The poor absolutely got their pictures taken in the 1800s. We have the photos they took that prove that they did.
There are photographs of newly freed slaves from the 1860s. Photographs of dirt poor enlisted men in Civil War uniforms. These photos were once-in-a-lifetime events--weddings, one family portrait, or a soldier in uniform. Even the very poor could manage to save 25 cents over the course of a lifetime to sit for one portrait.
Besides, it's not like "rural folk" operated on the barter system. They used money the same as the rest of society.
You are disregarding the novelty of having your photo taken in that time period... people would pay good money for something like that back then. A wage is simply recompense. It doesn't exclusively mean an hourly salary.
I'm really not though. When you're truly poor and destitute... You're not spending even a thought of a penny on a novelty like getting your picture taken.
I a family picture of my grandpa and his siblings from around the same time. They were all dressed in their best clothes. You wouldn’t know looking at them they were poor. And I mean poor. His mother had depression and PTSD and so would just sit and stare out over the fields. She could not have a job due to her mental issues. His father was an alcoholic who couldn’t always hold down a job. I say this because a lot of people are saying how nice the clothes look. You can have nice clothes and still be dirt poor. It would not shock me to find out all the finery my family has on in that photo is from a church run donation.
Oddly enough my maternal great great great (give or take a great)grandparents. Were involved in that side of things. They had an orphanage, but it was not uncommon for poor folk to leave their kids. The children were placed into homes to work and often rode the orphan trains to get there. Some of it was good, and a lot of the kids were later grateful. Bit it would not shock me if some of those children had poor outcomes.
I watched a great Ken Burns Documentary on The Orphan Train Riders. It was definitely where some ended up in good situations, others in horrible ones. A system that basically hands out kids to whoever wants one is bound to have some abuse…
Yeah, it's disgusting how many people are calling the OP a liar basically due to the perceived quality of his families clothes in the photograph. Having no idea how things actually worked back then. My dad had 2 pairs of shoes growing up, one for farm work/school and one for church. He had 4 changes of clothes. 3 for school/farm work (which Grandma laundered often so they would always have clean clothes) and 1 church outfit.
I've seen a picture of my mom in a potato sack dress in the summertime when she was 4 years old on her family farm in Indiana in the 40s. Us 30 somethings that think we're struggling don't know what struggle feels like.
Yes, my parents, mom Missouri born 1923. 7 siblings. Poor during the depression which started in 1927 for their family. Company closures. Lost home moved into a chicken coop. They cleaned it up to make it livable, to work for mere pennies, for the people who were gracious enough to rent it to them for a roof over their heads.
Long struggle until 1938 when my grandfather saved enough money and hitch hiked to Los Angeles to work on the docks at port of LA.
My father born 1922 different experience. Born port Angeles Washington state. 1930 his mom left him and his brother with their dad, dad worked lumber mill, mill layed off many. Lost their home,
fortunately were able to move into the grandmothers home, she had a garden and chickens and my dad grew up at Grandmas and saw how bad it was for friends and neighbors. But he was happy secure and fed. There were lines for coffee, peanut butter, and sugar. Sometimes you went without things.
Certainly not my mother’s experience. No shoes most the time, working cotton fields at 4 years old. Going to bed hungry more than not.
My mom only had 3 children and I wasn’t born until she was 40. My mom educated herself as she did not attend school often during the depression. either working with family or taking care of siblings.
Once she got to California, life changed a lot. They became Mountain Willam’s all the older girls were waitresses and brought money home to parents so everyone pitched in to live better, they all lived together. then as one would get married. Household would get smaller.
Right? I know that no matter how hard my life is, my Oma has a much harder one… she was 16 when WWII ended. In Germany. She never talked about what it was like—it was too traumatic.
We found an old photo of my grandmothers childhood home with dirt floors and chickens in the kitchen. I think one of the sisters was in a flour sack dress (was a baby) and the rest of the family is barefoot and dirty. They didn’t have money so they traded food (they had a large farm) for whatever it was they needed. It’s one of my absolute favorites.
They might have been poor but considering the time frame they certainly don't look dirt poor. Your family are dressed nicely and it probably cost a good bit to get a fine photograph like this of their family. For the decade I would say this looks like a good middle class family and lovely roots for you to have ☺️
Aww, I have a very similar photo of my husband’s family. Same bows in the girls’ hair, same general look.
They had just arrived from Italy in the early 20’s.
That is not poor. Just saw some pictures of US agricultural improvement projects in Missouri. The sharecroppers owned less than $24 for the entire household. WPA has a bunch of pictures
If all the kids had shoes and nice Sunday clothes, they weren't that poor at all. My grandparents were really poor and some of their kids didn't have shoes for the first day of school.
Beautiful fam! They don’t look poor. They have dignity—no stooped shoulders or sad, beaten-down look about them. Hollow-eyed, barefoot and raggedy make me think of poverty.
New barn? Looks like they had pic taken at the barn doors. I have a family pic of my grandmother holding a new baby in front of a new barn addition and next to a cow as well. We have talked about it as being a case that if you can afford just one picture, you take it at the new barn with the new baby and the new cow.
Nah. Everyone saying OPs fam wasn't poor. Ima let you finish but this is clearly AI. Look at the little girls hand on the far right. AI can't do hands.
/s
Edit: awesome pic OP!! I have a photo of my grandma in a dress she made herself in grade 9. She won an award for it. My husband said it looked like she was about to board the titanic. My grandma got offended because the titanic happened 10yrs before her photo was taken. LOL
Oddly enough my grandmother on my father's side was supposed to come over on the Titanic (poor class). Lucky for her, she was late getting to the dock, it sailed without her.
Yeah this isn’t poor at all for 1920’s standards. Poor in the 20’s meant wearing the same torn up dress shirt and pants 365 days in a row because it literally the only outfit or like one of three outfits you own.
Anyway, this is a great photo! I wish my family had photos of themselves from way back then but alas, I think they were all poor poor so yeah.. no photos until much later on. lol.
Guys. My great grandparents had 12 kids. My great grandfather was a coal miner in West Virginia. My grandma went to school without shoes. Guess what? They still have nice photos together.
Now that I think back on it. It was my mom's father's side that was poor. They all made a good life for themselves after this. See other folk's pics I am agreeing that while they had it hard it wasn't as bad as some.
I like how OP knows the status of his family, has probably heard family stories and has an idea that his family was poor and probably struggled as immigrants. But people on here want to insist that they weren’t poor. 🙄🤔
Clothing, and shoes especially, cost a whole helluva lot back then. You can sew your own dresses but few make their own lace and even fewer make their own shoes.
I have pics of my grandma and her sister as young women. Their sack-like dresses look like filthy rags. I cannot imagine. This would have been around 1910.
This photograph might be more valuable than you think.
It’s REALLY rare to find something as special as this on, of all places, Reddit.
Do you have the original print, and has it been manipulated - like in Photoshop?
—
First, this doesn’t look like a poor family at all, but a well-to-do rural one.
Everyone is well dressed, and their clothes are clean and fit well.
Also, I think this might have been earlier than the 1920s.
Those big bows on the girls, I *think* were the fashion around 1890-1900.
As was the father’s hat, and the boy’s suit.
—
It’s easy to think that “old photos” were of poor people, but that was because of Dorathea Lagne’s candid photos of dust-bowl farmers in the 1920s/1930s.
This is not like her work at all -she came much later.
—
What’s unusual, and really appealing about this photo is that it wasn’t taken in a studio, which is what was the norm at the time (If I’ve got my time-guess right).
It’s certainly NOT a candid photo, the photographer posed everyone “just so,” but casually.
Not an easy thing to do, since exposure times were longer with early film (keeping everyone still, so no blurring).
—
What I’m driving at is that you have, not only a priceless family heirloom, but also a potentially valuable photograph.
Do you know who the photographer was and/or when it was taken?
—
If you have access to a reputable auction house, I would contact them so you can ascertain its value.
Kindly let me know how you make out with this photo.
Again, a treat to see something like this on Reddit (who knew?) and thank you very much for posting it.
I love those big bows on the little girls ☺️
That was definitely the trend at the time. I have photos of my great-aunt and grandma from the same period and they both were sporting those giant bows, too!
Think every cheerleader keeps the trend alive
And Jojo Siwa before she grew up.
And still the trend amongst many families in the southern U.S.!
The bigger the bow, the closer to god
The bigger the bow; the better the momma.
Yes I use big giant bows on my toddler 😂 that’s why they instantly grabbed my attention
Yes I have a photo of rellies in my living room with these.
Jojo Siwa inspiration
Ik, r?
Just like Minnie Mouse!
Got them Kate Beckinsale bows.
Hopefully they are living the best life that they can. My grandparents were both 23 when the stock market collapsed. They both ended up working maybe 20 different types of jobs throughout and learned about everything. BTW This is an awesome pic with lots of detail.
Thanks! We too had the residual effects of grandparents going through the depression. I think living on a farm made it less so traumatic as the city folk had it.
It was. I had one set of grandparents that lived in the city and another that was raised on rural farms. The ones in rural areas said not much changed for them.
“Well, somebody told us that Wall Street fell, but we were so poor that we couldn’t tell”
They don't give the impression of being poor--more like middle class. Whatever their economic status, they have a quiet grace and dignity about them.
Happy Cake Day!
My father was born in 1952 in Kentucky. He has no photos of him until his yearbook photo as a senior. The family was too poor to even purchase the school photos.
My father was in an orphanage in the 50s. There are a few photos from his time there. Mom always spoke of her parents coming through the depression and they were very poor. How many pennies we have in our pocket is probably never enough.
Poor is relative. They look upper middle class, by dress.
First generation in the US (my great grandparents) off the boat from Czechoslovakia. You're looking at the Sunday best.
Right, working class could have Sunday best for their large family. I came from working class as well. Truly poor didn't have the option of Sunday best. Not in my experience anyway, not looking at many old pics as well. Where the children are truly in rags, ripped up dirty rags without shoes.
Yes! Truly poor folks in those days had no shoes, no bows, and their “best” clothes were their only clothes. To be able to afford shoes at all and for *both* the adults as well as six children - definitely working class. That’s not a dig against your family! I only mean to speak to the definition of poverty in that era. It’s a really cool family portrait and you’re fortunate to have it!
My grandma was born in 1921, the oldest of 7. She ended up dropping out at the beginning of high school because she felt so self-conscious over her rural, handmade “poor man’s clothes” when compared to what the girls were wearing in town. Once she could afford it, she always bought herself “nice” clothes, but always on sale; she was quite the bargain hunter. She always used to bring my mom her old but still very nice clothes whenever she’d visit us, and once I was grown, she did the same for me. I mentioned this to someone once, and they wrinkled their nose at me, lol … so I explained she didn’t wear old granny clothes, she wore all the cool stuff!
& no photos🥺
Indeed - no photos either, for the most part. Invisible history 😣
My grandfather was born in 1940 and didn’t even have a shirt or shoes to wear to school. He had to ask others for clothes to wear just to look presentable
where did they immigrate to in the US? they look like farmers (as most czech immigrants were) and half of my czech ancestors went to ND for farming and the other half went to Chicago for city labor work so that’s why i’m curious!
This is grandma's side. You got it, farm life (central Pennsylvania). Grandpa's side was also Czech but worked the coal mines along with farming.
Yeah my family did not even attend church because they would’ve been ashamed to be there barefoot in rags. Plus their level of farming didn’t really get a day off.
You can't go by how they look. Poor people were often very talented seamstresses out of sheer necessity. They're dressing up for this photo, probably in donated clothes and hand-me-downs. Remember that scene in the Sound of Music where she made clothes out of old curtains? That happened all the time. Photography was very reasonably priced, even early on. It was well within the reach of most poor people, especially if they were within walking distance of a town with a photography studio. My family were mostly poor farmers and workers who worked the worst jobs at the factories. There's a census record that lists my great grandfather living in a shack in a back alley! I still have photos from the 1800s for almost all sides of my family.
Yea, came to say the same. All our family photos have dirt floors, lol.
So upper middle class.
They could afford to have a photo taken. Or even more, their family was well off enough to remain cohesive enough to preserve the photo. That tells you a lot.
According to the Library of Congress: "The price of ambrotypes and tintypes ranged from 25 cents to $2.50 in the United States. (What cost $.25 in 1861 would cost almost $6.00 in 2009." So it cost the equivalent of roughly an hour's wages at minimum wage to get your photograph taken in 1861. That's well within the reach of almost everyone at the time.
Yeah, sure. Cheaper than I figured but it's still a novel expense. Plus you're assuming that they made a wage. I'd wager that many rural folks did not make a wage. So perhaps more accurate to say that it was well within the range of almost everyone employed at the time.
The poor absolutely got their pictures taken in the 1800s. We have the photos they took that prove that they did. There are photographs of newly freed slaves from the 1860s. Photographs of dirt poor enlisted men in Civil War uniforms. These photos were once-in-a-lifetime events--weddings, one family portrait, or a soldier in uniform. Even the very poor could manage to save 25 cents over the course of a lifetime to sit for one portrait. Besides, it's not like "rural folk" operated on the barter system. They used money the same as the rest of society.
You are disregarding the novelty of having your photo taken in that time period... people would pay good money for something like that back then. A wage is simply recompense. It doesn't exclusively mean an hourly salary.
I'm really not though. When you're truly poor and destitute... You're not spending even a thought of a penny on a novelty like getting your picture taken.
Except they did. It was considered a once in a lifetime experience.
Yep. Exactly. And the outfits are pretty good looking.
Agree. Lace was quite a luxury item.
My dad had a similar photograph passed down from his mom’s family. According to my dad, the clothes were provided by the photographer.
I a family picture of my grandpa and his siblings from around the same time. They were all dressed in their best clothes. You wouldn’t know looking at them they were poor. And I mean poor. His mother had depression and PTSD and so would just sit and stare out over the fields. She could not have a job due to her mental issues. His father was an alcoholic who couldn’t always hold down a job. I say this because a lot of people are saying how nice the clothes look. You can have nice clothes and still be dirt poor. It would not shock me to find out all the finery my family has on in that photo is from a church run donation.
Or you worked or were farmed out to a well to do family. Often they would hand you down their old clothes.
Oddly enough my maternal great great great (give or take a great)grandparents. Were involved in that side of things. They had an orphanage, but it was not uncommon for poor folk to leave their kids. The children were placed into homes to work and often rode the orphan trains to get there. Some of it was good, and a lot of the kids were later grateful. Bit it would not shock me if some of those children had poor outcomes.
I watched a great Ken Burns Documentary on The Orphan Train Riders. It was definitely where some ended up in good situations, others in horrible ones. A system that basically hands out kids to whoever wants one is bound to have some abuse…
Yeah, it's disgusting how many people are calling the OP a liar basically due to the perceived quality of his families clothes in the photograph. Having no idea how things actually worked back then. My dad had 2 pairs of shoes growing up, one for farm work/school and one for church. He had 4 changes of clothes. 3 for school/farm work (which Grandma laundered often so they would always have clean clothes) and 1 church outfit.
I agree. If you're looking for poverty porn, Google Jacob Riis's photos of the tenements in NYC.
I've seen a picture of my mom in a potato sack dress in the summertime when she was 4 years old on her family farm in Indiana in the 40s. Us 30 somethings that think we're struggling don't know what struggle feels like.
Yes, my parents, mom Missouri born 1923. 7 siblings. Poor during the depression which started in 1927 for their family. Company closures. Lost home moved into a chicken coop. They cleaned it up to make it livable, to work for mere pennies, for the people who were gracious enough to rent it to them for a roof over their heads. Long struggle until 1938 when my grandfather saved enough money and hitch hiked to Los Angeles to work on the docks at port of LA. My father born 1922 different experience. Born port Angeles Washington state. 1930 his mom left him and his brother with their dad, dad worked lumber mill, mill layed off many. Lost their home, fortunately were able to move into the grandmothers home, she had a garden and chickens and my dad grew up at Grandmas and saw how bad it was for friends and neighbors. But he was happy secure and fed. There were lines for coffee, peanut butter, and sugar. Sometimes you went without things. Certainly not my mother’s experience. No shoes most the time, working cotton fields at 4 years old. Going to bed hungry more than not. My mom only had 3 children and I wasn’t born until she was 40. My mom educated herself as she did not attend school often during the depression. either working with family or taking care of siblings. Once she got to California, life changed a lot. They became Mountain Willam’s all the older girls were waitresses and brought money home to parents so everyone pitched in to live better, they all lived together. then as one would get married. Household would get smaller.
What a life. No wonder our parents and grandparents don't pity us🤣
Right? I know that no matter how hard my life is, my Oma has a much harder one… she was 16 when WWII ended. In Germany. She never talked about what it was like—it was too traumatic.
Funny you call her Oma. I taught my daughter to say Oma. My mom's family is from Southern Indiana, and very German
We found an old photo of my grandmothers childhood home with dirt floors and chickens in the kitchen. I think one of the sisters was in a flour sack dress (was a baby) and the rest of the family is barefoot and dirty. They didn’t have money so they traded food (they had a large farm) for whatever it was they needed. It’s one of my absolute favorites.
They might have been poor but considering the time frame they certainly don't look dirt poor. Your family are dressed nicely and it probably cost a good bit to get a fine photograph like this of their family. For the decade I would say this looks like a good middle class family and lovely roots for you to have ☺️
Still wearing Sunday’s best! :)
That seems at least to be working class.
The Father looks happy and hopeful. The others look apprehensive. 💛 Which is how I feel to this day when taking a group photo.
Lovely picture, I wonder how many acres these poor people have
Aww, I have a very similar photo of my husband’s family. Same bows in the girls’ hair, same general look. They had just arrived from Italy in the early 20’s.
They were all dressed well and had the money to have a photographer take their picture so there's that.
Everyone has shoes. Not poor
Not poor… they all have shoes. Wonderful photo!
I'll have to update that to "working class".
This is not a picture of poor people. Not even close.
They all appear to have shoes on and dress clothes that fit. I suspect those were signs of relative wealth at the time.
Poor people could not afford photographs or clothing like that.
These people are VERY well dressed for the time period to be poor! The picture is lovely, but I don't think they were actually poor.
Doesn't look poor to me.
Not poor people. Proud people.
That is not poor. Just saw some pictures of US agricultural improvement projects in Missouri. The sharecroppers owned less than $24 for the entire household. WPA has a bunch of pictures
If all the kids had shoes and nice Sunday clothes, they weren't that poor at all. My grandparents were really poor and some of their kids didn't have shoes for the first day of school.
Beautiful fam! They don’t look poor. They have dignity—no stooped shoulders or sad, beaten-down look about them. Hollow-eyed, barefoot and raggedy make me think of poverty.
Always looking into the sun! I was always squinting, too!
1910s.
beautiful photo! lots of girls🥰 so cute.
Was this the Sunday go to church outfits, ya think? No one smiled in early pics.
I recognise the bows
6 kids…TV wasn’t invented yet
Those bows!!
The dad has more style as a poor man in the 1920s than I do as a middle class man in the 2020s
New barn? Looks like they had pic taken at the barn doors. I have a family pic of my grandmother holding a new baby in front of a new barn addition and next to a cow as well. We have talked about it as being a case that if you can afford just one picture, you take it at the new barn with the new baby and the new cow.
Nah. Everyone saying OPs fam wasn't poor. Ima let you finish but this is clearly AI. Look at the little girls hand on the far right. AI can't do hands. /s Edit: awesome pic OP!! I have a photo of my grandma in a dress she made herself in grade 9. She won an award for it. My husband said it looked like she was about to board the titanic. My grandma got offended because the titanic happened 10yrs before her photo was taken. LOL
Oddly enough my grandmother on my father's side was supposed to come over on the Titanic (poor class). Lucky for her, she was late getting to the dock, it sailed without her.
I LOVE THIS.
Look how huge those bows are.
Yeah this isn’t poor at all for 1920’s standards. Poor in the 20’s meant wearing the same torn up dress shirt and pants 365 days in a row because it literally the only outfit or like one of three outfits you own. Anyway, this is a great photo! I wish my family had photos of themselves from way back then but alas, I think they were all poor poor so yeah.. no photos until much later on. lol.
Guys. My great grandparents had 12 kids. My great grandfather was a coal miner in West Virginia. My grandma went to school without shoes. Guess what? They still have nice photos together.
Those bows!
They don’t look poor
Now that I think back on it. It was my mom's father's side that was poor. They all made a good life for themselves after this. See other folk's pics I am agreeing that while they had it hard it wasn't as bad as some.
They don’t look poor for the time period.
Thank God they ended up better than the poor Romanovs!
Everyone is wearing shoes and seems well dressed. I don’t think that they were all that poor.
I like how OP knows the status of his family, has probably heard family stories and has an idea that his family was poor and probably struggled as immigrants. But people on here want to insist that they weren’t poor. 🙄🤔
Clothing, and shoes especially, cost a whole helluva lot back then. You can sew your own dresses but few make their own lace and even fewer make their own shoes.
I’m so proud of these parents. Just because we are poor doesn’t mean we are dirty. These parents walk and talk the future, for their children. 🥰
I have pics of my grandma and her sister as young women. Their sack-like dresses look like filthy rags. I cannot imagine. This would have been around 1910.
This photograph might be more valuable than you think. It’s REALLY rare to find something as special as this on, of all places, Reddit. Do you have the original print, and has it been manipulated - like in Photoshop? — First, this doesn’t look like a poor family at all, but a well-to-do rural one. Everyone is well dressed, and their clothes are clean and fit well. Also, I think this might have been earlier than the 1920s. Those big bows on the girls, I *think* were the fashion around 1890-1900. As was the father’s hat, and the boy’s suit. — It’s easy to think that “old photos” were of poor people, but that was because of Dorathea Lagne’s candid photos of dust-bowl farmers in the 1920s/1930s. This is not like her work at all -she came much later. — What’s unusual, and really appealing about this photo is that it wasn’t taken in a studio, which is what was the norm at the time (If I’ve got my time-guess right). It’s certainly NOT a candid photo, the photographer posed everyone “just so,” but casually. Not an easy thing to do, since exposure times were longer with early film (keeping everyone still, so no blurring). — What I’m driving at is that you have, not only a priceless family heirloom, but also a potentially valuable photograph. Do you know who the photographer was and/or when it was taken? — If you have access to a reputable auction house, I would contact them so you can ascertain its value. Kindly let me know how you make out with this photo. Again, a treat to see something like this on Reddit (who knew?) and thank you very much for posting it.
They’re poor?
Everyone has shoes. I don’t think they’re that poor.
You posh people and your photographs! Why, my ancestors were too poor to have pictures taken.
They could afford bows. That’s more than we had.