Our Ancestors ' At Play '

[JPK Huson 1863]

You just know our ancestors' lives could not have been All War, All The Time. The entire 4 year period was dreary, and hard, and heartbreaking- a dense cloud of dread forever hovering over the heads of our country, threatening at any time to lose some volley of fury on citizens- whether it be being directly in the path of war or being affected by the war in some material way or having a family member away or worst of all lost to the war. For those IN the war of course much, much worse than someone say, in Bangor, Maine or a far west territory.

Still. There's this image of a somber, soberly-clad citizenry furtively going about daily life, awaiting for the day it was all Over. In some cities in the South you'd have to guess this would be the case- I forget which city had to finally ban the wearing of mourning clothing, for instance, because it was making daily life just, plain too depressing. There were too many of them, EVERYONE was wearing black like some eerie other-worldly planet.

Hopefully I'll be able to add to these, since it really is a little tough to find photos which portray ' At Play'. I'm positive it's only because no one had polaroid cameras much less smart phones, much less 35mm's to whip out at a pick-up baseball game.

Some of these will be out of era, please excuse- some qualify as Civil War. All of them prove there's always been a need to just play, get out and DO something, have fun, forget your troubles, the war, whatever, have some fun- whatever it is which defines one's notion of ' fun'.

 

[JPK Huson 1863]

 

[JPK Huson 1863]

 

[donna]

Great group of pictures. I have some material on games they played. I will look it up.

 

[donna]

There is a wonderful print of Grant and his wife and 4 children at:

http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/96506726/

It shows Grant with his wife and 4 children. The daughter is on a pony and one son is holding croquet mallet. It was an engraving done by John Sartain (1808-1897)..

 

[JPK Huson 1863]

Thanks very much Donna! It's SO interesting to see those, people doing kinda normal things, isn't it? Well known faces playing croquet, sitting with children- doing things you know they did every, single day instead of sitting staring at the camera, right? Love those! It's why I thought these were interesting- we just don't often SEE our ancestors in every day life. It's almost odd!

 

[JPK Huson 1863]

ps- Why does the woman in the very first picture, on the swing, look like she's being put on a large sling shot, sent over the mountain to her death or something? NOT a happy face.

 

[JPK Huson 1863]

Just noticed the hunters in the last photo, with one of them holding up a dead bird? Made me wonder how long that thing had had to be gone from this earth before a posed photo could have been taken. Could have been an unforgettable session for the photographer.

 

[Tumbleweed]

ps- Why does the woman in the very first picture, on the swing, look like she's being put on a large sling shot, sent over the mountain to her death or something? NOT a happy face.

The little girl behind her who's apparently waiting her turn (and maybe getting a bit of encouragement from Mom) doesn't look too enthused, either. Was swinging unladylike and they were embarrassed perhaps?

 

[chellers]

Great pics, JPK. It's refreshing to see that our forebears found some enjoyment in life.

 

[JPK Huson 1863]

That's what I thought? We see so many of the poor people frozen into terrified obedience to the lense, right? Some of those CDV cards and Ambrotypes you can BET were practiced in front of the mirror, not through ego but because having your picture taken was SUCH a big deal and sooooo expensive! If we think we want re-takes now, well, am guessing you sure didn't get one them! Maybe the uber wealthy could indulge but in a society where those post mortum photos abound because no one could afford portraits sometimes 'unless' the unthinkable happened, it was a dicey proposition, You tool what you got, I'd imagine.

I even like the rare photos of formal portraits which catch these folks with a rare smile- even a teeny one breaks with what they were told to do, I'll bet. LOVE those!

This is my 3X grandmother, Betsey Huson- the mother of the woman in my profile pic. ( Half of the children look like her- half like their father, it's so, so funny. ) SIXTEEN children ( 3 lost to the war ), although not by the time this was taken. She was hysterical apparently, told nosy people they were working on their 2nd dozen, when asked why so many. I've always imagined the photographer was attempting to wipe her smile off too, and did not quite succeed.

 

[donna]

I looked up the history of croquet. It was very popular in England and then America in 19th century. I read where Godey's Ladies Book had fashions for croquet published. It be good to find some old photos from that magazine.

 

[Chattahooch33]

I love the picture of the singing choir, and the hunters in the last 2.