H. C. and Daisy’s Family Circa 1941

Eight years ago I shared a photo with the same people on the same day.  It’s one that I’ve seen my whole life.  It belonged to my mom (Betty Lou Bucklin Landry) and she wrote on the back of that one that the photo was taken with her first camera.  I’m assuming that this photo was taken by the same person with the same camera.  The people in the photo didn’t move much from one shot to the next.  Maybe they saw this one in their phone and suggested taking another one because my grandmother (Myrtle Sylvia Phenice Bucklin) has her eyes almost closed.  She’s got pretty eyes and a pretty smile, so that would be understandable.

But it’s not accurate, because people didn’t have cameras on their phones back then.  If they did have a phone, it was locked to the wall and they had to get the operator to place a call for them.  Even when I was a kid, my grandmother’s telephone line was on a party line.  We could pick up the phone and listen in to other people talking!

So for whatever reason, they took at least two photos of this same pose on that faraway 1941 day in Hathaway, Louisiana.  I’m glad they did, because I like them both.  I got this one from Aunt Loris recently.  (Thanks again!)  It’s a little clearer than the other one.  Of course, this first version I’m posting has been edited and enhanced.  Some of the Phenice sons on the back row don’t look exactly correct because of the original blurriness.  But the ones in the front look sufficiently like the actual person, so it makes the photo more pleasing to my eyes.  Oh, yeah, it’s also cropped into a square and the subjects are centered better than in the original.  

In front on the left is my Grandma (Myrtle) who doesn’t look very happy in this photo.  In the other photo she looks much happier.  I don’t know why.  Next to her is the youngest daughter Marguerite.  She would be about 23 years old in this photo.  To the right of her is Grace, the oldest daughter.  She was 38 years old at the time and Mrytle was 35. Daisy Keys was born in England in 1876 and she married Harry Clifton Phenice in 1900 in Louisiana.  He was born in Butler, Pennsylvania, (made famous this week) in 1874 and moved to Louisiana as a 24-year-old.  All of their children were born in Louisiana.  On the back row we have Warren, 25; Henry, 32; Sylvan, 40; and Orville, 30.

On my post from eight years ago, I said that sometimes when I clean up photos it takes away some of the charm.  For some reason I don’t feel that way with the editing on this photo, even though it’s a more pronounced change and some of the people don’t look exactly like themselves.  So for you purists out there ( and I know you’re out there!), I’m posting the unenhanced version in all of its blurry, lopsided beauty.

Do you have a preference?