Pee Paw on the Stump Circa 1911
Robert Joseph Landry in 1911 in Westlake, Louisiana – before the Sr. was added to his name and before he was ever known as Pee Paw or Pappy.
Just what was my grandfather doing on that tree stump? I really have no idea, but I’m going to write a story about it anyway! I didn’t even notice he was standing on the tree trunk until I started working on the photo. The main thing I noticed about it is that he looks like he was singing. In addition to that, there was an aura about him from that white shirt he was wearing. I got rid of some of that, but there is still a hint of it.
I saw this photo for the first time a few weeks ago at the Landry Cousin Photo Exchange. It was where we brought together the Tin Can Collection, the Secret Collection, and the Fort Knox Collection. Those are the names that we’ve been calling the collection of photos in the possession of my cousin Tricia, my cousin Daphne, and myself, respectively. This photo came from the Tin Can Collection. The Tin Can Collection got its name from a tin can found in the attic of Tricia’s mom’s (my Aunt Wana) house. I’m not telling how Daphne’s collection got named. It’s a secret.
It’s a great old photo of my grandfather Robert Joseph Landry, Sr. I’m pretty sure he went by the name Bob at this time. It was about a year earlier than the Man in Black photo I posted previously. I know this because the back of the photo says that it was taken in Westlake, Louisiana, when Bob was just 18 years old. Not that everything that is written on the back of photos is correct. But the age looks correct in relation to other photos of my grandfather.
And it sure looks like he is singing something. He’s even standing on a make-shift stage, small though it is. I’ve never heard any stories about him singing. But this was when he was young and before he suffered any hearing loss from his participation in the military. Maybe my dad got some of his love for music from his father’s side of the family.
But really, who doesn’t appreciate music? I wish I could hear what was coming out of his mouth. A song? A poem? A speech? We’ll never know. It does make this photo just a little more interesting.