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Circa 1915. Washington, D.C., or vicinity. "Army cooks." National Photo Company glass negative. Thanks to Tom for the title of this post. View full size.
The big beefy guy with his shirtsleeves rolled up, two-day stubble, big tattoo on his arm that says Mother and a big cigar hanging out of his mouth. His name would be something like "Tiny" or "Cookie."
and a favorite of mine since I was practically raised on it. Didja' ever hear of a "soup chest"? That was how my sons used to refer to a person who was built with a concave and hollowish chest, to the extent that if he lies down, it will sort of cave in and he could eat soup out of it. I don't know if they made it up or it is a real descriptive phrase. Also they also always referred to lunch as a "zowich."
This is the same coal stove that we cooked on in the early 1950s. They date back to the Civil War. We had gas ovens but they were supposed to be used only for baking bread and such. A lot of sweat went into my cooking. Life wasn't easy.
When you see a war movie, isn't the cook always the jolly, rotund guy with a cherubic face? In other news, the clean one has an impressive physique when you consider that people just looked that way because they worked hard, not because they went to the gym.
I recently read an article that said the T-shirt didn't arrive in the United States until after WW1, when American doughboys saw European soldiers wearing short sleeved cotton undershirts under their wool tunics and began coveting them as an alternative to the issue shirts they left the States with. Looks like this picture may well put the lie to that tale.
Abercrombie & Fitch called ... they want their models back ... the two guys in white, that is.
I'm constantly struck by how inhibited nineteenth and early twentieth century people were in front of the camera. It's a rare face that reveals much humor, sexiness, or mischief.
The Roaring Twenties loosened things up a lot.
Barbers really knew what they were doing in those days.. they really knew how to taper around the ears and neck, and leave the top and top back full. They followed the shape of the head. Nowadays, men look like pinheads... the barbers cut too close on top, and leave the hair puffy on the neck. I remember seeing a series of jail portraits, and every man had a perfectly shaped, tapered cut.
Where did barbering skills go?
There seems to be a strong facial relationship between the three cooks. Brothers? Also strange that the one on the middle is so clean. Perhaps he lent his coat to the one on the left.
...for you!
[Very funny. Now the title of this post. Thanks Tom! - Dave]
The guy on the left looks like he kills the poultry and livestock with his bare hands!
Let's see, work over that hot cast iron stove all day, or get shot at. Personally, I'd rather dodge bullets.
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