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September 1942. "Rochester, New York. Mrs. Babcock, Shirley and Earl greeting Mr. Babcock in front of the house." The nucleus of this nuclear family, orbited by his little electron. Large format negative by Ralph Amdursky. View full size.
Hi, new here as far as a poster but always have looked at the pics daily . Just wondering has anyone here had any experience driving this car in the rain . Doesn't look like the wipers cover enough area to see out of.
[Typical for cars of the period. - tterrace]
I've been trying to pin down these Babcocks in the 1940 Federal census.
[Somebody has. - tterrace]
Mr. Babcock falls into that odd category my paternal grandfather also shared. Too young for WWI, yet too old (and supporting a family) for WWII.
It really makes you wonder how the photographer was able to shoot the Babcock family in so many situations (listening to the radio, Mom doing the laundry, the boys making a model plane and sleeping at night) and still manage to elicit such genuine emotion as with the dad hoisting Earl in the air upon his return home. It's a credit to his skill at what he does. As for the look on the mom's face, she's obviously a bit more reserved than the others, and it may very well be that she's bursting with pride and happiness at her husband and little boy.
Gotta love the old plug in fan on the dash.
The "A" sticker entitles him to 3 gallons of gas a week, the lowest civilian grade. You get that if you certify that you own five tires or fewer. The rest had to be turned in.
What a strange car in the Babcock's driveway. Look at the Shorpy logo on its right front fender.
[The poor abused apostrophe. Which of these nice people would be "the Babcock"? - Dave]
I think that the word "the" preceding the family's name makes it the collective Babcock family and that that renders my apostrophe unharmed. Not too sure though.
[These people are the Babcocks, and this is the Babcocks' driveway. - Dave]
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