Framed or unframed, desk size to sofa size, printed by us in Arizona and Alabama since 2007. Explore now.
Shorpy is funded by you. Patreon contributors get an ad-free experience.
Learn more.
"Lettis -- Ma and tot." From around 1900, it's Miss (or Mrs.) Handlebars again (and our third look at her house), along with another look at the baby. 4x5 glass negative, photographer and location unknown. View full size.
I got the impression these were well to do folks from some of the earlier pictures and this one has me convinced. The wicker pram, bicycles and now the "convertible" highchair were not average household items of the day. In the duo bike picture, one of the fellas is wearing a pretty nice watch chain too. For some reason I'm convinced her beautiful hair is red. Go figure.
[Their home, property, possessions and dress are not those of this period's wealthy. These folks are solidly middle-class. -tterrace]
I wasn't implying great wealth but for many "average" families of this time period a photograph was a big investment. Case in point my mother's family, 9 boys and her. Father was a farmer, no photos exist of their early years. Bicycles would have been unthinkable.
Is that a toy telephone on the high chair table in the style of the era?
[It's a cup on a leash, like the ball. -tterrace]
The mother in this picture has a striking resemblance to Chloe Sevigny.
If you take the stripes of the highchair fabric and blend it with the dots of the baby's outfit, you get the striped/dotted pattern of the woman's blouse.
The look on that baby's face slays me. "Take the dang picture already!"
I inherited a similar high chair from my grandmother, born in 1892. It folds down into a stroller and is still functional. Amazingly, so many things made in the past were built to last, as this chair has for several family generations.
On Shorpy:
Today’s Top 5