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August 1939. "Josephine County, Oregon, near Grants Pass. A row of shelters like this for hop pickers' families." Medium format negative by Dorothea Lange for the Resettlement Administration. View full size.
Every time I come back here to look at this photo it reminds me of some of the things that we built in Vietnam. The roll-up shades to keep to sun as well as the breeze out, but happily direct the mosquitoes to their evening repast. The cast iron stove reminds me of our makeshift BBQ we built from cinder blocks and a refrigerator shelf. What's missing is a dog. Our strange visitor was a dog that would magically appear whenever we fired the grill. And lastly, the great smile on our faces as we felt we had accomplished relatively luxurious accommodations in contrast to our other realities.
I like the Dutch oven at the edge of the clearing. It is the kind with the raised lip on the lid to hold coals for baking. I can just imagine the biscuits or cornbread that came out of that cast iron beauty.
Isn't it amazing how we humans can adapt to most anything. Dave, this picture has so much character that I did not notice until I studied it for a long time. This is really a pole barn, with boards halfway and then canvas. I would think the canvas might be to open it up during the really hot times maybe. Or they just ran out of boards. I bet that old cast kettle behind the cook stove cooked them some good taters - and I noticed they did have salt. Great site, great picture.
I hope those shacks are a ways away from the fields! My brother has worked harvesting hops, and many other things, and says it's the dirtiest crop there is!
After so many photos of stiff faces, it's refreshing to see her unpretentious smile.
That smile makes my troubles seem minor. Great picture.
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