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June 1939. "Daughter of Frederick Oliver, tenant purchase client, sewing in living room of new home. Summerton, South Carolina." Medium format acetate negative by Marion Post Wolcott for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.
Are we to assume from the oil lamp on the table that this house is not wired for electricity?
The framed portrait rather resembles entertainer Josephine Baker.
Most likely a relative who dressed up to have her portrait taken, as was the style back then.
I'm thankful that my grandparents and great-grandparents and loved ones dressed up for their formal pictures too so that we could put them on our mantels.
Much different than when we were kids and we went down to K-Mart in our halfway clean T-shirts to have our pictures taken.
I feel this room may have been "staged" by Farm Security Administration. There's a framed picture on the left side of the mantel of an urban socialite not found in Summerton, South Carolina.
[So many misconceptions here. - Dave]
As I was admiring the basic, sturdy craftmanship of the woodwork, including the quarter-round at floor level, I appreciated the elegant simplicity of the mantelpiece: a single board, surrounded by trim, supported by two pleasing brackets. Then I noticed the scary-looking crack in the wood at the right end of the mantel, complete with hash marks on either side of the gash. Looks to me like a fresh scar with suture marks.
She also sends out Ella Fitzgerald vibes!
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