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February 1940. "Farm boys at play party in McIntosh County, Oklahoma." Safety negative by Russell Lee for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.
My mother was one of 12 kids, all born at home on a dirt floor during the Great Depression. I remember many times when our families would get together and spend an evening just singing and visiting. When I was 12 I asked my grandmother what it was like being so poor. She said, "We didn't know we were poor. We were always happiest when we had each other."
Yes, they know what "poor" is evidenced by the threadbare clothes, patches on patches, hand-stitched, recycled shirts, austere surroundings. Still, the family closeness, the anticipation of music and song, the heart-melting smile on the youngest boy's face, all of it indicates there was still joy and hope in this family. Possibly these kids can still be with us and I hope their lives improved. I love their optimism and togetherness.
The girl in the upper right is stunning...high cheekbones, aquiline nose, gorgeous skin and long eye lashes. Wow.
Dad appears exhausted to the nth degree.
Of the five people in the picture, the little boy on the right seems to be the only one really enjoying himself. Those fedoras look great.
In general I don't like to comment on the attractiveness or otherwise of the women shown in these old Shorpy photos, but I'll make an exception here. That face in the top right: absolutely beautiful. And made somehow timeless by the fact that we can't see her no-doubt dated hairstyle.
I lived in Marfa, in far southwest Texas, for six years during the 1950s. This looks like a picture from that time in my childhood.
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