Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Memmy and Ethel running errands, 1935


Since I seem to be pushing and pulling this blog in all sorts of directions I thought I should pay tribute to these two women, The Jones girls of Marion, Ohio.  The woman on the right is my great grandmother Memmy, a woman of mythic proportions in our family.  When all seemed lost, Memmy endured and watched out for her family.  To Memmy's side is her younger sister Ethel, my great Aunt.   Ethel was in Columbus, visiting Memmy who lived in Upper Arlington - they were very close and did everything together.  Ethel is wearing her mink, and Memmy is in her wool coat which was trimmed in mink.  But you know its early spring because Ethel is wearing light colored gloves; a harbinger of better weather.  This would have been taken a couple months before Memmy's husband passed away. 

This picture was taken by a street photographer who worked for Kresge's.  Still, I cherish this picture.  During the Great Depression these photographers would stand out in the street snapping pictures of people walking by.  Once he took your picture, he handed you a ticket.  You would go back to the store later on and pay your dime and they would hand you the picture.  Pretty neat.

I love this picture.  It was snapped on High Street in downtown Columbus outside of Kresge's, about 1935.  The angle of the feet, the facial expressions, the clothes, even the woman behind of them, I love it.  There's a story here.  I just wish I knew what it was. 

4 comments:

  1. I love the shoes. And the hats. And the Fur coats. Oh why don't they have photographers posted outside of downtown department stores these days?

    Because they don't have downtown department stores anymore.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I adore Memmy's coat. If I had it, I would be wearing it right now. I would wear it to work every day. I would sleep in it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. i think the fur coat needs to make a come back...and I think we need more photographers in the world in general...there's beauty everywhere.

    ReplyDelete
  4. It's a classic. I love your blog, very nice.

    ReplyDelete