I would like to thank Connie, from Far Side of Fifty, for inspiring me. She wrote a beautiful post about a old photo, wondering who that person was. It motivated me to go and search out old family photos housed all these years in a chocolate box. A treasure, I had no idea lived in my cupboard.
Read her post here it is called Wistful Wednesday - Who.
Amazing things, live in simple boxes, old chocolate boxes to be exact. Treasures, hidden for so long, unearthed when you least expect it.
Connie's blog post inspired me to search for the old battered chocolate box in the cupboard. The one that we had put away over 10 years ago. Part of his Mother's possessions, I knew most of the photos it held were unmarked, but I wanted to be sure. Since Rose has Alzheimer's, and none of Gar's family are living, there is no one to tell us who the people are.
There were very few names on the mostly black and white photos, somber faces, long forgotten. History no longer repeating itself if it could not be remembered. Photos from times long gone, some even the turn of the century.
There were people who looked like farmers, riding tractors with children, who's children are long grown, photos of a funeral, documented in deary black and white.
And some color photos of birthday parties.
Frankly, the birthday celebrations looked like a lot more fun.
The photos that meant the most to me were the smallest, black and white, with a border, and dated on the back with only a year written in faded blue ink.
They were of a baby, one who I know is Gar, and his now deceased sister.
There is so little of his childhood left, only memories. Rose can't tell me funny stories of his growing up. She can't share family stories with us, Alzheimer's has made sure that it robbed us of that.
We had no idea that there were any baby pictures, we can't ask her. So to come across a chocolate box containing photos of someone I love, is quite simply a treasure.
There were very few names on the mostly black and white photos, somber faces, long forgotten. History no longer repeating itself if it could not be remembered. Photos from times long gone, some even the turn of the century.
There were people who looked like farmers, riding tractors with children, who's children are long grown, photos of a funeral, documented in deary black and white.
And some color photos of birthday parties.
Frankly, the birthday celebrations looked like a lot more fun.
The photos that meant the most to me were the smallest, black and white, with a border, and dated on the back with only a year written in faded blue ink.
They were of a baby, one who I know is Gar, and his now deceased sister.
There is so little of his childhood left, only memories. Rose can't tell me funny stories of his growing up. She can't share family stories with us, Alzheimer's has made sure that it robbed us of that.
We had no idea that there were any baby pictures, we can't ask her. So to come across a chocolate box containing photos of someone I love, is quite simply a treasure. 
Treasures stored in a chocolate box...very special indeed!
ReplyDeleteThat is a great post. I guess we all have one of those chocolate boxs some where.
ReplyDeletePatsy
How precious to find Gar's baby photo with his sister. I enjoyed Connie's Wed. post also - she has some dear photos, doesn't she? So many people started blogs for their children and grands so that precious old photos would be preserved and the history behind the names would never be forgotten. Thanks for sharing your chocolate box of treasures with us. Enjoy your weekend.
ReplyDeleteIt must be the time of year, but I've just been rooting through some old black and white photos that my dad gave me last time he came over. Some people I know (or can work out who they are), others are a mystery but all the photos are treasures!
ReplyDeleteYour autumn posts are lovely - glorious colours! I think you must be ahead of us ..... our trees are only just begining to show the first hints of colour changes and very few leaves have dropped as yet - perhaps as well as I haven't netted the ponds yet! :)
That is a wonderful find, yet it's sad that those photos leave so many questions unanswered.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your words of support today. Give Bootsie a squeeze (and a treat) from me.
Check out genealogy sites-some of them have instructions on how to figure out who is who! And keep them-aunts and uncles,cousins, someone out there might know who they are. I've been working on ours since 2003. I write letters, I send emails, I even google old photographers sites and write to heritage societies, and I've identified quite a few. And with a little photoshopping, you can really make them look impressive!
ReplyDeleteA treasure indeed. I love that photo of the people on the tractor, what a neat photo!
ReplyDeleteYour post is wonderful. My chocolate box is actually a very old canvas suitcase that my Father kept all his important papers in. This included all the family photos. When he passed away, my brother and I shared the contents and I kept the old canvas bag. It's old, dirty and worthless to anyone but me. To me, it brings my Father back. I sit Indian style on the floor, leaning on his knee and viewing (not touching) each photo and special item as he reveals who and what they are. This scene was played out many times throughout my growing up season. He kept my war rations book (which was not completely used). I was born the year the war ended. Beside it was a hand written note marked 'Paid in Full', in the original amount of $5.00. Imagine a time when a man had to make payments on a balance that small...hardly a cup of coffee in this day and age. There were scholastic awards which he had earned during his schooling. My Father's major regret was the fact that he had not been allowed to finish school. He was the second oldest in a family of eleven children. His father lost everything in the 1929 crash and my Father was taken out of school to go to work to support and raise his brothers and sisters. His older brother left home rather than have his life disrupted. There was never any regret in my Father for his lot in life, only for his lack of education. He was a great and gentle man who possessed more common sense than anyone I have ever known.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful posting.I have some old photos that were left to me by my grandma and I wish she would have written their names on the back. They are wonderful family keepsakes. I always get sad when I see old photos at antique stores or flea markets and wonder about the people in them and know they were important to someone once.
ReplyDeleteJen, That was just lovely Jen. Thank you for sharing your found treasure with us. gail
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful treasure chest of memories!
ReplyDeleteCool! I LOVE old photos and doing genealogy. Staying in touch with those who've forged the way for us is a great and worthy thing. BTW, I found my daughters bug treasures stashed in a box that she had long ago forgotten about. It was quite funny to see what she put in there.
ReplyDeleteWhat a treasure trove in that chocolate box. I was expecting a post about chocolate from the title, but got something much richer instead. We have a box from my mother in law full of photos. Some people in them we know, others no one knows. The cars, the clothes, the hairdos, the homes, the parties, the porches, pets, all the elements of these photos from long ago bring imagined stories about them to the frontal lobe. We don't make hard copies of the family photos anymore with this age of digital cameras and computer discs. We should. :-)
ReplyDeleteFrances
As a genealogy researcher I always tell people to get their pictures labeled as soon as possible. Often when someone opens up a box of unlabeled photos like yours they get thrown out. Why keep them if no one knows who they are? So sad.
ReplyDeleteI am so pleased to have inspired you. I am also extremely happy that you found some photos of Gar..now that is special! :)
ReplyDeleteJen .. a beautiful post girl. This dreaded disease robs so many people of their lives. I dearly hope they find a way to stop and treat it. I love chocolate boxes for treasures .. so many were used at Christmas time for ornaments we lost the original boxes to : )
ReplyDeleteJoy
I treasure all the old photos I have too. The pics and the people in them mean so much to me and some of them are gone now. I hope they hold something spcial for daughter someday. Thanks for the beautiful post!
ReplyDeleteOh, the mystery of old family photos.
ReplyDeleteI love the tales you tell about the pics and people in them, the ones you can identify and the ones unknown.
I have lots of old family photos and love when someone wrote people's names and the year on the back. Sometimes I do that with current family photos since I know who we are, but they could be mystery photos to future folks.
My notes will be a great boon to people who inherit the photos.
My mother died of Alzheimers, but she journaled on every picture she left behind...for which the family is very thankful.
ReplyDelete