Sepia Saturday: Cough! Cough!

Sepia Saturday challenges bloggers to share family history through old photographs.

This week’s Sepia Saturday prompt of the little boy lying sick in bed has given me an opportunity to share this photo:

Photo from collection of Helen Killeen Parker
Photo dated 1922

They certainly look like healthy kids.   However, scrawled on the back is this note:

"These were taken Mar. 1922
while they had whooping cough."

Whooping cough!!  What were their parents thinking?  Whooping cough is a highly contagious disease, one that lasts about six weeks.  As everyone knows, whooping cough has accounted for deaths of many children. 

While I do not know the fate of these two, I have been interested in these children ever since I featured them HERE one Sepia Saturday when they were romping on the beach. 

They are John Jr. and Bob, surname unknown.

Click to enlarge

And here they are again suffering with whooping cough.  

They were with that same woman who was with them at the beach.  And the same poodle. 

Closeup of Bob's hair

In the earlier post, I had observed that “Bob” looked like a girl but was a boy.  Bob.  His name was Bob.  But looking closely at THIS photo, I now believe Bob is – cough cough – a girl.  He’s got a barrette in his hair.  I mean, SHE does.  WHAT?

Here’s another photo of John and Bob:

And a note of confirmation on the back:

Josie, Bobie, and John Jr.
Bob suck her thumm  [sic]

Well wuddayaknow.  Now I have a new clue to help identify this family.  I wonder – is Bob/Bobie a nickname for Barbara or Roberta or something totally unrelated? 

Please visit Sepia Saturday - the perfect antidote for whatever ails you.

© 2014, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.