Sepia Saturday challenges bloggers to share family
history through old photographs.
This week’s Sepia Saturday prompt features two vehicles
with the implied theme of “large and small.”
My grandaunt Helen Killeen Parker’s attempts to be humorous with her
labels alerted me to a pair of photos from her 1920s photo album.
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| A Lizzie Jit A Ford |
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| Helen Killeen in a toy "jitney" |
Definitely large and small. A "jitney" is a small vehicle used for transporting people much like a shuttle. As slang, it suggests a cheap car. Helen's label for both the family car and riding toy gives me some insight into her playful humor.
Father and son are obviously “large and small” especially
when the son is just a baby. Orvin Sr. and Orvin Jr. are on the right. The
other father and son also fit the theme.
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| Orvin Davis and Orvin Jr. right 1925 |
Finally, whenever I write about my grandaunts Violetta and Velma, I can’t help noticing how much our alma mater has changed – from a mere two buildings on opening day in 1910 to a campus that straddles an interstate.
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| Harrisonburg Teachers College 1923 There were about 14 buildings. |
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| James Madison University Harrisonburg, VA You can't get the entire campus in a single photo. Just north of center is the walkway over the interstate to the newest section of campus. |
Please visit Sepia Saturday for more large and small
contributions to this week’s theme.
©
2015, Wendy Mathias. All rights
reserved.
Hello Wendy, A “Jitney” is a completely new word to me – but I like it! I also love the photo of Helen riding a toy Jitney. I’m going to use that word as often as possible from now on – it has such a lovely ring to it! Barbara
ReplyDeleteA new word to add to my vocabulary! Helen was certainly a fun lady. The same thing happened with my teacher training college, founded in 1862, and now a university.
ReplyDeleteI think jitneys were in use before "horseless carriages" and became a good term for the little cars...glad to have reminder of the word. Love the father/son photo too!
ReplyDeleteYour Helen certainly had a unique way of seeing things. She must have been a fun lady to know.
ReplyDeleteToo bad you don't have a picture of Momma and Daddy's "Tall Car"
ReplyDeleteFun post!
Now that is something new as well as big and small...'Jitney'. I don't think we had or have them in Texas. Velma and Violetta were fun gals for sure. Amazing how the campus has grown. It must be a well attended and funded college.
ReplyDeleteSue at CollectInTexas Gal
Quite an expansion for the university. Mine has changed a lot since the days my parents were students up to today.
ReplyDeleteNever heard of a jitney before but it is one cute little car! So interesting to see how much the university has changed over the last 100 years.
ReplyDeleteGlad to have a new word in my vocabulary. Could you apply that to things like golf buggies or beach buggies ? Looking at Helen's inscriptions makes me realize how few of my own photos have anything written on them.. At least the scanned ones usually get a few tags.
ReplyDeleteYour grandaunt had a great sense of humour!
ReplyDeleteI especially like the photo of a big Helen on a little jitney.
ReplyDeleteWhat a perfect take on Big/Little...Orvin Sr. and Orvin Jr.!
ReplyDeleteLove the toy jitney. That would be a fun antique to have.
ReplyDeleteLast year, after a 30 year absence, I went back to Oakhurst - a town where we'd lived & I'd worked for 5 years before moving north to Groveland. The high school where I'd worked had only 3 buildings plus the gymnasium, a baseball, & a football field when I first started working there. While there, 2 buildings were added. I was amazed to see how the campus had grown over the interim! Several new buildings plus portables, a swimming pool, 2 add'l baseball fields, half a dozen tennis courts. The campus is now more than twice the size it was when we left. Amazing.
ReplyDeleteGreat examples of big and little :-)
ReplyDeleteGreat examples of big and little :-)
ReplyDeleteWow! The university. What a difference! And what a fun photo of your grandaunt Helen.
ReplyDeleteAunt Helen sounds like fun.
ReplyDeleteJitney is a new word for me too.
ReplyDeleteThe universities that we have in Australia are no where near to that size!