Sepia Saturday challenges bloggers to share family
history through old photographs.
Big stick.
A man with a cane in the company of a woman in this week's Sepia Saturday prompt reminded me
immediately of a photo of my 2X great-grandfather and his second wife. Old age
had clearly set in for James Franklin Jollett and Eliza Jane. That was a serious
walking stick.
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| James Franklin Jollett and Eliza Jane Jollett Reunion 1929 |
A few years before, he sported the typical cane with curved
handle.
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| Jollett Reunion 1927 James Franklin Jollett with his children from youngest to oldest Ulysses Jollett, Victoria Breeden, Sallie Clift, Mary Frances Davis, Leanna Knight, Laura Sullivan, Emma Coleman, Burton Lewis Jollett |
Look closely and you can see the same stylish version just
inside the frame of James Franklin’s older brother John Wesley Jollett and his
wife Sarah Elizabeth.
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| John Wesley Jollett and Sarah Elizabeth courtesy Jan Hensley |
But canes weren't just for men. In her declining years, James Franklin's oldest daughter Emma Jollett Coleman also relied on a cane.
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| Jollett Reunion no later than 1934 The sisters from youngest to oldest Victoria Breeden, Sallie Clift, Mary Frances Davis, Leanna Knight, Laura Sullivan, Emma Coleman |
See who else is raising CANE at Sepia Saturday.
Wendy
© 2020, Wendy Mathias. All rights reserved.
Neat photos! The thing that I couldn't stop staring at is how tiny Sarah Elizabeth's waist was.
ReplyDeleteFantastic...seeing all those adult children pictured with parents...and of course those using canes! What stories they could tell!
ReplyDeleteGreat pictures! Good that they didn't shy away from pictures with their canes and didn't try to hide them.
ReplyDeleteBetty
So much variety this week with everyone's posts! Two of us went with the father-daughter connection; one went with hats; one went with Guggenheim museums, and you found the Mr. Guggenheim's cane to focus on! Hopefully we'll have a few more entries before the weekend is over and I can't wait to see what they've come up with? How fun! I have several canes and they're all different - different colors, different patterns. I also have a genuine walking stick a late neighbor made especially for me with colored shells and rawhide 'ribbons' when we first moved into the neighborhood and I started walking. Very special - especially now that he's gone. He was a really neat person.
ReplyDeleteMy grandmother always used a cane following a serious car accident when she was in her 60's - I'd forgotten all about that until I read your post.
ReplyDeleteYou have some great family photos. And I like your take with canes. I am intrigued by that tree in the 2nd photo with its big branch stripped of bark. And what is that pointy-looking thing overhead?
ReplyDeleteI just love your eye for detail. Wish I had one.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your eagle eye for coming up with a post based on the canes - here we call them walking sticks and I have to admit a wonky knee is causing me to use mine more frequently now. You have such a wonderful range of 1920s and 1930s photographs to share with us.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your eagle eye for coming up with a post based on the canes - here we call them walking sticks and I have to admit a wonky knee is causing me to use mine more frequently now. You have such a wonderful range of 1920s and 1930s photographs to share with us.
ReplyDeleteThe big stick angle! I didn't think of that. Great idea.
ReplyDeleteFor countless previous generations a cane was a sign of great age, but not necessarily of a handicap, but more of honored seniority. I believe many canes were handed down. Some "wizard sticks", as I call them, came with a story of the wood, where they were made, and who had used them last.
ReplyDeleteMy sister uses a cane after a disastrous broken ankle from hill climbing on vacation. Somehow, it never ends up in photos though.
ReplyDeleteYou have some great photos.