Tuesday was "pancake day" here in Britain -- also known as Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday. I'm not sure how it came to be associated with pancakes, except that maybe, like Mardi Gras, eating pancakes was seen as a last indulgence before the austerity of Lent. I mention it only because we were served pancakes in our school cafeteria, which was kind of fun and an unexpected twist to my normal lunch routine.
I thought they were pretty good, complete with syrup and whipped cream. (It was just a small portion for dessert, two silver-dollar sized pancakes.) They were American-style pancakes, too, and not the European pancake that Americans would call a crepe. Dave, on the other hand, was not impressed. He's a tough audience.
Speaking of Dave, he bought replacement fish and completed our fish pie for dinner last night. It turned out really well. I suggested he go back to Sainsbury's and tell them he left his fish in the checkout lane to see if they'd replace it for free -- but I doubt he did, and I get that. Some things you just have to let slide. And after all, it wasn't Sainsbury's fault.
Inspired partly by Sabine, who occasionally shares old photos of her relatives, I thought I'd show you this one. I came across it in my scanned photos the other day. It's one of our oldest family photos -- so old, we're not even sure who it is. She was definitely related to my maternal great-grandmother. It could he her grandmother, who lived in or around Robeson County, North Carolina, the home of that branch of the family.
The clothes look very mid-1800s. I wonder if she was in mourning? She doesn't look particularly happy, but I'm guessing there was some bad dentistry going on, which may have contributed to the grim set of her mouth. Besides, she probably had to sit still for a while in order to have the picture taken. If she was anything like my great-grandmother, she was probably annoyed.
I believe we got this photo when we collected a box of my great-grandmother's belongings from the realtor who sold her house in Avon Park, Fla. in 2002. That box also contained my great aunt and uncle's travel scrapbooks, which I've written about before.
It fascinates me to look at this photo and think how different her world was.
(Top photo: A courtyard near the Tate Britain, last month.)
That is indeed a tantalising photograph Steve. A little window on another world. It's easy to see where you got your good looks from.
ReplyDeleteOld photos so often do portray their subjects as being quite grim. Was it considered rude to smile? Even the children never really looked joyful. Of course, as you say, they had to sit quite awhile for the photograph to be taken. Not like the quick snaps we can get of ourselves and our loved ones now with our phones.
ReplyDeleteYou may not know who she was but you do know that she was one of your foremothers and as such, she is eternally part of you. Isn't that such a strange thought?
I remember seeing the same expression on my relatives faces in those old, old photos. I'm sure the ordeal they had to endure to get the pictures taken had a lot to do with it. I really enjoyed reading your old post about the trip your aunt and uncle took. It is so wonderful that they created that scrap book with all those receipts and comments in it. It's a little slice of time.
ReplyDeleteYes, differences creep up on us but faster than you think. How about if you look at your picture when you were 20?
ReplyDeleteThe thing I always notice in the old photos of Jim's family, is how many clothes they wore. Even the children are dressed in several layers of shirts, vests, jackets, tall socks and etc.
ReplyDeleteLove that old photograph. You are so lucky to have such ancient family treasures.
ReplyDeleteI, also, have boxes of old photographs of family members and I have no idea who many of them are. One of these days I'm going to have to begin weeding them out and tossing the ones I don't know.
ReplyDeleteI love that old photograph. Looks like many of those I've inherited from my mom and dad and grandparents. The unsmiling pose and layers and layers of heavy clothing. Interesting to look at them and wonder. I have recently undertaken some family genealogy and it was an interesting feeling to log into Ancestry.com and see the faces of my great grandparents already scanned and loaded into someone else's (a distant half-cousin's side of the family) family tree.
ReplyDeleteShe looks amazing! Dentistry, definitely, must be the reason for that tight lipped mouth. But otherwise, I wish she could talk.
ReplyDeleteIn Ireland pancakes are made right before lent to use up the eggs as real proper catholics stay well away from egg-enriched food for fear of god or whatever until Easter Sunday.
Lovely old photo Steve in those days it was a major event getting once photo taken so that's why they all looked so serious as my box of old photos show, my dad told me that my grandfather told everyone to stand tall and no mucking about.
ReplyDeleteI always enjoy your photos as well.
Old photos are treasures; there were so few taken. My understanding is that since it took awhile for the photo to be taken (long shutter exposure?) people had to maintain a pose for that time and have you ever tried to maintain a smile for more than ten seconds??? lol
ReplyDeleteI assume they did smile sometimes. lol again
That is a treasure. I hope you can discover who she was.
ReplyDeleteShe looks a right bag of laughs
ReplyDeleteI like the old photos that have names written on the back! Why didn't everyone do that? John's comment above is great.
ReplyDeleteThat's an awesome photo -- the set of her mouth! She looks formidable.
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