Christmas in the 'Teens

I went through more old photos today. The scrapbook I've never looked at too much is the one that covers the era before our house was built. Helen, who we knew for nearly a year prior to her passing away, was born in March 1911. Every Christmas after that her mother, Bess,  took her picture in front of the tree. Since Helen's father was a doctor they were relatively well off. For the first 7 years the pictures presumably are from their home in Waucoma, Iowa. In 1918 they were in El Paso, Texas, at Bess' sister's home. At that time Bess' husband, Walter was a captain in the U.S. Army stationed at Ft. Hood, Tx, prior to going overseas.  So here  is Helen from her first Christmas to her 8th:

 1911, 9 months

1912, almost 2

 1913 almost 3

 1914 almost 4

 1915 almost 5

 1916 almost 6

 1917 almost 7

 

1918 almost 8, taken in El Paso Texas, with a cousin?

A couple notes:

• The morris chair to the left in the 1912 picture is currently in our library. 
• The wicker rocker (1912, 1913) never seems to have been moved to Foxcroft, nor was the "death's head" tabouret table in the 1911 picture. 
• "Bill" was the dog's name.
• I think the number and type of presents indicates the relative wealth of the family. 

Looking at the pictures in full scan is wonderful for details, the wallpaper (1911-13) is phenomenal. I don't know if they moved the tree location or painted?

Also the rug in the 1917 picture is the same from the 1930 Christmas picture, the first one I can find  at Foxcroft, even though they moved in fall of 1928:

I wrote more about this picture here:

Christmas Then and Now December 13, 2005

Other Bloggers

Time for a brief shout out to the inimitable Garner St. John. He is the three time mayor of nearby Verne.

Please visit his blog above. His latest episodes with Sean Hannity on election night and Anderson Cooper showcase the insight and depth that make him one of our favorite local politicians. Also his touching tribute to Andy Williams shows a side that few elected leaders have the guts to display.

In a startling coincidence city Clerk Danforth Quinn's house (pictured above and can be found below at 1:22 in the clip) could easily be a twin for Foxcroft! An unrelated but equally startling coincidence is that Garner could easily be the evil twin of my childhood pal, Rob!

A Hopping Good Time!

Here is a brief update from a post last year about my hops.

I had to move them since the original spot I planted them in was too sunny. I then put them outside the garden fence where Lisa promptly pulled them thinking they were weeds. I was seriously skeptical that anything would come back for the 2012 growing season.

Boy was I wrong! While only three shoots came out of the ground they spread all over the fence:

Here is just a bit of them. I picked 2 gallons of flowers and have them in my freezer.

Now I'm looking for a local brewer...