A FOURTH OF JULY PICNIC, 1933

My mother is center front holding her first child, 3-year-old Harriet Lee.

I’ve posted about this event before. It’s such a complicated little story because of all the players, but it speaks to me in so many ways. And it’s vintage Fourth of July, so why not revisit it?

I first found the pictures when I was a teenager among some memorabilia of Mother’s. “Oh yes,” she said, “we all got together for a picnic.” She didn’t offer details, but I was fascinated because my mother is front and center in a picture that includes her parents and my dad’s many years before they were married.

But – I had no particulars as to what had drawn the Portfors and Dobson families together until Grandma Ina’s letters came my way. Then I learned that the occasion was the visit of Al and Pearl Sanders and son Stanley from their home near Stettler, Alberta, Canada. Al was my Grandmother Nina Portfors' brother; Pearl was Ina and Jack Dobson's daughter.

Alice Sanders with her children

Uncle Al and Aunt Pearl arrived at the Portfors’ home in Orofino on Monday, July 3. At Gilbert, just south of Orofino, the Dobsons were also anticipating this visit. That Monday afternoon, Ina was busy with laundry and baking when the phone rang. It was Pearl, calling from the Portfors’ home. Yes, they had just arrived and would spend the night at the Portfors’. “But listen, Mama,” Pearl probably said, “there’s a picnic tomorrow at Al’s aunt's place near Melrose. Al and I will come for you and Dad tomorrow morning. See you then!”

And Ina went back to her baking with renewed energy. She would spend tomorrow with family and friends, and she was looking forward to it.

Gown made by Aunt Naomi

So, the Fourth of July picnic of 1933 happened in a meadow at the home of Uncle Bud and Aunt Naomi Long near Melrose, Idaho. (My great-grandmother Alice Sanders and Aunt Naomi were sisters.) Ina relates that the meadow was a lovely place.

During the afternoon, someone – probably Aunt Pearl – brought out a camera and took pictures. Front and center is my mother, Dorothy Portfors Walrath, holding her daughter and eldest child, Harriet Lee. My mother was widowed in 1945, and in 1947, she married Jack and Ina’s son Vance, and they had me. From my perspective, the picture includes both sets of grandparents and a great-grandmother as well as aunts, uncles, and cousins from both sides of the family  – years before I was born. Naturally, as the years passed, so did the people. Sister Harriet (sitting on Mother's lap) was three years old in 1933. She passed on in 2016.

Comfortable attire for a casual picture?

I wish I knew what food was carried to that picnic. Today, a Fourth of July picnic brings to mind hamburgers, hot dogs, potato chips, soda pop, potato salad – well, you know. But they didn’t have any of that, and I think it’s a little too soon for fresh veggies from the garden, especially in the upper country. So, what did they eat? Any ideas? KW


Photo identification:
#1 --  Back row, l-r: Stanley Sanders, Fairly Walrath, Jack Dobson, Bud Long, Al Sanders, Clifford Reed (Aunt Naomi's son), and Earle Dobson. Next row, l-r: Ina Dobson, Naomi Stinson Reed Long, Berniece Dryden Dobson, Alice Mary Stinson Sanders. Front, l-r: Nina Sanders Portfors sits behind Charlie Portfors; "little girl" Reed, Shirley Jean Robinson, Lois Reed; Dorothy Portfors Walrath holding 3-year-old Harriet Lee Walrath; and Muriel Sanders German.

#2 -- I think this picture might well have been taken in the same timeframe. My great-grandmother Alice Mary Stinson Sanders sits in the center. Her brother stands behind her. The others are Alice's children: Muriel German on left; Nina Portfors standing on right; Albert Sanders, kneeling. (Another daughter, Bessie Wood, is not present.)

#3 -- Mother made this rag doll for me, and Aunt Naomi (my great-great aunt) made her some clothes. I also am a great-great aunt making doll clothes.

#4 -- Another photo of the picnic. Note the way they are dressed -- women in dresses, nice shoes, and hats with brims; men in white shirts and ties. They're sitting on blankets (possibly old quilts) -- no lawn furniture.