Stan and Betty Sanders were visiting in August 1956, so it was natural that the Dobson and Portfors families unite for a picnic on the farm. Stan was Grandma Ina Dobson's oldest grandchild, while I was the youngest. And Stan was Grandpa Charlie (Papa) Portfors' nephew by marriage. It was a time of change. Joni and Pat had just married in June, L.J. Reece was just a year old, and Grandma Portfors had been gone a year.
Here's a picture of how the house looked at that time. That deciduous tree in the foreground is not the maple that's there now. And see the big pine just behind the back porch? That's the one that fell on the house in '96, starting the remodel project. The car is Papa's Lincoln.
Why are these people gathered at the back of the house? – you might ask. Because that's where the shade is. Managing your summer comfort by enjoying the shade -- something you don't see much any more, the impact of air-conditioned indoor comfort.
Note how these folks are using a camp cot for a table. Some people prefer to eat at a table rather than balancing food on their laps – even at a picnic. I guess they made-do in this informal setting.
The fellas are s
itting on the old cistern. Note the ice cream freezer. My dad loved to make homemade ice cream. He began by cooking the eggs and sugar and used real, honest-to-gosh farm cream. It coated your mouth with creamy goodness.
And here's my mother with her daughters: Joni, the newlywed; Harriet, the young mother; my mother with her arms around me, now moving into the second grade; and Nina, 
who would marry Jerry Profitt the next year. Note the dresses and high heels. I'm not sure why I'm wearing my "school shoes" with a Sunday school dress, but I remember Mother was insistent and that I hated it. Clodhopper shoes and a dressy dress just don't go together.
We repeated that summer picnic on the farm for several years to celebrate Papa's birthday (July 31, 1875). We have many pictures of those events – all slides. How useless slides have become! I really have to deal with that for the extended family's benefit.
5 comments:
The women are sure dressed fancy for a picnic. How times have changed! High heels and grass lawns simply do not go together! HA-HA-HA!!!
Women didn't wear slacks or jeans much in that era. Mother had a pair of "pedal pushers" that she wore for yard work and the like. She wouldn't dream of wearing them in public. And frankly, while slacks could be found, I don't think they were very comfortable.
I would have hated to have to shave my legs that often, with those old razors especially. Electric ones didn't work that well back then. And I suppose they had on a garter belt with nylons? I am so glad to have been born in a different time!!!
Wonder where I was. I may have been working in harvest somewhere, maybe around Lapwai. Those were great years.
So, Chuck, you're saying that isn't you sitting on the cistern wearing the rather loud shirt? From right to left, it's Jerry Profitt, loud shirt guy, Pat Nunan, and Bill Reece. Who could it be if it isn't you? I can't find a picture showing a front view of these guys.
On shaving legs -- at one picnic Nina noted that I had ever-so-much more leg hair than she. I often think of that when I shave my legs. I don't know if that's just genetic or if diet would have some effect.
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