Say Cheese! The Art of Photography

“SAY CHEESE” – THE ART OF PHOTOGRAPHY

By

Karen Utter Jennings

The first thing that comes to my mind when I think of family photographs is how lucky I am to own wonderful and varied collection. I am thankful for what I have found over the years that I’ve been searching. Many families are not quite as fortunate. Sometimes photographs are lost in a house fire or other disasters. Occasionally people are not interested in old photograph collections they inherited, so they are tossed out with the trash!

I’m surprised to learn that sometimes people keep the pictures thrown in a box and stored in the garage or attic. Year after year, the old photos are susceptible to extreme heat, cold, bugs, rot and dirt. The elements will eventually destroy those photos that are records of history!

Photographs are one of the most valuable genealogical tools we can find. Family pictures contain a vast amount of history and detail of social significance. They offer many clues about ancestors’ lives, which add to the information we obtain through paper records, stories, and certificates.

A family photograph collection is a direct link to family history. The photos and images will provide insight into your ancestors and the life they led.

This photo shows Gladys Opal Utter with her doll. Gladys was born in 1906; this photo was taken when she was 8 years old.  

Did you know that photography has been around for 172 years? It began about 1839 to 1840 when William Henry Fox Talbert announced to the Royal Society of London, England, that he had perfected a paper photographic process.

Did you know that working on old photographs in your collection means that you must play the part of detective? You need to research every clue in the picture and follow the lead to uncover information that is usually hidden in the elements of the picture. You must learn how to search for clues to the answers you want to get from your old photographs.

Do you know what orphaned photographs and heirlooms are? They are photographs and items that got lost from the family of origin. They are belongings that were once very dear to someone. We find orphaned photos and heirlooms in antique stores, flea markets, garage sales, or left in a box in the closet, garage or attic of a home when someone dies or moves. They are in those boxes of “junk” we buy at an auction. Or, in my case, they are precious items that were sold at auction after a particularly nasty grandfather stole my inheritance from me the day of my great-grandmother’s funeral.

The photo above was taken before 1914; it is the log cabin of my great, great--grandparents and my great-grandfather, located in McDonald County, Missouri.

Some of the topics I’m going to write about for future posts are a brief history of photography, the different types of photographs and picture postcards, separating and organizing your photograph collection, dating and identifying clues in photos, and caring for those old photographs. Did you know you can make a photograph timeline with the photos you have and then you can write your family history using the information from those photographs?

Even if you don’t have an interest in genealogy and you don’t own old photographs of kinfolk, you probably do have modern photographs of your family, your children, and your pets. These, photographs need to be cared for just as much as the old ones. And, there are some fun ways to use your modern photos and help take care of them at the same time…through scrapbooking. I’ll be talking more about scrapping and the above topics in future posts.

To document my resources for this photograph series, I will use these some of my genealogy books: UNCOVERING YOUR ANCESTRY THROUGH FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHS by Maureen A. Taylor, TRACING YOUR FAMILY HISTORY by Lise Hull, and THE EVERYTHING GUIDE TO ONLINE GENEALOGY by Kimberly Powell.

I will also use internet resources and my personal copies of FAMILY TREE MAGAZINE. Finally, I will use my own family photograph collection to talk about where I got the photos, how I got them, and what I have learned through researching my collection.

           

My next post will focus on the boom of photography going in to the history of photographs and how the Kodak Company made their own history. I’m glad they did! Through their equipment, I’m collecting a great family history through photographs.

A fun fact: In 400 B.C., the Chinese philosopher Mo-Ti recorded the creation of an inverted image formed by light rays passing through a pinhole into a dark room.

Karen 

The Legacy of the Hope Chest

The Legacy of the Hope Chest

By

Karen Utter Jennings 

            Hoping and wishing and thinking and dreaming…..

            Weddings play a big part of nearly every little girl’s dreams. The tradition of the hope chest began in the middle Ages when all families expected that their girls would marry a handsome man and live a blissful life. Preparations began as soon as the daughter was born and a family’s hopes and dreams for their young girl were placed in a wooden chest or box.

            In Italy, these highly- decorated boxes were called “cassones,” in Germany they were “shranks” and when European immigrants arrived in America, they brought their idea of chests with them. They were called “hope chests” or “blanket chests” and were made of cedar wood to protect the contents from bugs.  

            During Word War I, the Lane Company, based in Virginia, manufactured wood ammunition boxes for the United States government. After the war, the market for the boxes faded, and they turned to producing wooden chests geared to the natural romantic spirit of girls. The Lane Hope Chest was born. Today, Lane chests are a popular choice for hope chests.

            But, what goes into a hope chest? The answer depends on the personal ideas, choices and thoughts for the chest’s owner. Typically, things such as collections of all types, books, photos and albums, linens and quilts, dishes, antiques, and baby items may be placed inside.  

            Today, the idea of a hope chest does not necessarily mean a young woman’s dream is to get married. She may dream of being an entrepreneur and having her own business after she graduates university and decides to remain single. Anything that represents your interests should be cherished. Hope chests are just that: place your hopes and dreams of whatever kind of life you want, inside. When you are ready for that life, the hope chest is there with all your planning inside.

            Hope chests are not just for girls. Boys, too, need to be encouraged to keep their memorabilia and keepsakes. One might want to title a chest for their son as a “treasure chest.” You can envision what a treasure chest might look like. Explore the possibilities with your son or grandson to peek his interest in keeping such a chest.

            Today’s market offers plenty of styles, shapes, sizes and colors. From the traditional “folk art” piece to the modern sleek chest, explore the possibilities before you choose which chest will hold your hopes and dreams. The future can be placed in a chest.            

            I have my own hope chest. As a child, we lived in the same small town as my paternal great-grandmother, Ollie Johnson Utter Brier.  And I was in her house just as much as I was in my own home.

            One of the pieces of furniture Ollie owned was an old cedar chest. The chest is made of cedar wood and is a traditional size. It sets on the floor (there are no legs) and has carved-wood handles on each end of the lid. Rectangular diamond-shaped wooden pieces adorn the front and sides of the cedar chest and it is very heavy.    

            As I grew into a young girl, one day when I went to visit, the cedar chest was setting in the living room under the front window. Great-grandma Ollie and I sat on the hardwood floor next to the chest. She explained that the chest would be mine when she died or when I got married, whichever came first. She called the cedar chest a hope chest and explained the meaning of it.  She encouraged me to cherish my keepsakes. She said she was “setting things back” for me when I grew up and married, so the things inside were mine for my new life that lay ahead of me.

            She told me that my grandfather, her only son, Perry Utter, made the chest when he was a boy.  She said Perry was talented in woodworking and he loved to make things.  Ollie’s father, Thomas “Bud” Johnson, was a logger and hewed lumber on the old home place in McDonald County, Missouri. Perry learned the wood making trade from his Pa Johnson.

            As Ollie’s gnarled hands lifted the lid, I saw several things inside wrapped up with doilies and handkerchiefs (hankies as we called them) and laying next to each other. She lifted the first item out of the chest, unwrapped it, and handed me a German pickle dish that was very old and worth a lot of money. She told the story of the dish and that it had belonged to a female family member.  

            Ollie brought out a square box that housed her Kodak Brownie Hawkeye camera. Her story about cameras and her love of taking pictures is one that I will always remember.  As soon as cameras became available, she bought her first one and began snapping pictures of everything around her, especially her family. Along with the camera, she gave me her photo album.

            When we reached the bottom of the cedar chest, we rewrapped each item and placed them back into their safe place. She closed the lid on the chest and I ran off to play.   

            I am happy to say, I got married before her death, so the cedar chest came to live at my house.  Over the years, it lost its strong scent of cedar and it needed a good cleaning and a few repairs. I used soap for wooden furniture and left it as it is. I never want to refinish it, as doing so would diminish the vintage charm.

            As time goes by, I add things to the old hope chest and someday I will sit with my granddaughter to explain the history of the ephemera and memorabilia. I have placed my hopes and dreams that they will one-day carryon the tradition of passing down heirlooms through the generations into my hope chest.

            What about you? Have you created legacy for your children or grandchildren? Do you have a hope chest filled with your hopes and dreams?

* * * 

Disclaimer: in my legacy writing, I do not intend to be sexist, bias, or unethical toward gender or nationality. I merely write and report the facts that I have found and those that I know from my own personal experience. 

The Hope Chest

THE HOPE CHEST

by Karen Utter Jennings

The first seven years of my life were spent at Rocky Comfort. We lived on the old home place down by the Indian Creek Bridge south of the post office. My paternal great-grandmother, Ollie Johnson Utter Brier lived on the hill south of the school. I was in her house just as much as I was in our own.

I remember each room in Great-grandma Ollie’s house and the furniture she owned.   One of the pieces of furniture I loved was the cedar chest. The chest is small, sets on the floor (there are no legs) and has carved-wood handles on each end of the lid. Rectangular diamond-shaped wooden pieces adorn the front and sides of the cedar chest and it is very heavy.    

As I grew into a young girl, one day when I went to visit, the cedar chest was setting in the living room under the front window. Great-grandma Ollie and I sat on the hardwood floor next to the chest. She explained that the chest would be mine when she died or I got married, whichever came first. She called the cedar chest a hope chest and explained the meaning of it.  She said she was “setting things back” for me when I grew up and married, so the things inside were mine.

Great-grandma Ollie said my grandfather, her only son, Perry Utter, made the chest when he was a boy.  She said Perry was talented in wood working and he loved to make things.  He also made the wooden sewing machine stand that housed her Singer sewing machine. I later learned that Ollie’s father, Thomas “Bud” Johnson, worked in the woods, hewing lumber after he came to Missouri from Indiana in 1876. That is the topic of another column someday.

As Ollie’s gnarled hands lifted the lid, I was delighted to spy several things inside wrapped up with doilies and handkerchiefs (hankies as we called them) and laying next to each other. She lifted the first item out of the chest, unwrapped it, and handed me a pickle or condiment dish that was very old and worth a lot of money. She told the story of the dish. It had belonged to a female family member.  

Ollie brought out a square box that housed her Kodak Brownie Hawkeye camera. Her story about cameras and her love of taking pictures is one that I will always remember.  As soon as cameras became available, she bought her first one and began snapping pictures of everything around her, especially her family. Along with the camera, she gave me her photo album. That photograph album is a topic of another column in weeks to come.

When we reached the bottom of the cedar chest, we rewrapped each item and placed them into their safe place. She closed the lid on the chest and I ran off to get out my paper doll collection and other toys and spread them on the floor to play.   

I am happy to say, I got married before her death, so the cedar chest came to live at my house.  Over the years, it lost its strong scent of cedar and it needed a good cleaning and a few repairs. I used a good soap for wooden furniture and left it as it is. The chest now holds my important memorabilia. As time goes by, I add things to the old chest and someday I will sit with my grandchildren to explain the history of the items. 

I am in the process of taking pictures of the heirlooms I own and writing about what I know of them. I teach my grandchildren about their heritage and the genealogy work I do. One day, years from now, family members will harvest the benefits of my genealogy work, so that they may pass on the story of the old cedar chest.