#60 WORKING GRANDMOTHERS

 

POSED AND CANDID GRANDMOTHER PHOTOS

Early photos of my grandmothers are black and white, formal and posed. And the women are dressed in their best clothes, are serious and not smiling. 

According to Merrill Farby in "Now You Know: Why Do People Always Look So Serious in Old Photos" (Time Magazine Nov. 28, 2016), there are  "historical" and "traditional" explanations for the lack of smiles in older photos. One possibility might be dental; people who had lousy teeth, or no teeth at all, (common in the 18th/19th century) might be reluctant to open their mouth. Another explanation in the 19th century was that it took so long to capture a photo and people could not hold a smile that long. A better explanation is that while smiling is innate, smiling in front of a camera is not instinctive and not comfortable. "Experts say that the deeper reason for the lack of smiles early on is that photography took guidance from pre-existing customs in painting--an art form in which many people found grins uncouth and and inappropriate for portraiture. Though saints might be depicted with faint smiles, wider smiles were associated with 'madness, lewdness, loudness, drunkenness". Accordingly, high-end studio photographers would create an elegant setting and direct the subject how to behave--thus producing those stern expressions.  The images created were formal as befitted the expense of paying to have a portrait made, especially when that might be the only image of someone.

                                     August & Adelaide Homuth, my paternal great grandparents

                                                  Jean & Fred Homuth, my paternal grandparents

                                       Vaino, Viola, Carrie Suomela, my maternal grandparents

But there are a few family photos that I really treasure. They were taken by amateur photographers and they capture my grandmothers working in a natural setting. These pictures are not posed studio-shots, but were taken outdoors with my grandmothers in their work clothes going about their daily chores. My grandmothers were farm/small town women with grade school educations. They were strong workers and the strength behind my grandfathers' dreams.

                                                    

                                                        Adelaide  (Netterfield) Homuth

                                        Great Grandmother Homuth doing laundry by hand

Monday was usually wash day. Here Addie is using a galvanized wash tub and scrub board. Did the house have running water? Or did she have to first haul water from the pump and heat it on the stove and then dump it into the tub? There was a second tub of cold water for rinsing. Many clothes were soaked in the tub at the same time, then Addie would lean the scrub board on the inside of the hot tub; each item would be moved up and down on the rough board to loosen any dirt. After the scrubbing, she would twist the item to remove as much water as possible; as water was precious, this squeezing was done over the hot tub. The item was then rinsed in the tub of cold water, squeezed out,  hung on the outdoor line with specially-designed clothes pegs. The clothes line was a rope hung between the house and a post in the ground. All clothes were sun-dried. Tuesday was ironing day. Irons with heavy cast iron bases and wooden handles were heated on the stove.

                                                            

                                                                Ann (Harper) Werth

                                                    Great Grandma Werth feeding the chickens 

                                somehow, I think Grandma Werth was the most comfortable in her apron

                                                                Jean (Werth) Homuth

                                                        Grandma Homuth hanging the laundry

                                                            laundry is never done

Here my Grandma Jean is working on the cottage she and Grandpa built at Gobles Grove. Jean was adept at all kinds of carpentry, laid tile floors, painted. She had an impressive flower garden, was a skilled seamstress and milliner and made the best shortbread cookies.

                                                            Carrie (Hendrickson) Suomela

         Grandma Carrie (and my Mom) with their dairy cow outside home in Wisetown, Saskatchewan

After she married and moved from her parents' homestead into the small village of Wiseton, Saskatchewan, Grandma Suomela started a small dairy and milk delivery business. As well, she cleaned for the banker's wife, did laundry and was caretaker of the United Church, bank, school and pumphouse.

                                            Grandma Suomela and my Mom

                            proof my Grandma Suomela was a hardy and fearless worker

                                        Grandma & unidentified man in front of her Suomi Cafe

                

                                        the Suomi Cafe 308 Queen Street West, Toronto

    Grandma & Grandpa Suomela and Mom returned from Russia in 1934. While Grandpa was often away on construction projects, Grandma ran their  restaurant for a couple of years. She later did factory work, worked at Eatons, did domestic work and cleaned for the Finnish newspaper. Grandma never complained and never said no to hard work.

Mary Adelaide (Netterfield) Homuth                                                                                                                  b. Aug 1. 1857 in Bastard Twp., Leeds Co, Ontario                                                                                     m. August F. Homuth (1851-1940) in Wingham, Ont on Oct.30, 1877                                                       d. Oct 1, 1943 in Wingham, Ont

my paternal great-grandmother (Homuth-Netterfield line)

Ann (Harper) Werth                                                                                                                                           b. Sept 7, 1863 in Pilkington Twp, Wellington Co, Ontario                                                                         m. Edward Albert Werth (1860-1932) on Dec 1, 1889 in Elora, Ont                                                           d. Jan 8, 1956 in Harriston, Ont     

my paternal great grandmother (Homuth-Werth line)

   

Jean Oliver (Werth) Homuth                                                                                                                           b. Jun 12, 1892 in Pilkington Twp., Wellington Co. Ontario                                                                       m. Frederick Ferdinand Homuth (1889-1983) on Aug 31, 1916 in Elora, Ontario                                       d. Apr. 17, 1959 in Harriston, Ontario

my paternal grandmother

Kaarina (Carrie) Wilhelmina Hendrickson                                                                                                      b. Apr. 5, 1902 in Turku, Finland

  m. Vaino Suomela (1893-1963) on Jul 12. 1921 in Saskatoon, Sask                                                            d. Apr 23, 1987 in Harriston, Ontario

my maternal grandmother