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June 23, 2008
Lady Earl Stops For Milk
Yesterday I picked up this photo at the market.
I like the image- A flapper leaning in the door of a milk truck while chugging a bottle of milk- but what really cinched it for me was what was written on the back.
The idea of a beautiful flapper from Alabama named Lady Earl pulling into a dairy (named Hicks no less!) in rural Kansas in 1927 (the rest of the photos in the lot had developer's stamps from Dodge City and Elkhart, Kansas) for a bottle of milk after driving for 4 straight days without stopping- what could be better? It's right out of F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Now I'm sure she didn't actually drive 100 hours without stopping- a google search on Lady Earl turned up nothing. It's more likely that she drove 100 miles without stopping- probably no small feat on dirt roads with poor suspension- and whoever wrote the caption just made a mistake.
Still whether she drove for 100 hours or 100 miles, today I know something that yesterday I did not: In 1927 Lady Earl from Alabama leaned in the door of a milk truck at Hicks Dairy (with the too small C and upside down S on the sign) while drinking a bottle of milk. I guess that's why I do what I do.
Posted by nick at June 23, 2008 01:52 AM
Comments
Wonderful image opening my imagination to a million stories right now.
She's so beautiful!
Posted by: Brittanie at June 23, 2008 10:37 AM
!! !!!
... But why only good photo works for this?
Posted by: oldiekindly at June 23, 2008 11:31 AM
Sorry, Brittanie - my comment was to Nick's words about why does what he does.
Posted by: oldiekindly at June 23, 2008 01:44 PM
That's also why I am a devoted visitor of your blog and website. These photos capture a glimmer of a life I can never lead (no matter how hard I wish) that capture the exotic difference between our times and the relatable mundanity at once.
Posted by: Margarita at June 23, 2008 04:01 PM
oldiekindly- I'm not sure what you're asking- I guess I consider any photo that has such a strong narrative good. Of course there are lots of photographs that really have little or no narrative to them that I love. And still other photos do little for me by themselves but when placed in the proper context become pretty special. On Sunday I probably looked at 2000 photos and bought maybe 30 so that's a little more than 1 in 100. And of the photos I bought this was one of maybe 2 or 3 that I'd consider posting on its own. In general, I'd say I'm more accepting of this kind of photo- driven by narrative content rather than visual aesthetics- than a lot of collectors I know. I think most collectors fall into one of two camps: those who collect solely for content (they like cars or women's hats so they collect photos of cars or women wearing hats) or people who collect snapshots as "art" who are usually driven by aesthetic concerns. Ideally, I'd like to have my feet in both camps but sometimes I think it's to the detriment of my collection as it can sometimes seem neither fish nor fowl (though most of the time I'm convinced I'm right and everyone else just doesn't get it!).
Posted by: nick at June 24, 2008 01:06 AM
these old photos are treasured by a select group of us! i've shown your photos to family and freinds and nobody seems to care for these photos of yesterday. They call it "old junk" or "pics of people we don't even know".
i am completely fascinated by the fact that these people lived ,loved and went through the same things we go through today, and most are now gone.
it makes me think of my own mortality and how i will be remembered 50 or 100 yrs. from now.
anyhow great job and keep doing what your doing.
Posted by: bob at July 8, 2008 09:53 PM