Some more beautiful photos from turn of the century Texas!
By the way, if you could press the Like button at the bottom of these posts and/or leave a comment, I would be most appreciative! Reader engagement really helps these posts to be seen by more people.
The last post featured photos donated by Richard Niles Graham, who was evidently a man of means. These photographs depict people who probably had considerably less in the world but are just as fascinating.
These photos are also from the Texas State Library and Archives, the Clyde and Thelma Collection. I believe most of the pictures, if not all, were taken in the towns of Batson and Saratoga.
Group portrait of five men with instruments
Woman in rocking chair on grass by bushes
This next picture is amazing in so many ways! What do you notice?
Four young women in hats on porch steps
Frank Majors (Saratoga?)
Group portrait of seven adults and one child in woods, Batson, Texas
Woman on horseback
Group portrait of two women and one man standing by side of building, Batson, Texas
Woman wearing coat with fur collar and oversize hat
Does the man in front (second from the right) favor Bobby Kennedy Jr. a little bit?
Four young men in suits and hats
Heavens, look at this beard!
Elderly couple standing by side of building
old spirituals 
The four young women standing sequentially on the front steps of the large home are likely sisters. It is immediately apparent that the second from the bottom (NOT WEARING A HAT) appears to be the cantankerous one of the four. Her posture and absent hat are telltale signs. In all four, the accentuated “S” shape silhouette of a woman, popular at the time, is evident, accompanied by the customary piled-up hair style topped with a hat.
Neither a man nor a woman was properly dressed in the early 20th Century if their head was not donned with a hat. Today, for many men and women, especially young ones, a baseball cap is the vogue. Did the ball cap replace the bowler hat worn by the “four young men” in the photo? The bowler hat faded into history like the “haberdasher.”
The last photo of the “mature” couple standing side-by-side, his beard pushed aside by the breeze, is missing a prop. It needs a pitchfork in the man’s right hand for it to be called “American Gothic II.”
The photos definitely capture segments of “Americana” of the era. They should be treasured.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That is a great observation about the girl without a hat and something I totally missed! She must have been a little rebellious!
You know, I could see how the bowler and the straw hat might never reappear but is it wishful thinking to long for the return of the fedora?
LikeLike
Loved the pics!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you very much! I’m glad you liked them!
LikeLike