Frances Benjamin Johnston took this photo around the year 1900 and titled it “Couple at Table.”
There may be a clue that the picture is older but it looks deceptively modern, doesn’t it? There are a few other interesting elements to this picture… what do you notice?
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old spirituals 
I bet whatever they’re talking about has something to do with that enormous stack of papers on the table!
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Could be…. There’s a lot there!
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It’s about 10:07 p.m. and an oil lamp is burning while a young couple sit at a table in front of what looks like a lawyers bookcase. The young woman is wearing a wedding ring and has a handkerchief in her hand. Has she been crying? Is this her lawyer or her husband? Is a divorce or a death being discussed?
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Great analysis! You picked up on a lot of details. I didn’t notice the handkerchief! I imagine if it was after 10 pm, the man must be her husband?
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Some of my observations are:
Would the kerosene lamp/lantern be adequate for two people to read those papers at night?
The bookshelves appear to be filled with reference books found in law office. It appears the man’s chair has small white wheels, like those on desk chairs of the time. However, if it is an office, it seems odd they are sitting at a table, not a desk, covered with an ornate table cloth next to windows dressed with lace curtains. Would a legal office of 1900 have that decor?
Finally, the large opening in the bookshelves next to the man is meant to accommodate something. Could it be for a large cabinet radio or file cabinet? Certainly not a TV!
Perhaps it is a home office.
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I thought of a television at first in that open space too! It’s the right size. Not in 1900 though!
I feel like the couple must be married because of the way the man is sitting and also, as Judy pointed out, it’s after 10 pm. I think you may have deduced the answer though! The chairs do look like office chairs yet it sure looks like somebody’s house. And he’s dressed very nicely. He’s not a farmer or a blacksmith. He must be an attorney working from a home office!
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