Musical Accompaniment: Last Kind Words by Geechie Wiley

I love this Geechie Wiley song. And its darkness makes it perfect to accompany this strange 1909 photograph by David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson.

It’s called The Gown and the Casket.  The title is a little ambiguous. I associate caskets with death, but the word only means a small box or chest to store valuable things. Because of the camera angle, you can’t tell what kind of casket is in this photo, but it gives you a strange feeling of dissonance, especially when paired with the magnificently dressed and coiffed woman standing beside it.

If this picture tells us a story, who do you guess she is and what is happening in this photo? What’s in the casket, and why is she wearing that elaborate gown?

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My cynical side would say, she’s a very recent widow who purchased an ostentatious gown with life insurance money!