cacakerbamakhlukpolitik

Did anyone see the 150 year old photo of slave children that has recently turned up in an attic estate sale? A rare photo, very haunting, but a testament to a dark time in American History. The boys, one who is identified as John (and who was purchased for a price of $1150) are looking straight into the camera and the sadness and suffering is so apparent. This particular photo was taken around the end of the civil war so they might have been recently freed (one can only hope) but they still look so lost. I've found some history in the houses I have lived in: old medicine bottles with the labels still on them. Dr. Whitaker's Elixir (cures gas, chilblains, sort throats, melancholia and diarrhea....); old Civil War photos of family members who were soldiers, a post card from the front in WWI from a sad soldier who feared his sweetheart had forgotten him. I've found a stash of 1888 ceramic beer bottle caps with the brewers stamp still readable and a life-sized poster of John Wa...

Amazing. Haunting. The photo was taken at the end of the Civil War, so the children might have been recently freed (one can hope) but there was also documentation of one of the boy's names (John) and his price ($1150). This sort of photo is very rare and really brings to life the heartbreak of a sad time in American history. But it got me thinking about the kind of history I have found in old houses. In the first home my husband and I bought (a vintage 1888 Eastlake cottage), we found things that had been lost or hidden for 100 years---like Dr. Whitaker's Medicinal Elixir---cured chilblains, melancholia, diarrhea, boils and sore throats, circa 1898) and Civil War photos (behind the mantle). In the crawlspace I found a life-sized poster of John Wayne and under the brick sidewalk, a stash of 100 year old ceramic beer bottle caps, with the brewer's stamp still readable. A friend of mine just found her great-grandmother's ostrich opera fan (circa 1900, Paris) and is ecstati...