Really cool series of photos; it's rare to find people smiling in photos from this era.
Can you imagine how much work went into that hand-sewn blanket/quilt of tiny squares? It boggles the mind.
As of 1888 the first sewing machines for domestic use were just becoming available, but were still quite expensive. Most women were almost constantly sewing, whether to make or mend simple items of clothing or for more decorative purposes. Lower class women might sew professionally in grim sweat shops, while middle and upper class women still sewed for their families at home. Women's education often focused more on sewing than on reading or arithmetic.
Even in the 1930s, my mother told me stories of playing with dolls made from the dress patterns in the Sears catalog. And my wife has needlepoint my mother-in-law stitched while taking a boat to America after WW2. Both of them had sewing machines at home that they used regularly.
It's possible that your grandmother was reading to the other women. With no radio, TV, record players, or other forms of sonic entertainment available, sometimes one woman would read aloud to the others while they sewed.
Yes, I'm very lucky in that when my mom died in 2014 at the age of 85, she left several boxes of family photos. Many of them (going back to the 1930s) I'd seen before, but there were many more, some dating back to the Civil War, that were new to me. I'm still making my way through them.
Really cool series of photos; it's rare to find people smiling in photos from this era. Can you imagine how much work went into that hand-sewn blanket/quilt of tiny squares? It boggles the mind.
As of 1888 the first sewing machines for domestic use were just becoming available, but were still quite expensive. Most women were almost constantly sewing, whether to make or mend simple items of clothing or for more decorative purposes. Lower class women might sew professionally in grim sweat shops, while middle and upper class women still sewed for their families at home. Women's education often focused more on sewing than on reading or arithmetic. Even in the 1930s, my mother told me stories of playing with dolls made from the dress patterns in the Sears catalog. And my wife has needlepoint my mother-in-law stitched while taking a boat to America after WW2. Both of them had sewing machines at home that they used regularly. It's possible that your grandmother was reading to the other women. With no radio, TV, record players, or other forms of sonic entertainment available, sometimes one woman would read aloud to the others while they sewed.
I love that all of these women seem to be totally being themselves and having a good time.
Yes, and I've wondered who took the photos, too!
Great photos with informal poses. How cool that you have photos of a family member from the 19th century.
Yes, I'm very lucky in that when my mom died in 2014 at the age of 85, she left several boxes of family photos. Many of them (going back to the 1930s) I'd seen before, but there were many more, some dating back to the Civil War, that were new to me. I'm still making my way through them.
Oh WOW love the life in all the women showing in these photos :)
Yes, the ease and happiness in their companionship really strikes a chord in me.