Saturday, July 17, 2010

Some Fellow


I say, this fellow sure looks like a character to me. There he is with his thumbs hooked under his armpits, a pipe in his mouth, knee-high boots, and, well, look at that expression on his face! (If you didn't know it, you can click on the photo to enlarge it in a window by itself. Click on it again and it should enlarge even more. When you're finished looking click the back arrow in your browser window.)

This fellow is my father, Lee Doyle, probably when he was about 18 or 20. This photo was taken sometime before he left the farm in Stoneboro, Pennsylvania, in 1934. I wish I knew who took it.


Here are two photographs of the barn on his family's farm. I'm trying to decide where he might have been standing when the photo at left was taken. Do you have a guess? It looks like he might have been mucking out stalls.



Do you ever wish you had been able to know a parent or grandparent when he/she was the same age as you? Or when you were the age the person was in a specific photograph? I definitely wish I could have known my father when he was a young man. Aunt Tressa, my father's half sister, wrote that my dad had a great sense of humor, something we children very rarely saw. It's much easier to believe when I look at this photo. Though we didn't often see his sense of humor, we did see that Dad could fix just about anything that broke, do triple digit math problems in his head, and repair watches, something he learned to do via a correspondence course. I think he could have been an engineer had there been an opportunity for him to obtain the education.

Thanks for coming to look at these photos and for sharing comments. This is a contribution to Sepia Saturday. If you go to the Sepia Saturday blog there are links to others' old photos and posts.

13 comments:

  1. Your father looks as though he had enough character to take on just about anything. I think that's one of the best photographs I've seen in a Sepia Saturday post!

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  2. Fantastic picture -- bursting with personality! Yes indeed, I wish I could have known my parents and grandparents as younger people.

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  3. He looks like a character from a Rockwell painting!

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  4. Whatever he just got finished doing he was mighty proud of! He probably just fixed something that was impossible to fix. I don't think it was mucking out the stalls. It was something wonderful and amazing!
    Barbara

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  5. Could be a model for the L'il Abner character. Full of muscle and get up and go. Oh yes I wish I could have known my mother and father as younger people. I heard my dad was a wonderful dancer and really handsome, sadly to me he was a hopeless alcoholic.
    QMM

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  6. It looks to me by the boots he is wearing that he's on the way to muck somewhere! What a pose!

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  7. Hi Nancy, this is a marvellous photo of your father. He looks like he is ready to take on the world. Full of optimism. He is also very handsome.
    Like you said, he could do anything. So much talent got lost because the opportunity has not been there. I am sure he made his way in life.
    Is there still a relative living on the farm?

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  8. I love his "attitude!" Yes, it would be interesting to know what our folks were like when they were young. Great photos.

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  9. I know what you mean about the desire to go back and know a parent, not as a parent but as a contemporary. It is a great thought - I am not sure how it would work out in reality. These Sepia Saturday photographs often help us to do it in our imaginations - which may be the safest way. Great photograph by the way.

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  10. You Dad looks Such A Confident Man In This Photo.Staring At The World With Confidence.

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  11. he looks like he's a riot!! but of course, his behavior with his peers was different than with his kids. just not the same kind of relationship. just think of it as him being preoccupied with your safety and your well-being. parents do that [sometimes...].
    thanx 4 sharing!!
    :)~
    HUGZ

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  12. He looks like he would have been a fun guy to know - anyone who could look like he was having a good time mucking out stalls would definitely have been a fun fellow to be around.

    I like your train of thought, wondering how it would be to know our parents, or even grandparents, at a younger age. Great food for thought, and it would make an excellent blog prompt!

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  13. Character, yes! Personality, yes. But more subdued as he grew older, I think.

    I hadn't thought of Norman Rockwell or Li'l Abner, but I agree with both of you. Maybe Dad was posing?

    That's so sad, QMM, that you only knew your father as an alcoholic. You didn't know the real person at all, then....

    Optimism, probably. His early years were very challenging. I'll be doing a post about his life on the farm one of these days soon.

    The farm is no longer a farm, just a farmhouse, and none of my family lives there now. It was very sad to visit the farm.

    Thank you all for visiting and leaving comments. You always add things I didn't think about and often food for thought.

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I appreciate your comments and look forward to reading what you have to say. Thanks for stopping by.

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