April 10 is Siblings Day in the United States. The general idea is celebrating the bond and special relationship between siblings. Last year was the first time I posted about it on my blog, which I did for a Wordless Wednesday. That was a photo from my brother's wedding, with my brother and all of his siblings and my sister-in-law with her siblings. I think I have enough photos of different generations of siblings in my family that I can keep this going for a few years.
This year's photo is of my father and his two older half-sisters from my grandfather's first marriage. I'm glad my cousin recognized her mother and her aunt in the photo, because I had never seen photos of them this young.
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| Dorothy Mae Sellers, Bertram Lynn Sellers, Jr., and Mildred Sellers |
As best my cousin and I can estimate, the photograph was probably taken about 1937, maybe in summer or fall. My father was born in December 1935. He looks like he can't quite really stand on his own, as the girls are propping him up, but he seems to be contributing some of the effort, and he definitely looks too big to be less than a year old. Dottie was born in 1925, and Mildred was born in 1928. (As is common, a photograph with no identification of the people in it! Make sure you get yours identified as soon as possible!)
Since the estimate is 1937, it was likely taken in New Jersey. According to the list of residences my grandfather wrote down, in 1937 the family was living on Grand Avenue in Englewood, New Jersey. My father was born nearby in Englewood Cliffs.
It was probably my grandfather who took the photo. He seems to have taken many of the photographs in the photo bonanza I received from my sister, which is where this photo came from.
Fun photo, especially as the girls are steadying your dad so he stands still for the snap!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Marian!
DeleteWhat a wonderful idea to start ann "annual tradition of sibling photographs for Siblings Day"! If he was born in December 1935 and you think he wasn't quite able to stand on his own yet, and that is why his sister's are holding him up, it may be very early spring of 1937, thus the coats for his sisters (just getting out of winter maybe?). Also, just another take...many times siblings would hold their youngest siblings, as instructed by the photo taker, so they would stay still for the photo. :)
ReplyDeleteExcellent point about the coats, Diane. Thank you for that observation. I'm not an East Coast person, and that had not occurred to me. True about the instructions to hold the younger sibling, but to my eye my father also looks a little wobbly, so that's why I interpreted their holding him as being very functional.
DeleteWhat Marian said. To keep him from running away!
ReplyDeleteMy father was probably happy to be the focus of all the attention!
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