Old Photos, Old Memories

For the past few years I have been working on creating new albums for some of the old family photos. Some of these photos were handed down in our family, some were from an old album of our Mother's, some I even found on line, where they had been posted on Ancestry by other descendants of some of my ancestors.



A.G. "Red" McLaughlin, mid-1960s. He would have been in
his 50s. This is a pose very familiar to me.

Many of these photos were very small, had some flaws, or just needed a little brightening or other touch ups to bring out the picture more clearly. I scan these types of photos, work on them a little, and make prints for my new albums. I try to include as much information as I can about each photo, so this family history is preserved. Often dates are missing. Then I give it my best guess--and it has certainly taught me to date my own photos as I go along! I used to think I would always remember the occasions when I took photos; as I got older, I realized that I should have been dating things and I am careful to do that now.

When our Mother died, my eldest sister, Terry, undertook the job of going through Mother's collection of photos and separating out those that applied to each family (plus some that were more general) so that we each would have some of the originals. Others she scanned and has posted online so we each have access to them.

The two photos I am sharing today were in my packet of photos from Mother's albums. They were not dated, so by "internal evidence" my best guess is that these are from between 1964 and 1967. These two photos match in the type of paper they are printed on and other details, and I am sure they were taken the same day. If one of my sisters can date them more closely that would be great.

This was the companion photo to the one of Daddy. Obviously, we did not know we were being photographed. Mother (Rose) is about to take a sip of her coffee, Kathleen has her eyes down or closed, and I am gazing off to the side. But this photo helped in figuring out the approximate date of the pictures.

1946 -- A Year of Great Events

Today I am sharing photos from the two biggest events of 1946.

The year started of in a great way for the McLaughlin family. Our father was coming home! The war was over, his stint with the army in the Philippines was done. He was receiving his discharge.

Mother resigned her country school teaching job and we moved back to town.


Red McLaughlin with daughters Terry, Michelle, and Grace.

Take Two: Grace and Terry have switched sides. I don't know what I was doing!

There are no photos that show the progress of the other big news of that year. Our Mother was expecting a new baby! (I am sure she did not want any pregnant photos for posterity.) I remember her giving me the job of getting things out of the bottom cabinets for her when it got difficult for her to bend over. My five-year-old self felt so proud of being able to help! I don't remember what I understood about the coming addition to our family. I remember Mother and Daddy building a crib for the coming event (this was not a kit they just put together).  And I remember that I was sent to the country with my grandparents as November neared (Grace and Terry were in school; I wasn't yet.)

I remember when we went to get the mail at the Teckla Post Office, which was three miles from my grandparents' home. Mail was delivered twice a week. On that day there was a postcard with the news. Not only was there a new baby, there were two!

These new sisters, born November 6, 1946, were named Kathleen Elaine and Kathryn Elizabeth. I always thought they had the most beautiful names. However, they soon gained nicknames that were all they were known by in their growing up years. Kathleen was a rosy cheeked, light complexioned little girl with big blue eyes like our father; Kathryn had the dark hair and light brown skin like our mother. Her eyes were also blue, but with a touch of gray, and her dark lashes reminded Mother of a quote she had once read about someone having eyes that looked like they were put in with a sooty finger. Lucky girl.

So Kathleen became Pinkie, and Kathryn became Brownie. It seemed perfectly natural to us then; now I feel kind of sad that they did not get to grow up using those lovely names they were given by our parents! Nicknames have such a way of sticking.

Even though stuck with the nicknames, nothing could change the fact they were absolutely beautiful babies.

Since they were born in November and it would have been too chilly to photograph them outdoors, the first photos we have of them are of very poor quality. Mother placed them near a window to try to get enough light, but it really wasn't enough. I scanned the tiny photos and tried to bring the babies out a little better, without much success. But because they are the first photos of the twins, at age one month, I'll share them anyway.


Kathryn (Brownie)

Kathleen (Pinkie)

Since I am working on 1946 in my Scrapbooking-the-old-album-photos project, there will be more from that year to come.