Figure 1.--Here we see the family in 1949. They clearly lived in a city or town, but we do not know just where in Belgium. We think it is mother between the two children. Grandmother is standing next to them. Wed think the lady on the far right is another grandmopther. We do not know who the other two ladies are. Father was probably taking the photograph. They are probably standing in front of the house, although it is not clear if it is the mother's home or the grandmother's home. Notice how it operns directly to the street. Notice that the children are holding somer sort of a game.

We note an unidentified Belgian family. We know very little about the family, other than that it seems to be an urban middle class family living in comfortable circumstances. We do not know where they lived in Belgium. Brussels and Antwerp are the two largest Belgian cities, but Belgium is a highly urbanized and industrialized country, so they could have lived in one of the smaller cities or towns. Nor do we know if they are Walloon or Flemish. There is a portait of a boy doing his First Communion in the 1900s. Presumably he is the father of the family. Most of the available images come from the 1940s, most after the World War II German occupation. The images include portaits of the family as well as some family activity snapshots. They seem to be a middle-class family living in comfortable circumstances.

First Communion (1900s)

We have not yet found many Belgian First Communion images from the 1900s, like the 19th century. We do have one undated portrait which looks rather like the 1900s. Interestingly he does not wear a formal black suit, but some other medium color. He wears a non-descript knee pants suit worn with black long stockings. It is not a suit that seems to have been purchased only for First Communion. The boy does wear a rather formal wing collar shirt and white tie. Notice the hat. It looks like it my be a fedora. The boy looks to be about 9 years old. While the portait is unidentified. The boy is associated with a family group. He is presumably the father.

Swimming (1943)

The only World War II era we have is of the children swimming. It was taken in 1943 during the German occupation. Many of the boys still wear the old styled swimsuits that had singlet-like tops. The boys are not identified, but presumably some of them belong to the family, including cousins and nephews. This looks to be out in the country somewhere, so perhaps they lived in a small town.

Grandmothers (1948)

Here is a portrait of two elderly women with three grand children. Two of the children are seen in the home picture here (figure 1). The children look about a year younger than the in the home photograph, so we are guessing this snpshot was taken about 1948. We assume the women are the grandmothers. The children look to be about 4-6 years old. They are presumably in the garden of one of the grandmothers. Notice the brick home in the background. One boy wears a white 'T'-shirt and bib-front shorts. The bib bits seems to have a pluto character. The other boy wears a knit outfit with matching sweater-like top and shorts. We are not sure what the logo is. Knit outdits like this were popular in Belgium and other Europedan countries. The girl wears a jacket and dress or skirt. I'm not sure what she is holding.

Home (1949)

Here we see the family in 1949 (figure 1). They clearly lived in a city or town, but we do not know just where in Belgium. We think it is mother between the two children. qnd grandmother next to them. We do not know who the other two ladies are. Father was probably taking the photograph. They are probably standing in front of the house, although it is not clear if it is the mother's home or the grandmother's home. Notice how it operns directly to the street. Notice that the chikldren are holding somer sort of a game.

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Created: 3:34 AM 6/8/2011
Last updated: 3:34 AM 6/8/2011