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We have almost no information about this family portrait except that it was taken somewhere in Texas. we can infer quite a bit about the family. Based on the rough building in the background, we can assume that they were a farm family. There are six young children about 1-10 years old. Such a young family suggests that there are more to come. The portrait is undated, but was surely taken in the 1910s. The hair bows and knickers are strong indicators. Note the boys' long sleave shirts. We do not begin to see short sleeves until the 1920s which is rather strange because girls had short sleeve dresses in the 19th century. The 1910s were the peak years for hair bows, both in prevalence and size. Knickers were not common in the 1900s decade. Also notice how professionally posed the portrait is. This suggests to us that is not a family snapshot, but probably taken by an itinerant photographer. This was one of many economic activities made possible by Henry Ford's Model-T Tin Lizzie. Bare feet were especially common in the South during the 1900s-1910s. (We are not sure just why as thy were not so common in the 19th century. And bare feet were much less common in these family portraits during the the 1920s. Another interesting aspect of the portrait is the inclusion of a black teenager. We see that in some family portraits from the South, but a relatively small percentage. Now the teenager or her mother were surely an employed domestic, but her inclusion in the portrait means that there was a bond beyond just that of an an employee. All the white clothing is interesting. It reflects the lack of effective laundry detergents and the drugery of laundry day.
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