The Heisman Touch

Behold, the 1899 Auburn University football squad. This portrait was taken on the steps of Samford Hall when the school was known as Alabama Polytechnic Institute (API). Zoom in on the football and you can see the date inscribed there. (Click once and then again on the photo to enlarge.) Study the face, third row in the top left corner. He has the mustache:

You are looking at Coach John W. Heisman, and I must say we are feeling his legacy here in Auburn. I just wanted to say, " Good luck, Cameron Newton in the quest to become

Auburn's FOURTH Heisman! "

Coach John Heisman 1895-99

Pat Sullivan 1971

Bo Jackson 1985

UPDATE: December 12, 21010

Cameron Newton 2010

YES we Cam!!!

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Sepia Saturday: From a Favorite Book

Back in June when I was on the coast enjoying the beach, I found this book at Sun Dog Books in Seaside, FL. I did not purchase it that day, and when I went back for it, I could not find the one copy. In July when I was in Monroeville, AL and browsing the cozy little shelves of Beehive Coffee & Books and chatting with Mary Badham (aka Scout), I found a single volume again! This time, I made it mine! I had remembered it only as a picture book, but in her introduction Victoria Randall shares a brief history of photography. Beginning with the daguerreotype, named for Frenchman Louis Daguerre, to tintype, to ambrotype, calotype, cyanotype, (all TYPES new to me), and collodian, up to George Eastman's introduction of the first film camera. With this, came the traveling portrait photographer, and most specifically featured in this book: The Pony Man. Throughout America were photographers going from town to town with an outfitted pony and a suitcase full of riding costumes. In her modest (120 pages)
treasury of nearly a hundred charming photos spanning from the 1880's to the 1960's, Randall includes many personal details and inscriptions for each image. Here are just a few captured by my camera. If you love sepia photographs and children and ponies,

you should give yourself this book.

CIRCA 1939
Doesn't she remind you of Bonnie Butler in GONE WITH THE WIND?


CIRCA 1918


CIRCA 1918
(click on pictures of the book to enlarge)

CIRCA 1971 Near Fort Rucker, AL

Our first born, Cameron, is seen riding his made in England Mobo walking pony.
I think this is the last one of these sold from Pizitz's in downtown Birmingham.
My Tennessee cousins had owned one, and I had longed for a Mobo to show up under my Christmas tree when I was a pre-schooler. Years later, I was astonished to find him in the toy department and sent word immediately to Santa. He reserved the toy before Cameron was born. Happily for his first Christmas, it became his first and only pony. Alas, there were no traveling pony photographers by this time. This is an old Polaroid I took, with a newly added sepia effect.

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When it's midnight in the meadow and cats are in the shed,
And the river tells a story at the window by my bed,
If you listen very closely, be as quiet as you can,
In the yard you'll hear him,
It is the pony man.



Opening lines of the "The Pony Man" by Gordon Lightfoot

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Sepia Saturday: The Boomers

This photograph was taken in a small studio or booth at the Alabama State Fair in Birmingham, October 1951. That is my sister Carol Sue on the left with her pale strawberry blond hair, adorable freckles, and of course, her cowboy hat. Yep, you got it, I am the baby sister. This is the only baby picture I have ever seen of myself. We had an older brother and sister, born before WWII. I believe my mother must have had her hands full. At this time, my father was on active duty for the Korean War and was stationed at Mountain Home, Idaho. All five of us had just returned from the first train trip across the country and back to visit him. God bless her; my mom still had enough energy to take us all to the fair! Amazing!

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Sepia Saturday: Who's Your Daddy?

Yes, yes, I know last Sunday was Father's Day! I was busy celebrating, plus I had house guests here to help me. Good grief, these dads are a so much trouble. No wonder they did not get a holiday until 1972! And beside that, I have so few sepia photos, I save them for Sepia Saturday posts. So, here we have my father John Daniel Patterson. This is his high school senior portrait from 1929. His first job was working for Tennessee Coal & Iron aka TCI as a miner. On the back of this photo, written in his own hand "Mr. John Patterson, Edgewater Mining Camp." I think he must have been proud of becoming a working man. He was working for college money and soon made his way to the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. There is a better version of this portrait, but this 4" x 6" is special to me because it features his handwriting. (The mark on his left cheek is a stain on the photo.) My father had thick, auburn hair. I was his fourth and last child, and the only one with the same color hair as his. I can remember my Grandmother Patterson telling me that every time I visited her as she would pat my head and comb her fingers through my hair.

This is a postcard addressed to my mother when she was a young and single working woman in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. There is no message, only the address "Miss Nina Cox, and Bay St. Louis, Mississippi" written in pencil and a one cent cancelled stamp. (I can't quite make out the date, but my best guess is maybe 1933 or '34.) When I would shuffle through the photo box and come across this handsome fellow and ask, "Who is this man, Mom?" A big knowing smile would appear on her face. With a sweet, little chuckle she replied, " That was almost your daddy!" I think his name was Hollis Lloyd or maybe it was Lloyd Hollis. I am not sure now, but I am certain he was not my father.

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Sepia Saturday: Face of a Poet

Robert Graves 1895-1985

When a memorial was placed in Westminster Abbey's Poet's Corner on November 11, 1985, poet, translator, novelist, and critic Robert Graves was the only survivor of such World War I greats a Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen. After a long and distinguished literary career, he died the following month. In her brief notes on him, Natalie Merchant introduced me to the young Robert Graves. My first experience with his writing was his book Greek Myths, and of course I, Claudius from Masterpiece Theatre. I have read his biography of T. E. Lawrence and translations of works I have taught, but I missed his children' s poetry. I must say, some of it is not exactly light hearted, but then not all of childhood is.

VAIN AND CARELESS

Lady, lovely lady,

Careless and gay!

Once when a beggar called

She gave her child away.

The beggar took the baby,

Wrapped it in a shawl,

"Bring her back," the lady said,

"Next time you call."

Hard by lived a vain man,

So vain and so proud,

He walked on stilts

To be seen by the crowd.

Up above the chimney pots,

Tall as a mast,

And all the people ran about

Shouting till he passed.

"A splendid match surely,

"Neighbours saw it plain,

"Although she is so careless,

Although he is so vain."

But the lady played bobcherry, *

Did not see or care,

As the vain man went by her

Aloft in the air.

This gentle-born couple

Lived and died apart.

Water will not mix with oil,

Nor vain with careless heart.

*A play among children, in which a cherry,

hung so as to bob against the mouth,

is to be caught with the teeth.

Graves was wounded so badly at the Battle of the Somme, he almost died. He and Sassoon were young officers in the Royal Welch Fusiliers (RWF). Wikipedia's biography is useful and informative! To hear Natalie Merchant's music set to this poem click here! From this official website, you may also select videos of several other pieces from her new CD. (See my post for June 7.)

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Sepia & Memorial Day

Have you ever put off writing a post until you took care of another one that had been waiting, and you have not done that one, so you really should not do any until you can pull yourself together and just do it RIGHT? Yes I have procrastinated, and that is the truth. I have been wondering what I could say about a month long absence from The Keeping Room other than "School just takes up all my time!" I have been busy, mostly with work, but also with just having a wonderful time which I will tell more about in the coming summer days.

For now, I am ready to tell you about my Sepia girl, a day late for Sepia Saturday, but on time for tomorrow. The little girl you see above posed for the camera some time in the early 1930's. She was eight or nine years old. I believe this was taken before scarlet fever rendered her deaf. Elsie, named after her mother, was a bright and industrious student. She had two brothers, William and Thomas. Her father was an accountant for Tennessee Coal & Iron and her mother a loving homemaker. After high school, she earned a scholarship to Gallaudette University that she never used. However, marriage was foremost in her plans, and she married just as America became involved in World War II. Her older brother William, First Marine Division, died on an island in the South Pacific, in the spring of 1944, just weeks before her first child was born. Three years later, she had a daughter. Her younger brother Thomas, 11th Airborne, fought and died in the Korean War. His body was never recovered.

Before Elsie died in January of 1981, that first born son, my husband, known to my readers as the Colonel, promised her (as she no doubt had promised her mother Elsie) that he would make every effort to bring her little brother home. True to his word, he has pursued this goal through the Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office. (Click on the blue to read all about it!) He and his sister have sent in blood samples to have their DNA recorded. He has attended their regional meetings and heard some amazing stories much like one that aired on NPR (click in the red to listen) last month. Due the the location of Thomas's last battle above the 38th Parallel (the dividing line between North and South Korea) the chances of any attempt to find his remains are remote. Dealing with North Korea is a political barrier that only time can remove. This organization was born out of the efforts of families of the Vietnam POW's and MIA's. I hope that it endures. Perhaps some day Thomas will be sent home.

William was awarded the Silver Star posthumously. He is buried with his parents in Birmingham. The Colonel and I inherited his coffin flag and the one that was also given for Thomas. I composed a poem inspired by the story of Elsie, her brothers, and the two flags. I will post it on July 4th.

'Tis Sweet to Know...

" 'Tis sweet to hear the watch-dog's honest bark

Bay deep mouth'd welcome as we draw near home;

'Tis sweet to know an eye will mark

Our coming, and look brighter when we come! "

Lord Byron

When Cameron took this sweet portrait of Gracie, he had it printed up in a sepia tone. It isn't very old, but it had to be the image for today! I know you have seen this quote more than once on my blog -- I think it is still in the sidebar somewhere--but today I guess you might say it is more about a role reversal here at Graystone. Gracie has been a patient for several days at the AU Veterinary Hospital. She had a lesion removed from her mouth last month. It was a fibrosarcoma: Not good! The CT scan showed little evidence that the cancer had spread. So, on Wednesday the surgeon removed a section of bone from her mandible with a hope of getting a clear margin. The staff of resident doctors and student interns do a really fantastic job in the ICU and call several times a day. Yesterday, the first calls reported how that she was having a lot of pain, and that she was receiving pain meds. But the last call of the day in late evening was that she seemed to be feeling much better and should be coming home tomorrow. Well, that tomorrow is here, and I will be going to collect her at 11:00 this morning. That is Nurse Lucy on the left. Nurse Paddy (our other spaniel), Head Nurse Deusey (the cat---think Nurse Ratched) and I are all ready for her. Guess who will be boohooing, if not baying, a deep mouthed welcome once she is draws near home!!

Sepia Saturday: Nap & The Little Colonel

Nap & The Little Colonel

True, Easter is the Holiest of days in the church calendar, but what would it be without all the darling toddlers wearing their adorable little clothes, balancing baskets of Easter eggs, and hugging their new stuffed toys? For today's Sepia Saturday, I offer this cherished image of my husband and his much loved Nap. My mother-in-law gave me this photo during the year that he served in Vietnam. It was taken and processed and developed by his father who was by profession a medical photographer. My best guess is that the photo was taken on Easter of 1947. The Colonel would have been three years old. He was actually born on Easter Sunday of 1944. Imagine the combination of joy and uncertainty at the birth of a first born child just two months before D-Day! Most assuredly, it was the joy that prevailed. And yes, we still have Nap. He is safely stowed away in a cedar chest, but usually appears on Easter mornings wearing a new pale blue ribbon tied in a big bow around his neck.

May Christ's love and sacrifice and the Miracle of the Resurrection

prevail in your spirit this Easter tide.

Sepia Saturday: Aunt Mary & Uncle Bill

My earliest recollection of this darling couple was during the fifties when they would pack up their three boys and drive from Lakeland, Florida back to Birmingham during summer vacation.

Bill is my father's baby brother. He was born when my dad was nearly 12. Both of them were in the Army Air Corp during World War II. This photograph was taken in November of 1943, just six weeks before Bill was shipped off to Iceland. I have just been talking with him (another great benefit of these Sepia Saturday projects) and he told me he remembered that he was crossing the North Atlantic on Christmas Day of 1943. He served as crew chief with the rank of Tech Sargent in Iceland through all of 1944, and returned home in the spring of 1945. He reminded me that he and my dad returned at just about the same time, and that he remembered several family gatherings to celebrate their homecoming.

After the war , my father and Bill both returned to their jobs with U. S. Steel. In the early fifties, Uncle Bill decided to try something different. He became a jeweler. He and Mary moved to Lakeland, opened a business, and raised three sons. Since my mom and dad had some post war babies as well (Sue and I were the same ages as Bill's boys), Bill would always make sure that our house was one of the stops on the summer trips back home. Today, Mary and Bill are retired and living in the mountains of Western North Carolina, near all three sons and their families. However, Bill is still singing in a barber Shoppe Quartet organization while Mary is doing the same in the Sweet Adelines! Aren't they a beautiful couple? This photo looks like something out of Hollywood to me.

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Sepia Saturday #3: Wrapped in Love & Fur

Among the many mementos and treasures which my father brought back from Europe in the spring of 1945 was a bundle of creamy white fur hides.

My dad said they were baby goatskins. He had last seen my sister Anita when she was 7 or 8 months old. She was three and a half when he returned. Anita and I have been visiting over lunch today, and she is my primary source for these facts. She remembers being told they were actually from the isle of Capri . Her first knowledge of the hides was seeing my mother and father spreading them out on the dining room table. The fur was very soft with a delicate wavy quality.

"Anita, we're going to make you a coat."

The best part of this story for me, is having Anita recall with pride and wonder the unique talents of our mother. She was, albeit self-taught, an accomplished seamstress. She made a pattern for the coat, bonnet, and muff. Once the pattern was laid, my father and mother used a razor blade to cut out the pieces. Though Mother had a pedal powered sewing machine, we believe she hand sewed the pieces together. Our dad helped fashion the covered buttons. The buttons fastened to an elastic loop covered in creamy satin--the same fabric which lined the coat, bonnet, and muff. Pink satin ribbons adorned the bonnet with bows and the ties making another bow under the chin. There were more bows and a strap for the muff. To complete the ensemble, Mother made a pair of cream woolen flannel lined pants with a bib waistband and straps which had gathered cuffs at the ankles fastened with pearl buttons. The pants were worn over a matching satin blouse in the classic style: Peter Pan lace edged collar and puff sleeves. There are no known pictures of Anita in the "little white coat" as we have always referred to it. She wore this until she was too big for it. My sister Sue, born December 1945, was next in line to wear this coat. She had the hair to match it! Our mother carefully maintained this coat through her first two girls, and it was in perfect condition still in the early fifties when it was just right for me. Thank goodness for the familiar old dime store photo booths!

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Anita and I have realized today that this coat, so lovingly crafted over 65 years ago by our parents, could not have been enjoyed any better than if it had been the finest ermine. In actuality, it is really just the little white Italian goat coat.