Family with eight children
What it is:
Cabinet card measuring 4.25 x 6.5 inches.
What I know about it:
Photographer is Angel of Neosho, Missouri. Otherwise undated and unidentified.
Comments:
I know large families were more common in those days, but it still gives me pause to see them all. Of course, it’s possible that one or two of them are spouses, or that a cousin or two were thrown in. But still, that’s a lot of kids to deal with. I’m not sure what the mother is holding in her hand. A fan? And there’s a odd, random bow on her chest that doesn’t seem to be a part of the dress. I wonder what it means. Perhaps it represents a practice like mourning that is practiced differently today.
Pics of Then 
my grandmother was one of 21 children. (from two wives) all of them deceased by now, except for one of her sisters.
Yes, mine was one of twelve or fourteen or something. I, on the other hand, am one of two. I know that even today there are families that large, but it is far less common, and it just astonishes me to consider.