Breakfast picnic

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This is such a peaceful scene. The washed-out quality of the image might be viewed by some as a flaw, but I think it gives it a dreamy quality. Combined with the fact that only three of the eight people seem aware of the camera, it gives me the impression of a candid moment captured, full of unforced serenity, looked at through the haze of nostalgia. Of course, the impression of nostalgia may be partly because I’m looking at it across a distance of more than a century. I wonder how the people felt about it then. (Did people then wish the image was clearer? Was the guy in the back pleased to have been captured shoveling food in his mouth?) This is a real photo post card, and the paper manufacturer’s markings (AZO, with four triangles pointing up) date it to 1904-1918. Somebody wrote on the back, dating it to 1908. Also written on the back is “Breakfast on the 4th on Mr. A. R. Julians place”. Is that the 4th of July, maybe? Also written on the back is a list of names, presumably of the people in the photo. (Frank Coats, Joe Coats, Vera Coats, Hattie Coats, Ray Julian, Mrs. Julian, Ella Coats, Jr. Coats.) So shall we assume the Coats family was visiting the Julian family? Were they related? Friends? Neighbors? Did they travel far? Were they there for more than breakfast? Who was the anonymous photographer? Below you can see the writing on the back. Since it was written in two directions, I’m posting the image twice [click to enlarge].

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