Kids in the sun
By: usermattw
Tags: antiques, photography, vintage photography
Click here to view it larger.
I don’t know why I’m so often drawn to pictures like this. It’s small (2.5 x 3 inches), and badly damaged, full of creases and tears. The lighting and focus are imperfect, and only one person is posed in a way that lets them be seen clearly. But the image has an energy and a joy to it, and the damage strangely enhances the sense of nostalgia. Objectively, it’s a wreck. But subjectively, it feels like a fleeting memory of a happy time. (By the way, I’ve struggled to figure out what the boys have in their mouths. At first I thought they might be whistles or some sort of musical instrument, but now I think they are duck calls. Let me know if you have any better ideas.)
Pics of Then 
My thought is the boys are holding Tootsie Rolls. I went down a internet wormhole to find photos to back my theory up. Found some at clickamericana.com. At some point they were round, and not squarish like they are now. If not Tootsie Rolls, perhaps another candy lost in time.
I think that’s a good guess, and makes more sense here.
To me this is a school yard scene. The objects in the boy’s mouths look like Tootsie Rolls to me. Tootsie Rolls used to come in “logs” scored like that. We would pretend they were cigars or cigarettes. When you were young I would get those Tootsie Roll logs and make log cabins with them to celebrate Lincoln’s birthday with you and Lara.
Yes, I remember doing that. I just didn’t remember them being so large and scored. Well, that’s two votes for Tootsie Rolls, and I think we’ll go with that.