Three photos.
This little sterling cup (just a little over 2″ x 2″ excluding handle) arrived in the mail the other day. Janet was Rusty’s mom. She was born in Worcester, MA, in 1915 (d. 1978), the second of four children; by the time she was five, the family had moved to Providence, RI. Rusty’s brother, Dave, recently ran across the cup when he was sorting things, and he knew that we’d all love it. I’m torn about cleaning it… but that’s a lot of patina!
So, y'know one of the main excuses reasons for our quick trip to Arizona was because Rusty's brother found more old photos, documents, and scrapbooks.
Rusty's mother was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, raised in Providence, Rhode Island, and lived most of her life in California. For a few years in the '30s, in her late teens and early twenties, she apparently went back and forth between the east & west coasts at least a few times, including Florida (as the boys recall, though no photographic evidence), working at resorts. From the looks of it, she had a lot of friends and a lot of fun, too!
The Wianno Club is in Osterville, MA, on Nantucket Sound. We have a couple of small serving bowls from the Wianno Club, ca. 1937, I guess, with their logo on them.
Midwick View Riding Academy sounded "east coast" to us, so we were happy to find the photo above clearly identifying it as a place in California… possibly part of Midwick View Estates.
There are a few curious things about all this…
One being that this was all during The Great Depression. Yacht races, riding academies, and multiple cross-country trips… these are not things that normally come to mind when one thinks of The Depression.
Another is that I'm fairly certain the travel would have taken place on land rather than by air, but there's not a single photo of anything between the coasts.
I believe Rusty's mother's parents were very well off… but there was a scandal involving his grandfather, which disgraced the whole family, and ultimately resulted in their divorce by 1941 (and bad enough that his son & namesake legally changed his name!). And maybe, at least for some of this time, Rusty's mother was just away at these places… sent to camp, or whatever, to protect her from the scandal, and not actually working? I mean, they sure seemed to have fun (and a lot of free time) at work… There are SO MANY casual/fun photos at these places, with one or two friends, or in big groups… at the beach, on the dock, poolside, in cars, with dogs, snow skiing, horseback riding, hugging, smiling, laughing, sightseeing…
It's all so curious!!
Yesterday was quite the day. We drove over to visit with Rusty's brother, Dave, and sister-in-law, stopping for a brunchy breakfast on the way.
I don't even know how many photos of photos I took… lots! And mostly of Rusty & Dave's mom, from scrapbooks, envelopes, folders, and stacks.
On the beach, the slopes, at the pool, the tennis court, on horseback, with cats and dogs… so many photos with dogs! I'm surprised that Rusty's not more of a dog lover.
Today we're headed to Lake Havasu — to the closest Packers bar we could find (also London Bridge)! Tomorrow, we're up EARLY to head to the Grand Canyon, so I won't likely be posting until evening.
Rusty returned last week from a two-month trip west. He left in June bound for Arizona and a visit to his brother Dave's new place in western Arizona, just over the border from Nevada. One of the purposes of that get together was for them to go through a box of old photos that Dave (a bit of a packrat) finally uncovered in the moving & unpacking.
The photos belonged to their mother, Janet, who took her own life in 1978. When the boys cleaned out her house after her death, it was a job that just needed to get done. Things like photos were relegated to storage, which is where they've been for the past 40+ years.
Rusty was so excited to see these old family photos again! He took a few snaps with his phone and sent them to me while he was there, and brought some more home for scanning. After he departed Arizona for points in California, Dave uncovered more photos and documents! Rusty suggested that before too long we take a trip out there together, and we just confirmed flights, car & hotel for an early November (birthday!) visit, which will also include a visit (my first) to the Grand Canyon.
Anyway, it's been a bit of a nut house over here and we finally sat down over the weekend to look at the photos Rusty brought back.
This one.
I'd hastily edited (her face is in deep shadow in the original photo) and posted on Instagram, but have taken a bit more time here with the dodging & burning… and looking.
I didn't even notice the knitting or Rusty's brother in the playpen, at first; Kate pointed those out the other day! Originally thought the photo was taken at the beach (her favorite place to be), but in considering what those dark blips at the top of the photo might be, I now realize that it's more likely in the backyard — that's laundry on the line (very likely diapers)!
I didn't meet Rusty until 1983, so obviously I never had a chance to meet Janet. I always like to think that we'd have gotten along — especially because I know she didn't get along at all with Rusty's first wife — and he always thought that we would have, too. I've decided that this photo is undeniable proof!
She had quite a colorful life and there are mysteries to be solved — investigated further, at the very least! I'm so looking forward to our trip out west in a few months!
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255
