Time on Our Hands:  Brothers 

Earl and Chester

Evidently this picture belonged to someone whose uncles Earl and Chester are depicted in it.  On the back it says "Moms Brothers Earl and Chester" and I just have to wonder which two are the uncles.   A further note says, "Will be back at 1 o'clock" and is signed "Nelson".  So maybe this is a picture that includes Nelson's uncles.  That is what I think, anyway.  

The young man on the right and the one sitting in the center with glasses are the two I think are the brothers.  The reasons are that their clothes are similar, their hair is similar and they have faces shaped the same, mouths the same (especially the lower lip that juts forward), ears the same.  Or so it seems in a picture this old.  

This group of boys could be a scholastic group like a debate team or the German Club or they could be a sports team--tennis, golf, football.  Several of them wear V-neck sweaters that might be a way of signing that they have excelled at something, like a school sweater awaiting a letter.  Or maybe it's just a fashion of the times.  

It seems like the pompadour is the hair style that everyone wanted at the time of this photo.  My own father sported one.  He graduated from high school in about 1937 and went off to college only to be interrupted and sent to World War II.  He finished getting his Bachelor of Science degree after the war.  I am guessing that happened in 1948 because I know my brother was born in 1947 before Dad had finished school. He and my mother and brother lived off campus with a dean and his wife while he finished.  

I can't really tell if these boys/men are in their high school years or just into college.  What do you think?  I am leaning towards college.  They have a very elite look to them.  Like "the best of the best", the ones who were able to go on with school.  To me all these young men seem to be just about 11 but I know they are older.  At my age, I am inclined to think anyone under 30 is too young to drive so don't ask me!  

At any rate, they are clean cut and well groomed.  They seem sure of themselves and pleased to be posing.  Shiny shoes, some ties, a couple of pairs of jeans, but neat ones.  Jackets, sweaters, neatly combed hair.  What did the photographer say to get some of the boys smiling and some (all on the right for some reason) NOT.  

"What happened to you?" I want to ask.  "Where did you go from here and what did you do with your lives?"  "Which of you went to war, which went bald, which taught school or was active at a church?"  "Which of you married and who had a nephew named Nelson?"  

Because they most likely would all be dead by now I am not surprised by the faded quality of their bodies and faces.  I don't expect them to be distinct or to look like they could walk right out of the frame.  And they don't.  They look kind of like spirits.  Some don't even have feet in the picture.  They just float there, looking in my direction.  

I hope you had a good life, Earl and Chester.  I hope the promise of this day stayed with you all the years of your life.