This week's Sepia Saturday photo shows an interesting hat. I submit this one, taken in Palm Springs, Florida, before 1955. Despite the funny hats and cart my great grand aunt and uncles look quite unhappy. Somehow, that makes it even more interesting.
Shown in photograph are three of eleven children of
Patrick & Margaret (Brady) Coyle.
James Joseph Coyle 1887 - 1955
Margaret Coyle 1881 - 1972
Thomas Albert Coyle 1883 - 1962
Sepia Saturday challenges bloggers to share family history through old photographs.
Palm Springs?? I thought they were in Mexico. Still, it's a very tourist-y photo. I'm curious about the donkey -- is it part zebra or was it painted by the owner to be more eye-catching?
ReplyDeleteThey do look grumpy, perhaps they were afraid that they would have to do the Mexican Hat Dance :)
ReplyDeleteMaybe they were glum because they didn't want to dress up and sit behind the painted donkey. I feel their pain.
ReplyDeletePerhaps they were worried about what the donkey was going to do. It looks nice and warm in that striped jacket and blanket though.
ReplyDeleteNow it just has to be said that this group is the original, "Three Amigos"!
ReplyDeleteThe mule is the happiest of the lot, and he doesn't have a hat. Perhaps that's why.
I just opened up the photo and saw the "kiss me". Now I know why they look grumpy; did you see her lipstick?
ReplyDeleteWhen I think of Florida I don't imagine sombreros. But there must be a lot of Spanish influences over there. The donkey is probably very stubborn (as usual), that may explain the tired look of your relatives.
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the comments. I enjoy the photo. The people just don't seem to belong in that unlikely setting.
ReplyDeleteI thought they only did tourist photos like that in Tijuana.
ReplyDeleteYeah, a sombrero would make me grumpy, too.
ReplyDeleteI immediately thought this was taken in Tijuana too, because it looks just like the photos of my mother and grandmother taken there. Too funny though, poor zebra mule.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if it was hot and that had something to do with their expressions. That donkey is something! I wonder if his stripes were painted on.
ReplyDeleteThe one hat says Tijuana so that's surprising that they'd use those hats in Florida.
ReplyDeleteA few years ago I was in a little border town outside Yuma, Arizona and was taking a photo of a cart and donkey across the street. The owner got furious with me because he made his living taking photos like this. It was over 100 degrees and the donkey looked ready to collapse. I waved at the guy and said, "Yeah, yeah. Whatever."
A very warm welcome to Sepia Saturday Colleen. That is a great photo to start out with - I am looking forward to many more in the weeks to come.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if they looked unhappy or were just faced looking into the sun. I have a similar photo of my Uncle with his soldier buddies during WWII on one of their leaves from training...Your blog with all the genealogy is so interesting to me because that is a passion of mine too but I have no one left alive from the older generations to pester...so keep asking while you can.
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the great comments. I have never had so many for one blog! The photo was truly taken in Florida, not Mexico. I just love the striped donkey, the expressions, the hats,... The incongruities make it unique.
ReplyDeleteColleen