Old Family Photos

I've been scanning in some old family photos so that I can forward them to my cousins. 

Some of these pictures I acquired in 1996 when I was in Wisconsin for my dear Grandma Carew's funeral.

My Grandma Carew's engagement photo.   Taken circa 1931.   She was always very fashionable.  I miss her terribly.  She was a perfect grandmother.  I am hoping that if I get to be a grandmother, I will be just as good at it as she was.

This photo was on top of her dressing table always.  It was put there the day they moved in and was there until I removed it after her death.  It is my grandparent's wedding photo.  I remember seeing the dress.  It was a dark forest green velvet with silver bugle beads around the neckline and around the back.  It was stunning.  My cousin Carey and I tried it on in one of the unused upstairs bedrooms when we were teens.   We knew the importance of that dress and were so careful with it.   Grandma was slender before those babies started showing up!  I don't know where the dress is now.  I hope my my Aunt Mary Ellen has it.  She'll keep it safe.

My Grandma Carew's parents were Dennis and Elizabeth Halloran.  This is their wedding photo from on or about 1899.

Dennis Halloran looks like someone who could fit in to a crowd of local farmers here.  I've seen faces like that at agricultural shows and auctions my whole life.

Great-grandmother Halloran's own engagement photo.  It amazes me that the clothes in these older photos were all made by hand, very possibly by the person wearing them.  All the older family photos are all studio portraits.  No holiday snaps, no pictures of Great Uncle Clifford with a big fish.  Photos were a serious business and an expense to be figured into the budget.

This is Clifford Carew - aged 4,  Murray Carew - aged 3 and John 8 months.  They look like they would have run Great Grandma Carew ragged.  It was the fashion to dress young boys this way.  It surprises many when I say the middle child with the long curls is actually my grandfather.  I recognise that shade of brown hair and those eyebrows I see them when I look in the mirror.

Standing are John, Murray (my grandpa) and Clifford Carew.  Seated are Grace and Great Grandma Nell Carew.

My Grandpa Carew died when I was young.  I just have images of him in my head.  I wish they were clearer.  The few memories I have of Grandpa Carew are great memories though.  He was always smiling and happy and loved to indulge his granddaughters.