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October 24, 2009 |
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Spinning Wool At Home
FOUND by Cameron
in San Luis Obispo, California
I found this under a tall tree. When was this taken? All the good ol' days captured in one shot. The photo is mounted on construction paper and laminated as to seal in the memories.
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Self Portrait July 01, 2008 |
Constructing a ... July 06, 2008 |
First Job July 21, 2005 |
Stick It to The Man December 15, 2005 |
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We collect FOUND stuff: love letters, birthday cards, kids' homework,
to-do lists, ticket stubs, poetry on napkins, telephone bills, doodles -
anything that gives a glimpse into someone
else's life. Anything goes...
Creepy as hell. That is all.
Is it just me, or does Dad look a little like Bobby Kennedy?
This photo looks very posed, like an ad from a magazine for clothing from a place like Montgomery Ward.
What IS that thing on the table in the background, that looks like a black sort of Christmas tree-made-out-of-bones?
Someone ought to tell American Apparell that "disco" went out in the 80's, thank God. When I was in college a friend had a (self-made) poster that read, "We want to wipe out disco in your lifetime." (I keep hoping the AA model will suddenly fall off the chair.)
>Someone ought to tell American Apparell that "disco" went out in the 80's, thank God.
no kidding. and i used to have that exact pair of glasses back in the day. i should've saved them, since apparently, they're in style again. all i have to say is that they weren't attractive back then & they're not attractive now either. some things should never come back in style.
the moms outfit in this picture totally throws me off. if she weren't wearing jeans i'd think this was an antique picture. and i think that's some sort of Transformer on the table in the background?!
A Norman Rockwell moment. This reminds me of when they colorize old movies. Is that a wheelchair in the background?
At first I thought the thing on the table was some kind of fancy hookah, but they don't look like the type.
And what is that thing the (?)mom(?) is holding? Looks like she's handing the dad a rod and reel. In fact, I think there another one propped against Mom's chair on the far right. His & hers rod & reels. I think this family just got out of bed in the wee hours and are getting ready for a fishing trip.
My first thought was that it was a posed magazine photo.
Isn't all that odd-looking stuff people are asking about related to the spinning wheel?
@ Terrie
I don't understand what is "creepy" here.
The photo's a bit dated, and it MIGHT be posed, but "creepy"?
What's creepy? Well, Sis # 1 has her arm around a carbine, and something suspicious under her nightie, Dad is about to perform a toe-ectomy on Sis # 2, and Mom is about to "check someone's oil" with that dipstick.
they used to show us pictures like this in school to encourage us to make up stories. But looking back I've often wondered if they were trying to propagandize us AND using our responses to these pictures to ferret out any un-American activity in our homes in the early 60s.
I'm glad that the Finder titled this one "Spinning Wool at Home" because otherwise, I'd have thought the kid in the back was wheelchair-bound.
The thing on the table back there is some distant cousin of Pinhead, I'm pretty sure.
Suburban Child of the 50's, .."ferret out any un-American activity in our homes.."
Wow-- What a concept! But THEY wouldn't do that, would they? Hmmmmm.
Since it was mounted on black construction paper and laminated, I think I'm going to go with the theory that it's some sort of writing prompt, or maybe a psychologist's or social worker's (I'm sure they have a word for it, but mine's) dialog starter.
Well...what makes it creepy to me--when I first looked at it, I got an Amityville Horror sort of vibe, like this is the photo taken of the family right before dad went nuts with a hatchet.
Then, the bad lighting, the colorizing, the waviness, that weird thing on the table, the spinning wheel in the middle of living room, the way that girl looks like she's in a wheelchair, the way the mom is sitting on the edge of the chair-hunched, spinning wool, the hell? I don't know. The whole thing looks, weird and creepy to me, like a bad dream.
I assume the photo is supposed to have and intimate feel, but I (personally) don't feel intimate, I feel claustrophobic.
..also, the kid on the floor. The rest of the family is laughing and smiling, but that kid, to me, looks like s/he's wincing in PAIN.
I think it's staged. It does look like something out of a Sears catalog or something. I thought the kid was wheelchair bound at first, too. Weird.
I agree with the weird expression of the kid on the floor. It made me wince, too--brought back memories of a much-older brother tickling me till I was literally gasping for breath and begging him to STOP. To him and anyone watching it was "fun"--to me it was torture.
Will everyone who thought they saw a wheelchair please raise your hand. Are you like me? Did you totally miss the title, "Spinning Wool?" There goes my fishing trip theory.
So this is probably a photo illustration from an old back-to-the-land magazine like Mother Earth News. Though why someone would mount it on construction paper & laminate it is beyond me...
I saw a wheel chair at first too, but the angle and positioning seemed odd, and that's when I noticed that it was actually a spinning wheel for making yarn out of wool. But what really got me was the old timey night gowns on the kids, but the more modern clothes on the mom, it seems anachronistic.
That weird expression is laughter. They're "teasing" the wool. Look at the pile under her feet.
@child of the 50s in suburbia, your teachers showed you pictures like this to try to encourage you to make up stories!? I personally know teachers who actually use stuff from Found as writing prompts!
This is such a bizarre picture! At first I thought Dad is torturing the little girl by twisting her little foot. But perhaps it's tickle torture.
Trying to guess the date... Dad's shirt & haircut - 1955. Kids' nighties & hair styles - 1965. Mom's jeans & sweater - 1972-82. Mom's hairstyle - 1968. Spinning wheel - 1900. Sofa cover - 1945. Photo print quality - 1971. Plants in the window - 1976.
.. and did anyone notice the furry picture frame behind the mom, above the sofa? It looks like the wall is covered with sheepskin. If so, this family was really into wool!
Also, what about the photographer? Because the angle is from a child's eye view, I think it could have been a third sibling who grabbed the camera when this was going on - maybe an Instamatic with a photo cube (remember those?) - or maybe it's deliberately posed to emphasize the child's point of view, maybe for use as a psychological dialog prompt, like Bored in the Clubhouse suggested.
I get what Terrie means by creepy. This photo is definitely surreal.
What's the critter thingy on the floor, lower right corner? Looks like a decapitated pet or stuffed animal, or a furry Koi fish out of water.
Clover, you nailed it with all the different dates. That's why it's so puzzling. I guess I'm the only one who thinks they all look really happy, posed or not. The thing on the wall makes me think early 70's, though.
Clover, I thought the fuzzy thing in the corner was a bunny slipper.
@Early morning Me: I agree with you. I see only joy.
quick honey! i got her ankles! *dad turns to his left* DONT YOU THINK YOUR GOING ANYWHERE LITTLE GIRL! YOUR NEXT!
Yeah, but I don't think this photo can be dated by what it contains. Little girls today wear nightgowns like these (only they're plastered with Hannah Montana's mug). I have pix of my mom, a 1949 high school cheerleader, in jeans just like this. They were called dungarees back then. And heck, sweaters have been around since sheep were created.
The thing on the floor, it's a rabbit's head. Mom ran out of wool, so they took the fluffing out of little sister's stuffed bunny. See how she fights to hide it under her nightie?
Q: What do you call yourselves?
A: The Aristocrats!!!
Looks 1970s to me. Maybe an LDS photo demonstrating family unity.
Or maybe an LSD photo demonstrating rippling, melty walls and patterned chair covers that begin breathing, then talking, then sidling toward me, inch by inch...