HERE AND THERE

Three photos on this page, taken in the summer and fall of 1925.


The archetypal homestead of the Renouf family in Minitonas.


"May and Gladys start for school," says the caption. Is it meaningful that May carries notebooks and Gladys carries what I think is a lunch pail along with her handbag? And what's that on May's head? It appears to be a beret that sort of got carried away. Gladys has a proper hat. Can it be that this "start" is to travel to Winnipeg to college? They look quite the young ladies. The photo was taken, naturally, by "The Shadow."


This time it is Seth Strachan who is all grown up and appears to have a girl friend whose name is Edyth. No last name recorded. Things are moving fast now!

KOVARIZING FOR QUACK GRASS

Whatever the reason Sam went to Minneapolis -- maybe to visit his father who was widowed and liviing alone there or maybe specifically to find something to add to the farm work -- it was a turning point in the family history. Kovar machinery, for the years the Strachans represented it, lifted them into the profit zone.





Quack grass was a deep-rooted rhizomatous pest for fields. The Kovar Kultivator was able to hook onto those long stolons and roots and drag them out of the ground, to lie on the surface and die in the sun.


This is a smaller one-section Kovar and I believe that's Bruce behind the team.

The machine parts were sent up from Minneapolis to avoid a higher tariff for the whole machine. The Strachans assembled them, marketed and delivered them. Then the tariffs were reorganized and the project became economically unviable, but by that time the Strachans had left Swan River.

A TRIP ON MADGE LAKE

The Hendersons and the Strachans ventured out onto the water this time.


It's a little unclear which is the point of embarkation, as opposed to debarkation, but this is labeled "At Kamsack Landing." This seems a rather modest boat for so many people. I see that May Strachan and Florence Henderson are dressed alike in gym suits. I believe that's Grandma Strachan far to the right with maybe Seth to the left of her. "Papa" with hands on hips with another Strachan boy just behind him. Some of these people must be the boat owners and operators.


Then the boat trip on the lake.


And the "Swan River Landing." Now we see a crowd of people, so the boat must be taking them out in batches and then bringing them back.


It was summer, so shade for the picnic was essential. May's bright hair to the left, Seth's or Glenn's soft cap to the right. Otherwise, I can identify individuals. But this scene was repeated over and over and over in my childhood, every holiday and every time out of town company came. The botany was different, but the food was pretty much the same and the people overlapped.


This is labeled "boat repairer." It does appear to need a little moss removal and a few layers of good paint! But these guys are not afraid of work. They could sit right next to it and never get upset.


Madge Lake beach is a regular Coney Island! Boats, a water slide, and look at that wonderful big model sailboat! A long shallow beach so the swimmers can choose their depth. This is August, so the water temperature must have been bearable, even refreshing.


Here's a closer look at the slide, but what's that in background? For lifeguards? Two at a time? Sail of a boat just leaving the left border.


Fog settling in now. Must be almost time to pack up and head for home to nurse sunburns.

PUPS AND PETS

Don't think that because the oldest in the family, Bruce, went off to university and now dresses nicely for picnics that he's not expected to carry his weight!


Here's Bruce in his bib overalls cutting seed potatoes, one "eye" to a piece -- that's what you plant in the spring, because every eye becomes a sprout and every sprout grows into a potato plant. That's how rhizomes work.


The album caption is "Experimental plots in hardy nursery stock." Looks to me like rhubarb in front of May. My family always did love rhubarb and it grows in this yard, too, though I try to root it out and the temps dive to forty below. Pie plant in spring just can't be beat!


Here's what the youngest, Seth, has been up to. This is probably a barn owl that either fell out of the nest or that Seth climbed up to catch. (He LOVED climbing everything.) I don't think it's a great gray owl. Since it can't fly yet, it's tethered to a post in the yard. Seth always loved birds -- he was a fly boy!





This faceless pup is not an owl but just about as downy! My father's caption is "Waggles is a fuzzy puppy." No lie.

SWAN RIVER COMPATRIOTS

Young people attract young people, especially when it begins to be time to pair off.


Having a pretty sister is especially helpful in attracting guys. These compatriots are (left to right) Otis Ennis, May and Seth Strachan, and Katherine and Harvey Turner. No way to tell whether the last two are married or siblings. They look rather alike.


This is the spike elk herd -- too old to stay with the cows and too old to be welcome with bulls. Left to right, Melvin Allan, Glenn and Seth Strachan and Otis Ennis. In this photo it appears that what looked like a pipe might be a pole, possibly for stringing an electrical line. The foundation of the house is revealed to be cement block.


I have no idea where they managed to find a tennis court or maybe they just strung up a net where the wintertime hockey rink had been. These gents are, left to right, Bruce Strachan, Otis Ennis, Glenn Strachan, Tom and Cecil Spicer (Cecil with pup), and Seth Strachan.


The game in progress. The pup is bored and leaving. Farm wagon at left. Trees grazed off as high as a cow can reach. This is summer, 1925.

SLEEPY HOLLOW SIBLINGS

It's always a pleasure when a girl has brothers for escorts. No worries. Of course, families in those days were a lot more sober and mutually protective than may be the case these days. But these were happy and social days for the Strachans.


As the only girl in the family, May was pretty much a princess. My father's caption for this photo is "Flapper" but that was pretty much of a tease. All her life she was as sober as this photo. Not unpleasant, but inclined to take life seriously. Born in August, 1907, she lived to August, 2006. Her dress appears to be silk and embroidered. She and her mother were fond of detachable collars, which helped punch up a wardrobe.


Glenn's pants seem to be a combination of jodphurs, knickers and bloomers! But they seem practical for bicycle riding. Combined with his dark jacket and turtleneck, and given his expression, he seems quite formidable. But a big grin was his normal mode and this is probably an illusion from having to squint into the sun. Born in 1905, he died in 1989. I don't know whose left arm is at the edge of the photo. I see the porch chairs have been turned upside down to keep snow off the seats.


This is June, 1924, if I can trust the back of the photo. My father is looking QUITE the college student, which he was. Very sober and intelligent. (Born 1903, died 1969.) May appears to have a cupcake for a hat. The destination is said to be a picnic.


The back of this photo says "Summer, 1925" but it looks to me like the same time period as the photo above. I don't know what the insignia on my father's jacket might mean. He would look more dignified without a pipe growing out the top of his head. (jokes) May is wearing the same vest as in the photo with Glenn, but a different blouse, more like a school uniform, and less fancy hat. Note the farm dog watching from his niche beside the back stairs.

SLEEPY HOLLOW ANTICS

It's Spring, 1925, and there was no television on the prairies in those days, so they did their YouTube stunts for each other and the camera.


The guys here are Glenn and Seth Strachan and Otis Ennis up at the top. I don't know what that tall mast bolted to the eaves might be. "Gasper" for the plumbing? More formally known as a "waste stack"? Seems too high for that. I notice there's a bit of wire across the end of the space under the porch, enough to keep out a dog but not a cat or a determined pig. I never heard about them keeping pigs anyway.


This is Seth (above) and Otis (lower). In those days when you needed a ladder, you didn't go to Home Depot. You just made one. These guys seem to have entirely lost consciousness that they're wearing their Sunday best. And I notice the maintenance standards for the front of the house are quite different from those around back!


Nice sense of symmetry. My father's caption is "Strong Man Stuff." He was a freshman in Winnipeg during this year. Dunno who took the photo.


This is labeled "Fight over the little brown jug." Since my grandmother was a devoted WCTU member, I doubt there's anything in the jug is worth fighting over. However, an ax and a pitchfork are formidable weapons and I'm not sure the lid off the laundry boiler makes an adequate shield!