Miserable Tykes, UK (1920's), USA (1938)

In October our friend “Big John” from England posted a blog entitled “A not too neat and tidy trio” and he featured the picture that you see here. I found it very amusing and I especially loved the expressions on the three little tykes.

I left this comment: “It reminds me of the Staples TV commercial…that shows the Dad racing around the store gathering school supplies for his kids. He is ecstatic because school is starting and he's singing (to the Christmas tune) It’s The Most Wonderful Time of the Year and then the camera trains on the kids and , I swear, they have expressions on their faces just like the two older children in your photo. Priceless!”

Now, imagine my surprise when my oldest sister, Mary, (age 80) sent me this photo for Christmas. She had it framed and wrote, “Merry Christmas, Joy & Peace” across the inside ! You can see that she retains a good sense of humor. I immediately thought of John’s picture and how similar they are.

I am the youngest of 5 girls and when I asked Mary where our middle sister Nancy was she said that none of us wanted to have our picture taken that day, but only Nancy was brave enough to stamp her foot and run off. She was, and is, the rebel of the family.

I guess children have their miserable days just like we adults do… but somehow you don’t expect to see it in family photos. There is something very appealing about these two pictures, however. You can almost hear the big sighs and read their thoughts…”you can make us pose, but you can’t make us smile !”