Rastus and Helen, circa 1900
Aug. 31st, 2010 07:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
acmespaceshipAs often happens with well-intentioned projects, my paternal grandmother's photo album was meticulously kept for about a year and a half. The photos and the captions begin to peter out with the approach of her marriage and the Great War. Thus, I have a complete record of a daylong excursion by automobile to the top of Dan's Rock overlooking Cumberland, Maryland in July of 1914. But I have no idea if certain children pictured a few years later happen to be my father, my aunt, or some cousin.
That's grandmother Helen on the far left, posing like a Gibson Girl in the back of the car. In the front seat and at the center of the photo, looking rather heroically off to the left (his right) and wearing little round wire glasses, is the chiropractor she would marry a year later. I wonder who is taking the photo, since that would usually have been grandfather's gig. There are two things Golladays are always likely to have, and one of them is gadgets. The other I'll get to in a moment.
Inside the album's front cover, carefully pasted into its place of honor, is a photo that's a bit older, probably around 1903. It is a window into the past and, like the past, it's complicated.
Time has faded it to a pale blue. I increased the contrast in Picasa so it would be more visible here. The only writing on the page is the inscription shown here:
Even with the contrast enhanced, it's easy to miss Rastus. On her shoulder.
Rastus is not a name we would give a cat in this day and age. Wikipedia says it's a pejorative term and highly offensive, carrying all the baggage of racial stereotypes. I wonder if Helen knew any people named Rastus. I wonder if anyone was actually named Rastus in 1903. Most likely, Rastus for her was a name from minstrel shows, jokes, and novelty songs. I am now curious how many minstrel shows came through Cumberland, and how many of those had "authentic African" performers. Cumberland, then as now, had white, black and mixed-race residents.
Given our 21st century understanding of the name, my first guess was that Helen's Rastus was a black cat. But from the photo, he looks more like a medium grey, brown or orange. Might be a tabby. Rastus in 1903 did not mean what it means in 2010. Maybe in another hundred years, "Rastus" will mean something else altogether.
Although she was not yet a Golladay at the time of this photo, Helen was already equipped with the other thing Golladays are always likely to have. Here is Helen's son in 1960, with his daughter and a Siamese named Sam, who never missed an opportunity to join us in the kayak.
That's grandmother Helen on the far left, posing like a Gibson Girl in the back of the car. In the front seat and at the center of the photo, looking rather heroically off to the left (his right) and wearing little round wire glasses, is the chiropractor she would marry a year later. I wonder who is taking the photo, since that would usually have been grandfather's gig. There are two things Golladays are always likely to have, and one of them is gadgets. The other I'll get to in a moment.Inside the album's front cover, carefully pasted into its place of honor, is a photo that's a bit older, probably around 1903. It is a window into the past and, like the past, it's complicated.
Time has faded it to a pale blue. I increased the contrast in Picasa so it would be more visible here. The only writing on the page is the inscription shown here:
Even with the contrast enhanced, it's easy to miss Rastus. On her shoulder.
Rastus is not a name we would give a cat in this day and age. Wikipedia says it's a pejorative term and highly offensive, carrying all the baggage of racial stereotypes. I wonder if Helen knew any people named Rastus. I wonder if anyone was actually named Rastus in 1903. Most likely, Rastus for her was a name from minstrel shows, jokes, and novelty songs. I am now curious how many minstrel shows came through Cumberland, and how many of those had "authentic African" performers. Cumberland, then as now, had white, black and mixed-race residents.
Given our 21st century understanding of the name, my first guess was that Helen's Rastus was a black cat. But from the photo, he looks more like a medium grey, brown or orange. Might be a tabby. Rastus in 1903 did not mean what it means in 2010. Maybe in another hundred years, "Rastus" will mean something else altogether.
Although she was not yet a Golladay at the time of this photo, Helen was already equipped with the other thing Golladays are always likely to have. Here is Helen's son in 1960, with his daughter and a Siamese named Sam, who never missed an opportunity to join us in the kayak.
