Where did I leave that bloody...

Once a picture is taken, it captures a moment forever. This applies to politicians who throw parties when they should not, but also to less well-known people from history.

Sometimes a photograph captures a moment, but no one remembers later what that exact moment was. Take, for example, this week's Friday Lady. No, not the elegant and flamboyant women we often have, but a bit of a messy photo. We have no idea who this lady is, or what kind of situation she is in, so we can only guess what she's thinking. She looks kind of lost to us. Has she been on the side of the road for a few days and made herself at home? Or is this her permanent residence?

Could the dark stuff in the big bowl in front of her be oil? Maybe the car has engine trouble and she's looking for that missing part to fix it. Or is she waiting for help to arrive?

What do you think?

Published:

Friday February 4th, 2022

Ace Zenek

13 February 2022, 12:39

The information posted by Rutger Booy is incorrect. This photo was taken by John Vachon in Berrien County, Michigan in 1940. The original glass plate negative is in the Prints and Photographs Collection of the Library of Congress in Washington, D. C. There are actually three photographs of this Friday Lady in the collection, and I have attached them here (all three photos are in the public domain). Information about Mr. Vachon is at the following link. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Vachon

Larry Lewis

04 February 2022, 15:25

Lots of folks back East they say
leavin' home every day
Making the hot 'ol dusty way
to the California line.

Across the desert sands they rode
headin' out of the 'ol dust bowl
think they're headin' for a sugar bowl
but here's what they find

Now the police at the port of entry say'
you're number 14,000 here today so
if you ain't that do-re-mi boys
you ain't got that do-re-mi

Why you better head back to beautiful
Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Georgia, Tennessee.
California is a garden of Eden
a paradise to live in or see

But believe it or not
you won't find it so hot
if you ain't got that do-re-mi.

Woody Guthrie.

Rutger Booy

04 February 2022, 07:49

This photo was taken by Dorothea Lange, a photografer who was best known for her photos taken in the 1930s during the drought.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothea_Lange

Allan Lewis

04 February 2022, 05:36

This looks like it could be a scene from "Grapes of Wrath" (the photograph is from the real time about which the book was written). In the middle thirties there was the depression and also the dust bowl, a weather condition in the central United States where for some years no rain fell and farmers lost almost everything. Old cars had depreciated to nothing therefore not repossessed. Many ex farmers lived in their cars with few remaining possessions while traveling to California where there had been some work but soon overcrowded. No work there. The car, I think is Model A Ford but there are a lot of Ford people who will either see my error or describe which quarter of what year it was manufactured.

ABL

Alan

04 February 2022, 05:05

The can just behind the lady appears to say RimRock Motor Oil, so it's likely that is motor oil in the bowl. This looks like a scene from the Dust Bowl here in the States. Perhaps she is an Okie, fleeing the Great Plains for California?

Bill Scheer

04 February 2022, 03:57

Has that end of my rope, Dust Bowl desperation look of all those who migrated all over the US during the Depression; maybe enough money for gas or a meal, but not both, with all her worldly possessions still not abandoned or sold strapped to the car.

Robert C Kohs

04 February 2022, 01:46

The lovely, slender woman is likely to be thinking, “Oh, how I wish that I had a magic carpet to enable easier travel.” May her travel experiences brighten into fulfilling enjoyment.

Rick

04 February 2022, 00:49

Grapes Of Wrath might apply here - a novel by John Steinbeck. The car looks like '28 or '29 Ford Model A. Can't determine the license plate place of origin. With clothes iron out and what seems to be a tarpaulin draped from the roof this may have been in a migrant camp during the 'Dust Bowl' era.

Where did I leave that bloody...

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