Dad and the Dog
I get the feeling that the little girl wasn't posing for this picture, rather, she seems content just to watch her father and the dog create a spectacle for Lillybridge's camera. While the outfits, especially the hats and suspenders, suggest this picture was taken sometime in the 1910s, you could probably find exactly the same scene around Denver today. Frame houses with cottonwood trees, partially overgrown yards, and little dogs are still quite common. Thankfully, so are dads who are willing to act silly, play with the dog, or otherwise make their little girls smile.
Photographer Chares Lillybridge lived along the Platte River near the Archer Canal, by the Alameda Avenue bridge, in Denver, Colorado. In the early 20th century, he took thousands of pictures of his working-class neighborhood. Today, the Archer Canal has been replaced by Interstate 25. Supermarkets have replaced small shops. Something about the people, however, remains the same. It is still a working class neighborhood, and the same trees grow along the banks of the Platte.
All photos via the Western History and Genealogy section of the Denver Public Library.
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Karmen:
What a wonderful picture, but I'm betting it was taken in the 1930s -- Dad's hat.
The little girl's clothing, however, looks like it's from 1917 or so -- hand me downs? (And check her shoes!)
A great Father's Day pic. Thanks.
RR
Rich, you could be right about the date. The DPL lists the photo as being taken between 1910 and 1920, but it seems to be a fairly arbitrary distinction. Charles Lillybridge died in 1935, so if it was the 1930s, it was the early part of the decade.
And yes, I love the girl's shoes as much as the hats. Thanks for commenting!