Comments on: Photo biz ad, 1926: Take Thanksgiving snapshots, before everyone you love dies

By: Kaleberg

Kaleberg — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 18:06:00 +0000

That’s a great advertisement and a good reminder. People have cared for other people and wanted to remember them since before there were people. Forever and ever, the only way to record how someone looked was to hire an artist to sketch or paint a portrait of them, living or dead. Then came the professional photographer. Taking a photo was a BFD with either a trip to the studio or a visiting photographer. Kodak came along in early 20th century with small, portable dry process cameras and started the integration of human life and photography, an integration which is continuing today.

By: Deidzoeb

Deidzoeb — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 16:27:00 +0000

Epictetus would approve! Or some Stoics would anyway. Thinking about the mortality of loved ones is a way to partially inoculate yourself to the possibility of them dying. The inevitability of them dying eventually. Helps you cherish your time with them even more.

I do think about this sometimes. My wife and I haven’t had school photos or other occasions to get formal photos in decades. She has tons of videos of herself on youtube, but what’s the latest photo of me that would be displayed at a memorial service if I got hit by a bus today? Halloween 1998?

By: John K Goodman

John K Goodman — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 05:41:00 +0000

perhaps they were referring to the incipient alien invasion of early 1927?

By: Rich Keller

Rich Keller — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 04:02:00 +0000

I’d think that diseases and thresher accidents took their toll.

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 03:45:00 +0000

It’s a name.

By: Incipient Madness

Incipient Madness — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 03:33:00 +0000

“Xenia” is the ancient Greek custom of showing hospitality to traveling strangers. Why the hell is that even in the phones dictionary?

By: OldBrownSquirrel

OldBrownSquirrel — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 01:38:00 +0000

I have a photo of my grandfather, my mother, myself, and my son, sitting on my mother’s couch. My son was a baby. My grandfather has since died. It will serve as a reminder to my son that he and my grandfather met, though he was too young to remember.

By: rattypilgrim

rattypilgrim — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 01:02:00 +0000

The man with the camera should have been dressed as the Grim Reaper.

By: cjporkchop

cjporkchop — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 01:00:00 +0000

I agree that life should be enjoyed in the moment, instead of constantly through a viewfinder. But a few photos of loved ones are very nice to have. Without a photo reference, it’s easy for a face to fade from your memory over the years.

By: Frank Diekman

Frank Diekman — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 00:56:00 +0000

Next year may be too late. Like it’s too late for those turkeys.

By: Raziel Abulafia

Raziel Abulafia — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 00:52:00 +0000

AL THOZ PPLS ARZ DED,
MYZ MEET WILZ B TOST 2,
SO GOUZ V ALZ!

By: duncancreamer

duncancreamer — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 00:44:00 +0000

I think that’s a great advert. True too.

Those turkey are gonna die.

By: Mike

Mike — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 00:33:00 +0000

Well, that’s funny, but interesting. In 1926 people were all leaving the farm for the big city. A huge rural to urban transition was underway. This imagines that you’ve gone back for your annual visit to the country where Mom and Dad maybe still live with the turkeys. It’s an annual visit… and who knows how many more of those there will be? But that’s a modern situation too. It’s just that these days the idea of capturing those moments in a picture seems so ordinary. Back then, well, it was a reason to buy a camera, a new thought. I like it.

By: GertaLives

GertaLives — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 00:27:00 +0000

I just want to say thanks to Xeni for including the actual copy in your post. It’s a helpful touch for those on throttled networks. So, um, thanks and all.

Also, Xeni autocorrects to Xenia on my 4s??

By: Theodore S Lindsey

Theodore S Lindsey — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 00:27:00 +0000

Meh. I’d rather spend the time that they’re alive actually interacting with them rather than looking at them through a system of mirrors and lenses. Enjoy them while they’re around, right?