And I should not have to remind you
that little time is given here
to rest on a wayside bench,
to stop and bend to the wildflowers,
or to study a bird on a branch—
–from “The Parade” by Billy Collins
As June builds up to summer’s start, lengthening sunny days mixed with some warm rain bring wildflowers’ sudden shoots and colorful blooms, seemingly overnight. In an instant, fallow fields, meadows, and roadside rights-of-way are flower-filled. This same recipe of sunshine and rain brings forth insects as well, some that prey on humans – black flies, mosquitoes, sweat bees – and some that make for good stalking – dragonflies, fireflies, June bugs. The 1904 photograph below of Quentin Roosevelt, the youngest child of Theodore and Edith, epitomizes this time of year for me as he’s intently engaged in June bug hunting amidst a meadow full of daisies (or Black-Eyed Susans, perhaps?) on the grounds of Sagamore Hill, the family’s Long Island home:
Quentin Roosevelt looking for June bugs. Photograph copyrighted by Edward S. Curtis, 1904. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.23793
The contemporaneous stereograph view below of an unidentified toddler and unnamed collie shown in a similar wildflower-filled field is a 1905 copyright image. For me, this picture of child and dog in a meadow abloom evokes idyllic moments I’ve experienced as a boy and twice more decades later as a father of a son and a daughter:
[Child and collie in field of wildflowers]. Stereograph copyright by Underwood & Underwood, 1905. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3c13692The four Lewis Hine photographs below show children in a vastly different floral field: the 1908 New York City home-based family business making artificial flowers at a whopping 8 cents a gross shown at the top, left; and, the three other photos, from 1917, shot inside the Boston Floral Supply Co. factory as youths work at various tasks of florifacture, the flower manufacturing processes:
Artificial flower making at 8 cents a gross. Youngest child working is 5 years old, New York, New York. Photograph by Lewis W. Hine, January 1908. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/nclc.04073
Mary Donahue, 15 years old (on right of photo), curling petals, … Pauline Steele, 15 years old (on Mary’s right) makes carnations. Beatrice Sicco, 15 years old (left side of photo), curling, Boston, Mass. Photograph by Lewis W. Hine, 29 January 1917. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/nclc.05163
Corrinne Le May, 15 years old, bunching sweet peas at the Boston Floral Supply Co., Boston, Mass. Photograph by Lewis W. Hine, 29 January 1917. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/nclc.05162
15-year old boy sorting cycas leaves, Boston Floral Supply Co., Boston, Mass. Photograph by Lewis W. Hine, 29 January 1917. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/nclc.05195
Hine’s photographs for the National Child Labor Committee illuminate a grimmer early 20th century phenomenon of children up-to-their-elbows in flowers.
A primary school in the field. Photograph by France Benjamin Johnston, 1900. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3c38995
Dandelions. Photograph by Ema Spencer, circa 1900. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/cph.3f05983
Comments (4)
Francisco Campos says:
It is so beautful, thanks for that.
Stew Jenkins says:
Jeff,
Great post! I love the juxtaposition of kids in fields of flowers with kids making fake flowers in factories. I’d be interested in seeing a progression of flower photos that moved up through the decades. Hope all is well in your corner of the world.
dpm says:
The arts expand and deepen visible learning. LOC has been a source for my instructional units for several years now. Thank you for making the resources teacher friendly.
`namaste
Gay Colyer says:
A lovely post, Jeff. A tribute to summer with the fields of blooms. As usual, the Hine photos tell a much larger story about children, families and work. But they also show how the demand was met to bring some of the “outside” into our homes. Great images!
Comments (4)
It is so beautful, thanks for that.
Jeff,
Great post! I love the juxtaposition of kids in fields of flowers with kids making fake flowers in factories. I’d be interested in seeing a progression of flower photos that moved up through the decades. Hope all is well in your corner of the world.
The arts expand and deepen visible learning. LOC has been a source for my instructional units for several years now. Thank you for making the resources teacher friendly.
`namaste
A lovely post, Jeff. A tribute to summer with the fields of blooms. As usual, the Hine photos tell a much larger story about children, families and work. But they also show how the demand was met to bring some of the “outside” into our homes. Great images!