Mom (Florence) assigned the date 1920 to this portrait of the Arthur McClain family. But the children look too old for that date. (Aunt Betty, for example, would have been just three years old in 1920, and Mom would have been 10.) A photo of Mom posted earlier appears to have been cut from a copy this family portrait. I had assigned an approximate date of 1924 to that photo and that seems to me to fit the apparent ages of the children here reasonably well. I doubt it was later than that, but it could have been earlier by a year. Not more than two, though, I wouldn’t think.

In 1924 Mom would have been 14, Uncle Bernard 12, and Aunt Betty 7, just for reference. Also Grandpa Arthur would have been 40 and Grandma Addie 38.

At first glance it struck me that Aunt Betty’s face and hair seemed somehow faded and indistinct. On closer examination I realized there was just a touch of motion blur. In other words, she turned her head just a bit as the photo was being taken. Aunt Betty never was one to sit still. ;–)

Close examination of this portrait will reveal “limbal ring enhancement” applied to some of the eyes. So evidently that technique was still being used on portraits in the mid 1920s.

One wonders whether there was some particular event that prompted having this family portrait taken. If it was taken in 1924 (which isn’t at all certain), there were two “milestone events” that year. One was Grandpa Arthur’s 40th birthday, the other was Mom’s and Uncle Bernard’s graduation from eighth grade.