Saturday, June 4, 2016

OVERSHOT...UNDERSHOT







Stream, gristmill, undershot (or overshot) waterwheel…it’s a standard here in New England; has been fodder for painters and photographers—even poets and lyricists—for more than a century.










This postcard was mailed in Athens, Maine on September 16, 1914:


Hello Clarence. I almost forgot your birthday was so near we got home all right Aunt Nancy Spoffard come here yesterday & to day Grampa & I carried her out to Skowhegan she is real smart. Now see how good a boy you can be the whole year with love & good wishes for many returns of the day.

From Grammie.

12 comments:

  1. A perfect contribution to this week's Sepia posting!

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    1. Thanks, Gail! It's the first thing that popped into my head -- I just had to FIND it!

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  2. A beautiful postcard and so apt for this week's prompt.

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    1. There's something sweet about it...his Grammie sent him lots of cards, but I like this one best!

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  3. The scene on that card is so tranquil that it's easy to forget that the mill wheel would have been making a noise.

    I wonder why that aunt needed to be carried, if that is what it meant in the literal sense.

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    1. Not literal. It's an old New England expression that means "give a ride to." It comes from carrying something in your wagon...so if I give you a ride to church, I'm carrying you to church!

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  4. I only have a couple of letters from the early 1900s. Treasures, each. I am never sure which I cherish more, the letter writers or the letter keepers -- I guess one has to have both for that living legacy of the written word.

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    1. I'm with you, Joan! And we're losing all that to computers and social messaging...as for me, I continue to write, write, write!

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  5. A very pretty postcard scene. I wondered about the aunt being carried too, before I read your reply to Little Nell. I also wonder whether when Grammie described the aunt as real smart, was she referring to her appearance or her intelligence? It seems a funny thing to say to a child.

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    1. "Smart" was another early 20th century term; meant something like "chic" or "spiffy" or..."well-dressed," I think. Oh, those old expressions can be confusing!

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  6. The picture on the card certainly looks a little romanticised, but none the worse for that.

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    1. Definitely a romantic drew it; you're so right! But, as Paul McCartney asked, "What's wrong with that?" Thanks for stopping by!

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