“A word of encouragement during a failure is worth more than an hour of praise after success.” – American Proverb
“You can teach an Old Dog new tricks.” – English Proverb
On the Beach: looks like first cousins Charlotte Cole (1905-2005) and Doris Marion Cole [Smith] (1903-1997) on the left and Mary Waterhouse (1903-2001) on the right are apparently attempting to teach an anonymous old dog a new trick with the help of an anonymous woman who is intertwined with him in a strange wrestling hold, who has taken the time to turn and flash a big smile for the camera, plus an anonymous boy with raised leg poised above them. Whoever those unidentified strangers were, it’s obvious they were all having a good time with those relatives I recognize.
“Happiness is experienced when your life gives you what you are willing to accept.” – Ken Keyes Jr. (1921-1995)
James Carleton Waterhouse (1900-1965) and Dorothy May Tenney [Cole] (1910-1990) switch roles for the
camera temporarily during a courtship that ultimately led them to the altar with different partners.
At left, a pair of sisters and a pair of siblings: Ruth Tenney [Harris], Margie Proctor [Pierce], Otis Proctor, Dorothy Tenney [Cole] dressed up in their
best duds and looking fetching for the camera.
“A clever, imaginative, humorous request can open closed doors and closed minds.” – Percy Ross (1916-2001)
Otis Leroy Proctor (1913-2006), my dad’s best friend, seems to be lost in thought over the quandary of either seeing no evil, hearing no evil, or speaking no evil, as represented by Dorothy Tenney (soon-to-be-Cole), her future sister-in-law Charlotte Cole, and Thelma Crouse [Ames] (1910-1977) my mother’s older sister, who was paying a visit from Northern Maine.
In the second shot of the group, the question seems to be resolved, and calm restored once again.
“The trick is growing up without growing old.” – Casey Stengel (1890-1975)
Carefully posed in profile for an unusual snapshot composition of the time are sisters Helen Waterhouse [Strong] [1901-1982) and Mary Waterhouse (1903-2001) bookending an unidentified young woman, in an environment that is also not familiar to me. The clothing these young women are wearing indicates either the late teens or early ’20s, definitely pre-roaring.
“Winners are those people who make a habit of doing the things losers are uncomfortable doing.” – Ed Foreman (1933- )
ca. 1935. Farm hands taking a watermelon break during haying season, left to right: mystery woman, Mary
Waterhouse, Ruth Tenney Harris, mystery baby, mystery farmhand, Maurice Carvell, Harris Cole, Richard Cole, Robert Cole, mystery farmhand.
Farmhands taking another break, this time from bagging up bushels of corn for market. The line up is basically the same as above: a couple of mystery farmhands and Maurice Carvell in the back row with a bunch of Coles up front: my grandfather Harris doing what every successful farmer has to do repeatedly year after year; work like a dog, but benefited with the help of his three children – Charlotte, Richard and Robert.
“A book tightly shut is but a block of paper.” – Chinese Proverb
Enjoying a family picnic with visiting summer relatives are Edeth Waterhouse Cole, her son Robert, and first cousin Mary Waterhouse. The visitors are W. Lee Cole (1872-1944) from Providence with his three daughters Helen, Elinor and Phyllis. His wife Gertrude is cameraman, one of the first in the family.
ca. 1947: The Tenneys on a family outing: Reverend C.V. Tenney with his wife Daisy May, their three daughters, Dorothy, Ruth and Eleanor, with their respective husbands Robert Cole, John Harris and
Maurice Carvell, with each family’s children: Bob Jr., Gordon, Lib and Marge Cole; Arthur, Jim and Bill Harris; Norman, Sandra and Bill Carvell. In the second snapshot, just the kids are gathered together with their grandparents for a portrait of family generations.
“Do not confine your children to your own learning, for they were born in another time.” – Hebrew Proverb
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