Sepia Saturday: Work

When I was growing up on a farm we always had a few chickens (chooks, we called them) and a rooster or two, maybe ten or fifteen. They supplied our family with enough eggs and the occasional roast chicken. But dairy cows were our main income source.

Not like the farm in the photos I purchased on the web. This family took egg production very seriously. In the context of the other photos in the bundle I think they were post-WW2 immigrants from Eastern Europe and living in New South Wales, Australia in the 1950s. Our chickens were free range but it looks like these were caged birds, one to each cage.

This post is in response to Sepia Saturday's theme for September, work and play. You can find more workers over at the webpage.

Sepia Saturday: Alone

In the theme photo my eye is drawn to the man walking alone. I found several photos in my collection on the same theme.

Alone on a mountain trail at Hotham Heights, Victoria

Alone on a beach at Airley Beach, Queensland

Margaret Alford alone in a garden.

It is too easy to assume that the people alone are lonely, but I don't think so. The man on the mountain is a friend and we were part of a larger group of field naturalists. The lady in the garden is my husband's great-grandmother, a much loved member of a large family. And the girl on the beach was sitting near a group of friends.

So, I looked to the theme photo for another angle. Aha. A train. I have in my possession some postcards from the early 1900s and one of them is of Central Sydney Railway Station and, joy oh joy, there is a solitary man walking on the road. The image appears to have been altered slightly for some reason.

Central Sydney Railway Station. Postcard posted 1907.

Central Sydney Railway Station now.
[Source: Fabian on skyscrapercity.com]

And finally, my own children only needed a couple of cardboard boxes and some soft toys to create an imaginary train. They weren't alone.

c1981

 I suggest you check the Sepia Saturday website to see what other contributors have posted.