This photo of my mother as a new mom showing off her first
born is one of my favorites. It appears it was taken by a photographer instead
of a home snapshot from that era.
I appreciate the pose the photographer took by placing
Mother in profile to her son. The pose allows me to see a less structured
look on her face instead of the typical forward facing image looking at the
camera. Because of this pose I see a woman who has bonded with her son
and is in awe of him.
My parents' first born was named Robert Marshall Eakin.
Like many babies of the time, Robert was born at home on September 8, 1939
at Whelen Spring; a tiny town in southern Arkansas. Whelen Springs was a
sawmill town from its earliest times. My father began working the J. A.
Barringer Sawmill a few months after Robert was born. What work he
did at the sawmill is lost to time. No matter what his work entailed, it is
certain it was not a high paying job. All the sweeter to have a studio
portrait of their first born.
________________________
Sources:
Eakin, Nettie and Robert. Portrait. ca. 1939. Lin Eakin
Watson Collection. Privately held by Lin Eakin Watson, Hot Springs, Arkansas.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whelen_Springs,_Arkansas,
accessed February 2016.
"1940 U.S. Social Security Application of Doyle Lee
Eakin." https://secure.ssa.gov/apps9/eFOIA-FEWeb/internet/main.jsp,
accessed January 2016.
