Muskegon 1963 and 1962 - Slideshows

Here are a few more pictures from Muskegon 1963 and you can click here to browse the whole batch or view as a slideshow.

In addition you can click here to browse Muskegon 1962 pictures or view as a slideshow. I shared some of these in the pre-blog days. You will note a convergence of Stevens and TerMaat cousins in this set, as this vacation swing included stops in Grand Rapids to see Quists as well as Sheboygan and it appears Grandma and Grandpa TerMaat were along for this visit. I can be seen on a bench with Rebecca and Jessica, then on the same bench with Grandma and Grampa and one of the Quist boys.

The Farm

I've been familiar with this photo of great uncle Ralph Dykstra with Grandma and Grandpa TerMaat on the farm in central Wisconsin for a long time, in fact a copy is sitting on a bookshelf in my living room, but I noticed that the photo below contains the same three tiny figures... with cows and horses! (If you squint, you'll notice the horses are visible in the far left background of the first picture as well). I'm going to assume that these photos were taken prior to 1916, else they would have included little Hattie. Remember you can click on the photo to see a larger version.

And here is Grandpa TerMaat with the two horses. I find myself wondering what their names were...

Peter and Grandma TerMaat

This snap is from 1968. Peter's doing a good job of looking like a Dykstra in this one!

Pete's Hockey Career

I learned on my trip back east that Morgan is learning to skate. I'm doubtful that I will uncover any pix of Pete in action, but we do have this evidence of Pete at the pinnacle of his hockey career, attending a hockey banquet and receiving a certificate for being on the "mite" team. He really milked this one for all it was worth as he got this picture both in the local newspaper and in the regional church newsletter.

Hattie and Kitten

I spent a good deal of my time back east scanning old family photos which will appear here in due time. This picture of Hattie with kitten is my favorite so far. Hattie was born in 1916, so that gives you some idea of the age of the photo. Most of the photos in the family collection of this vintage are either formal studio portraits or families posed in front of their new barns and such (we'll get to those later), so these are really the first candids, the first photos taken by a family member or friend experimenting with a new toy and not by a professional. Judging by the format (and rate of deterioration) the murky photo of Grandma and Grandpa TerMaat was taken at the same time. Very Walker Evans, no?

This little exercise in photographic excavation is reminding me of a novel I read recently (twice, in fact), W.G. Sebald's Austerlitz. The book concerns a man trying to unearth the fragments of an identity lost when he became a part of the Kindertransport, often using fuzzy images which are reproduced in the book. Not a book for everyone (Sebald's one of those European writers who disdains paragraphs), but for you more literary types, I recommend it.

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