Ransom Riggs
Talking Pictures: Times of Trouble
by Ransom Riggs - November 4, 2010 - 8:36 AM

Unemployment, wars, terrorism, natural disasters — times are hard, there’s no question. But times have been harder. We’ve been through worse and bounced back. If nothing else, I hope this week’s Talking Pictures helps, in some small way, to put our own problems in perspective.


Courtesy Angelica Paez

One of my jobs
20 miles from home
I’d go anywhere that I could make a living
Do you know of anything back there

Little beggar begging for pennies, showing he has none
Bermuda


Just smilin through — though it’s grim here — J

It doesn’t get much grimmer than this:

Moved to Detroit
where Doris Jean + Elenore Ruth were born.
both died – Doris Jean at 11 mo. spinal meningitis
Elenore Ruth at 4 mo. malnutrition
No $ for food


Rock wall near Rose Bowl, Pasadena Cal.
where Dorothy found a Baby Girl on Jan. 24 1961.

Re: the above, you can picture my surprise when I found this one — especially given that I found it at the monthly Rose Bowl Swap Meet, not a quarter mile from where this photo was taken.

Even though the chronology doesn’t work, it’s easy to imagine that baby growing up to be this little girl, the sickly and pathetically adorable Elaine, who carried her cat around in a basket.

you can see Cecilia can’t smile to good with stitches in her lip


Broken Back Brigade
Station Hospital, Benning, Ga
1-2-3-1945
One Bad Jump.
Courtesy Angelica Paez.

After auto accident

I hope Mr. Whiskers pulled through:

Also courtesy Angelica, perhaps the second-craziest picture I have ever seen:

This being the first:

American Fork Canyon, Utah. Taken by C.B. Arentson, July 27, 1918. 504 head of sheep killed by lightning on July 22. Owned by Smith Bros.

And just when you think things can’t get any worse:

If they can bounce back from all that, surely we can.

And finally, the coping strategy of a woman who’s seen more trouble than any of us.

Check out more Talking Pictures:
Hide This Please
The Dead
Love and Marriage
Life During Wartime

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Comments (37)

  1. Every time I read one of your posts, I always think, “This is why Ransom is my favorite mental_floss blogger.”

    Thanks for this amazing look at life.

    posted by nikki on 11-4-2010 at 9:09 am

  2. I love these! Makes me remember I’m not the first or last to struggle.

    posted by MetalRose on 11-4-2010 at 9:30 am

  3. Another incredible collection. Thanks for sharing them. They really do make you stop and think. Not too many American babies today die of malnutrition.

    posted by Rachel on 11-4-2010 at 9:59 am

  4. <3 this series! Going to a flea market this weekend to find some of my own to collect.

    posted by Sandimonium on 11-4-2010 at 10:20 am

  5. Great advice, Miss Hodge. I’ll take it to heart.

    posted by Joe in Florida on 11-4-2010 at 10:28 am

  6. Can I say that these are the most interesting and amazing posts ever. Makes you realize that we all experience the same things – you should put them into a book.

    posted by Kim on 11-4-2010 at 10:53 am

  7. I enjoy poring over old photographs in antique stores, but never really thought to read the backs of them. Now, I will… this was an amazing post.

    posted by Carolyn on 11-4-2010 at 10:58 am

  8. Thanks, everyone!

    And hey, for those of you threatening to go out and find your own — do it! And if you find anything super interesting, and think it might be great in a book of these, let me know! (You can send me an email via ransomriggs.com.)

    posted by Ransom Riggs on 11-4-2010 at 11:04 am

  9. These were fascininating. The ones with the animals killed by lightning? WOW, just WOW.

    And the locust. That would FREAK me out in the worst way.

    posted by Fran on 11-4-2010 at 11:05 am

  10. I was just wondering this morning when the next Talking Pictures would be, and here it is! Thanks, this is quickly becoming my favorite segment.

    posted by Lisa on 11-4-2010 at 11:06 am

  11. Great post! I just made Ms Hodges prayer my screen saver marquee.

    posted by JOHN THE THIRD on 11-4-2010 at 11:22 am

  12. Awesome.

    posted by beth on 11-4-2010 at 11:38 am

  13. This was another set of great pictures…some of the stories behind them are so devastating… and heart breaking :(

    posted by Rina on 11-4-2010 at 11:44 am

  14. Yet another awesome post, Ransom. If you ever put these in a book, I’ll be the first in line.

    The guy in the photo that said, “Just smilin’ through – though it’s grim here” actually has a good outlook on things, it you ask me.

    posted by Steve from San Diego on 11-4-2010 at 12:39 pm

  15. Well done. –Except now I’m going to have “Let It Be” in my head all day. (Guess there are much worse songs to get stuck with!)

    posted by Nerak on 11-4-2010 at 1:20 pm

  16. I agree with nikki… 100%. Your posts are ALWAYS my favorite ones, Ransom. Thank you for the smile today.

    posted by Stacey on 11-4-2010 at 1:22 pm

  17. As always, another great post. But you really should post a warning about sad and/or graphic animal pictures. I for one would have really appreciated it. Otherwise, keep up the amazing work!

    posted by Elle on 11-4-2010 at 1:33 pm

  18. Its posts like this that keep me coming back to floss my mind!! This also helped me to look at the positive of the day and not feel so “pitiful” for myself…thank you!!!

    posted by Knate on 11-4-2010 at 1:50 pm

  19. Ms. Hodge seems to be floating. I keep looking for her legs.

    posted by septerr on 11-4-2010 at 2:43 pm

  20. I keep getting excited when I see a new one of this and never disappointed

    posted by GH on 11-4-2010 at 2:43 pm

  21. Kudos to Ransom on this one, too!

    And I second Carolyn when I say that I will not only look through old pix at an antique shop, but will also go home and write on the backs of all my photos, on the assumption that they, too, will end up in such a pile one day.

    posted by Marty on 11-4-2010 at 3:02 pm

  22. The script is so reminiscent of my Grandma Anne’s…it made me smile to think of her. Thank you so, so much.

    posted by Helenann on 11-4-2010 at 4:25 pm

  23. Great post as always! I’d buy this book.
    Ransom, where did you find the picture of Cecilia with the stitches in her lip? She’s a dead ringer for my mom, so I’m wondering if she might be a relative.

    posted by janeeyre316 on 11-4-2010 at 5:17 pm

  24. @jane

    I wish I could remember where I found cecilia! Some flea market or another in a giant bin of unsorted photos … I’d remember if it had been in an album, which might’ve helped. But I think it was just in a random pile. Sorry!

    posted by Ransom Riggs on 11-4-2010 at 5:32 pm

  25. i absolutely love these posts. i collect old photographs and alway appreciate the unique look that you get into another life and time. these posts are a favorite and i enjoyed this one a lot. when i think about all of the problems that some have been through, mine don’t seem that major.

    posted by maribeth on 11-4-2010 at 5:52 pm

  26. I love these. It’s one of my favorite things please keep this coming!

    posted by Tess on 11-4-2010 at 7:26 pm

  27. I totally feel Cellia’s pain. I split my lip open when I was little and had to get it stitched up, definitely not fun!

    posted by Tess on 11-4-2010 at 7:43 pm

  28. Loved it… although some of the pix hit pretty hard. Grim indeed…

    posted by ann on 11-4-2010 at 8:40 pm

  29. I love these posts. They make me realize my life isn’t as hard as I think, even though I just got fired. Times were way worse back then and they kept going, so can I.

    posted by Christina on 11-5-2010 at 10:31 am

  30. Truly amazing collection…wonderful work.

    posted by rica on 11-5-2010 at 10:29 pm

  31. Great collection of photos! Just a note, the Broken Back Brigade transcription leaves out the Ft. before Benning. Fort Benning is a big base in Georgia.

    posted by Swami on 11-10-2010 at 6:00 pm

  32. Not that verification is all that necesary, but all those sheep killed by lightning? Were they stacked on top of each other? A pyramid perhaps? Excellent and thought provoking. Keep up the good work.

    posted by Steve on 11-13-2010 at 12:06 am

  33. Killed by lightning? Or UFO’s?

    Hmm……….

    posted by xanderjones on 12-6-2010 at 6:01 pm

  34. In America,times of plenty are the illusion, hard times the reality.

    posted by Uncle B on 12-18-2010 at 11:50 am

  35. I’ll take this advice at heart

    posted by fajas colombianas on 1-6-2011 at 10:29 am

  36. The sheep pic really hit home with me. My husband’s family were shepherds in American Fork at the turn of the century. This must have been big news back in the day!

    posted by stephanie on 1-19-2011 at 12:37 pm

  37. …hi just some perspective here, more people die falling in there bathtubs in the US each year, than there are victims of ‘terrorism’ for the whole of the world each year…this is a statistical fact…

    posted by lighter on 11-17-2011 at 10:00 am

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