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February 1939. "White migrant boy asleep in car. He came with his father from Houston to Edinburg, Texas." Good night, John-Boy. Medium-format nitrate negative by Russell Lee for the Resettlement Administration. View full size.
The peaceful innocence of sleep.
I have that quilt! It looks exactly like my 'hobo quilt' that I picked up at a Salvation Army Thrift Store in Morgantown West Virginia. I paid $2 for it about 10 years ago. Yes, it's made of old suits and it is the warmest blanket I own!
Bad roads, no doubt, but this was not an underpowered car--shabby, no doubt--once a fine automobile. Probably a seven-passenger sedan, and with the rear-seat cushions and jump seats removed, there's a lot of acreage back there. The openable rear-side window with wood framing, arm rest, and pull cord for a roll-up shade all point to a fancy car. Not so different looking than this '31 Cadillac. The lack of wood visible in the rear-body structure, however, leans more toward Chrysler. The broken window crank is reminiscent of both makes.
I bet that worrying about things like dust mites never crossed minds in those days.
Made from old suits. My Mother made my baby quilt of old baseball uniforms in the Depression on the prairies; I donated it to a museum depicting the 30's Depression in Western Canada. It is one of the items most commented on.
A drive from Houston to Edinburg is still a pretty good haul nowadays, even with a 4 lane highway nearly all the way down. I can only imagine how long it would have taken in 1939, on 2 lane roads in an underpowered car. No wonder the kid is tired.
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