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August 1941. "Chickens raised by FSA borrowers is good right down to the bone. Sunday dinner for flying cadets at Craig Field, Selma, Alabama." Medium format negative by John Collier for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.
The military might have provided the best meals some of those guys had ever eaten. While obesity is today's top reason for military recruits to be deemed unfit for service, during WWII the primary reason for disqualification was malnutrition.
I love how our subject's face is so animated. Judging by his smile and that of his neighbor, he is laughing when the photo is taken. I was just reading in Daniel Goleman's 1995 book, Emotional Intelligence, about how our impulse to laughter is controlled by the amygdala. When we're overcome by humor it is similar - though in a way totally opposite - to the amygdala's fight or flight response. We can't help ourselves. The laughing smile on the soldier's face is so genuine. Professional actors will tell you that a genuine sounding/looking laugh is one of the hardest things to pull off.
Just like cornbread here I got my first taste of fried chicken in my Mother-in-law's kitchen and, you guessed it, done in the correct manner, in a Skillet.
Long live the dry look!
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