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December 1943. "Lynn Massman, wife of a second class petty officer studying in Washington, D.C., darns socks in the afternoon while baby Joey has his nap." View full size. Medium-format safety negative by Esther Bubley for the OWI.
Can't get over all the details in this -- check out the lampshade. Also, Whitman Sampler box for thread, detailed print on upholstery, stylish belt, print in wallpaper, even the pores in her face. This is a lovely photo.
When I was a kid my grandmother taught me how to darn socks. She used a darning egg which was a small oval ball with a small handle on it. You put it in the sock and it would help make the repair smooth. I wonder why we got away from that. Now days people just throw socks away.
Besides darning socks, another example of Lynn's thriftiness is her sewing box. It's an empty Whitman's Sampler candy box, probably a gift from her husband. My mother kept candy boxes given to her by my father and used them to store assorted keepsakes.
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