A few weeks ago I got a Formspring question asking about my favorite local fashion blogs. Since I don't know too many fashion blogs written out of Little Rock, I responded with a small list of my friends blogs and I told her that my favorite local blog wasn't about fashion, rather about history. It's called the Encyclopedia of Arkansas and it's a brilliant documentation of Arkansas' history and culture.
It wasn't long after I responded that I got a comment on twitter letting me know that the Encyclopedia of Arkansas was, coincidentally, the company that she worked for! We held hands and sang "it's a small world after all" and then she told me about the latest exhibit at the Butler Center downtown.
There were three homemade trailers in all, one for Jim and Mancy, one for their son Lance and his wife, Evelyn, and one for their youngest son Lawrence and his wife, Thelma. They weren't specialists in photography, but with a little time and a lot of work, they managed to build a homemade camera and photo booth inside the trailer. They would go from town to town taking pictures of the locals and selling them three for a dime. Both the men and the women took the pictures, but the women also specialized in hand tinting them for an extra nickel.
They were geniuses if you ask me. They figured out a way to make a little bit of money while raising a family in the rural south. I loved every single photograph that I saw! It was interesting to see the different ways the women would shade the repeating backgrounds and all the different fun and vibrant colors they would use.
The journal entries were also quite interesting to read, though I think the most routine and mundane ones were my favorite:
The journal entries were also quite interesting to read, though I think the most routine and mundane ones were my favorite:
"Lawrence went to Bald Knob and I ironed. It rained again today."
There were shots of young kids dressed as cowboys, best friends posed back to back, and couples leaning head to head. There were all kinds of different personalities and outfits too. I think the above photos were my favorites.
It's unbelievable to think that Maxine Payne – a professor at one of the local colleges – acquired this story along with 700 of the photographs! I thought their was a book for sell, but I can't seem to find anything about it now. If your interested in learning more about Maxine or want to see more of the Massingill family work, you can find it at her website.
It's unbelievable to think that Maxine Payne – a professor at one of the local colleges – acquired this story along with 700 of the photographs! I thought their was a book for sell, but I can't seem to find anything about it now. If your interested in learning more about Maxine or want to see more of the Massingill family work, you can find it at her website.
