The Horsey Dress (revised)

We all have the 1938 picture of Grandfather C. and Momee standing in a garden or yard or parking lot of the Capital building. It's one of only a few I've ever seen of him (Momee told me years ago he didn't like being photographed). Papa said the x's at the bottom were made by Momee when she marked the original to be used as one of two from which the oil painting of his Father was made at the time of his passing. He said that painting hung over the mantle in his Meadowbrook home for years thereafter and then, disappeared.

Anyway, this rare photo is a great window into an unguarded moment seventy years ago. Momee is outfitted in a semi-formal-looking dress with gold brocade and belt and is glancing away as if someone snapped the picture without her knowing. Grandfather is wearing a business suit and his ever-present Fedora and is fiddling with something in his hands.

I showed the picture to Papa and asked him to tell me everything he could remember about what is captured in that brief second just months before Grandfather's passing.

Papa thought about it a minute, and then told me that he remembered that his Father always wore a suit with a vest and tie just like the one in the picture, and that "he had several suits because he believed in looking professional every day, even when working with Shelby in the garden."

Papa then pointed out the pin in Grandfather's lapel and said, "he always wore that." It's the "G" inside the square and compass of Free Masonry.

Knowing that Masons are often politically connected and that Grandfather had an office in the State Capital, I asked Papa if he thought his Father was inclined to run for a political office. He said without hesitation, "I think he was more interested in operating behind the power because he had friends on both sides [of the political spectrum] . . . more job security."

Papa then returned to making personal observations from the picture and pointed out that Grandfather always wore a hat like the one in the picture, apparently, because he was sensitive to the fact that he had a severe receding hairline, "more than mine now," Papa observed.

And, if you look very closely, you'll see a black line from Grandfather's ear. I asked Papa about it and he said, "that's the wire to his hearing aid hidden in his coat pocket." Papa told me a long time ago that his Father had a hearing problem, and at one time even had an ear trumpet (electric, wearable hearing aids were not available in the U.S. until 1938). This little wire from his ear suggests he had purchased the then-latest in modern technology to help him hear better.

At that point in our discussion, Papa reflected on the fact that his Father passed away just months after this picture was taken, and said, "I wonder what my life would have been like if he had lived" (I guess we all wonder that about our lives as well). Papa mused about how he most certainly would have attended Mississippi State rather than Ole Miss and then would have worked in Jackson as a CPA with his Father. So, no Morocco, and we'd all be speaking like true Southerners, at a minimum.

Then, suddenly,without a pause or futher comment, he changed the subject and noted that in his hands, Grandfather was either cracking pecans or holding "his pipe."

So, from the picture and Papa's observations we now know Grandfather C. was was a Free Mason, and politically connected, but not oriented. He dressed well and was a little vane about losing his hair (who isn't). He was "hard of hearing" but modern enough to use the latest inventions to try to correct the problem. He had graduated from Mississippi State, a huge rival to Papa's alma mater and said something to impress upon Papa that they would work together someday. And, he smoked a pipe (I knew he kept a box of Cubans, but Papa confirmed he smoked a pipe too). That's more than I knew before, how about you?

Papa then admired Momee.

Her hat and matching purse suggest they are going or coming from some special occasion, Papa speculated "a political meeting" or something similar. "They were always going somewhere."

And, you can see from the picture that her attention is directed away from the photographer. Papa suggested that maybe she is saying something to his sister. If that is accurate, and if the picture was taken in his back yard facing the back of the Meadowbrook house, his sister would have been either on the tennis court or close to the corral. Who knows? And, the garage and driveway would be just outside the picture, so close by would have been one of the family cars, I've see pictures of a black, four-door sedan that was probably started by rotating a hand-crank under the radiator. Papa's observations are making the picture comes alive.

Then, Papa turned his interest to Momee's "Horsey Dress."

Of course, that term completely baffled me until, with a little prodding, he described Momee's dress as having a long double belt that hung down in the back," and out of the blue, said he used to run up behind her, grab the two "reins" and whip them wildly while bouncing on his toes like King Arthur in Monte Python and the Holy Grail, shouting "gityup!"

He wasn't a handful for anyone, was he?