What's Your Name?

This fantastic photo is from Emma Johnson Ferrer's photo album (Fred Belton collection). Emma, mother of Olin, Alice, Vella, Ruth, Annie Mae, and George Ferrer (phew!), is shown seated on the left. The question is: Who is the smiling gentleman next to her holding the reigns?

What I know about the time and place:

The back of the photograph is stamped "Arlington Studios, Hot Springs, AR." That means the photo was taken between 1890 and 1948. In 1890, a man named Norman McLeod opened Happy Hollow photography studio behind the Arlington Hotel in Hot Springs. He specialized in Wild West or comical poses and printed the images on postcard stock so they could be easily mailed to loved ones. In addition, McLeod  offered a wide range of sets, props, and animals (both alive and stuffed) that visitors could pose with, like the live cow pulling Emma's wagon here. Eventually, Happy Hollow expanded into an amusement part, shooting gallery, and petting zoo.

A postcard of McLeod's establishment
(courtesy Hot Springs Arkansas in Vintage Postcards, see Sources)

The fact that our stamp reads "Arlington Studios" helps narrow the time frame. Several resources mentioned the Happy Hollow stamp. One site said, "A picture that does not bear the name McLeod would be a disappointment to the friend to whom it was sent." However, in 1909, McLeod sold the business to David Anselberg, who ran it until 1948. If we presume that when the business changed hands, the studio stamp changed as well, we can shift our time frame to 1909 to 1948.

Finally, Emma's fashion helps shave some of the later years from the range. She's dressed similarly to our unknown ancestor in the July 31, 2013 post. Her walking skirt, bloused shirt, and fantastic shoes narrow our range to roughly 1909-1912.


What I know about the setup:

We've got Emma and a companion in a buggy pulled by a cow in front of a dilapidated cabin with a dead chicken (?) on the roof. Huh?! And what's with the sign that says, "Arkansas Traveler?!"

The Arkansas Traveler is at once a legend, a song, a painting, and a minor league baseball team. In about 1840, Colonel Sanford Faulkner became lost in rural Arkansas and asked for directions at a small log cabin. He turned his experience into a song and performance that he took on the road. In the years since, several variations of the tune and of the lyrics have surfaced. In 1856, Arkansas artist Edward Payson Washbourne painted a picture illustrating the meeting between the traveler and the squatter (shown here). Like the song, several imitations and variations have cropped up over the years - including a printing by Currier & Ives in 1870. The set of Emma's photo pokes fun at the prevailing hillbilly stereotype that eventually became synonymous with The Arkansas Traveler.

Washbourne's Arkansas Traveler (courtesy The Encyclopedia of Arkansas)

What about the mystery man?

We believe Emma had four brothers, all of whom would have been in their mid 30s to mid 40s during our time frame. This could be a brother. But, by 1910, Emma's husband, George Ferrer, had been gone for 12 years. Perhaps this is a new gentleman companion?

Do you know who this is?

Sources:  Hot Springs, Arkansas in Vintage Postcards, By Ray Hanley, Steven G. Hanley, 1998 The Melting Pot Genealogy Society: Happy Hollow in Hot Springs The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture: Arkansas Traveler

For Fun: To hear a fun rendition of the song The Arkansas Traveler, check out my cousin Madeleine Ferrer Donovan's blog, Bless Your Dead Heart. Her regular column, Today's Soundtrack, which she cleverly matches up with the time period of whatever she's researching, features a version by the 2nd South Carolina String Band. To see other photographs on the same Happy Hollow set (and even using the same, long-suffering cow!), visit Yesterday's Tennessee. To see dozens of other equally creative photographs that were taken by Norman McLeod at Happy Hollow, visit The Melting Pot Genealogy Society's "Happy Hollow Photographs."