Mom’s World- Lifestory Through Beautiful Photos of an American Woman From the Late 1940 and Early 1950s

   

These amazing photos from Joey Harrison that were taken mostly by his mother. They show a part of his mom's world from 1947 to January 1954, before he was born.

“My Parents: Jerry and Skip Harrison who married in 1947. Before I came along, and with diminishing returns thereafter, my mom pursued photography passionately and studiously. She created a large body of work centered around her life with my father and her birth family.”

 
Portraits of my mom Skip Harrison in the early 1950s

“My mom was an accomplished amateur photographer, and she took many shots with her Ansco twin-lens reflex mounted on a tripod with a mechanical time release screwed into the shutter button. She also had a large flood light (which I still have and use for work projects). Many of my mom's shots were taken with a tripod and self-timer. She'd compose the photo, set the exposure, start the self-timer, and race into position. Sometimes she set the exposure, adjusted the light, and composed the shot. Then my dad would simply press the shutter.”

“My mom has been also a utilitarian seamstress all her life. Using her beloved 1950 Singer, she made clothing for my sisters (lots of matching outfits), slipcovers, custom-sized sheets, and curtains. Lots of curtains.”

 
Mom and Dad at wedding altar, 1947

 

 
Bride in a blur, West Virginia, 1947

 

 
Mom and dad on their honeymoon vacation to Pittsburgh, 1947

 

 
'Our wedding night', 1947

 

 
Steubenville's Kit Kat Klub, Ohio, 1947

 

 
 The honeymooners, 'taken in a photobooth in Steubenville, Ohio, during our honeymoon trip', 1947

 

 
Mom and dad dancing in their living room, January 1949

 

 
 Jerry, Skip, Anne, Jim, little Jerry, December 1949

 

 
 Mom at Hickory Hill farm, 1949

 

 Mom at Silver Beach, 1949

 

 Mom at the enlarger, 1949

 

 Mom in 1949, near Ada, a small town east of Grand Rapids, Michigan

 

Mom in Chicago, 1949

 

 Mom in darkroom, 1949

 

 Mom sealing peaches for quick freezing, 1949

 

Physician's assistant, 1949

 

Reading the funnies, 1949

 

 Summertime at Hickory Hill Farm, 1949

 

'A drink to us', 1950

 

Dad doing miracles, 1950

 

 Finishing touches, 1950

 

Portrait of mom from above at Dale Rooks' studio, 1950

 

 Mom and dad at the Southern (in Grand Rapids, Michigan), June 1950

 

Mom and dad at the Southern's nightclub (they went nightclubbing nearly every Saturday night at that time), August 1950

 

Mom and dad in Cimarelli's bar, Detroit, 1950

 

Mom at the Grand Rapids Furniture Museum, February 1950

 

Mom at the Grand Rapids Furniture Museum, February 1950

 

 Mom in 1950

 

 Mom in Hickory Hill pine grove, 1950

 

 Mom's self-portrait, 1950

 

 My mom, June 1950

 

 Sink right here, 1950

 

 Take a seat, anywhere, 1950

 

Test shot at Dale Rooks' studio, 1950

 

Test shot at Dale Rooks' studio, 1950

 

Thanksgiving breakfast, November 20, 1950

 

The entry cleaned up well, 1950

 

 A day at the beach, 1951

 

Mom and a neighborhood boy Billy Vander Maas have lunch on the job, 1951

 

 Mom and dad at the Supreme Court building, Washington D.C., October 1951

 

Mom and dad go to Washington D.C., October 1951

 

Mom and dad watching television, 1951

 

Mom at Coady Lake, Michigan, 1951

 

Mom at the Hotel Washington, 1951

 

Mom making hamburgers, 1951

 

Mom took this self-portrait at the Hotel Washington, 1951

 

Mom's self-portrait, 1951

 

Mom's self-portrait, 1951

 

A home for Christmas, 1952

 

Cleanup was my mom's specialty, 1952

 

 Committing sins, 1952

 

 Contest entrants, 1952

 

 Durable dress, 1952

 

Mom and dad wrapping presents for Christmas, December 1952

 

Mom and dad wrapping presents for Christmas, December 1952

 

Mom and dad, 1952

 

 Mom waiting for dad to bring the car around on this snowy winter night, 1952

 

 Mom watches as a boat approaches, 1952

 

Mom's self-portrait, 1952

 

Mom's self-portrait, 1952

 

Mom's self-portrait, 1952

 

Sewing curtains, 1952

 

Take a letter, 1952

 

Thanksgiving Eve, November 1952

 

The geometric sofa-bed, June 1952

 

 The slipcover, 1952

 

 Toast was popping but coffee came first, Jan. 1, 1952

 

While the boss is away (mom as assistant to Dr. Pott, the neighborhood general practitioner and surgeon, stretched from 1948 to late 1954), July 1952

 

Joey was anticipated in late January 1954, 1953

 

Mom and dad doing taxes, 1953

 

 
Mom and dad on Chicago vacation, 1953

 

53 Mom at home, 1953

 

 
Mom in 1953

 

Mom in 1953

 

 
Mom washing the Nash, 1953

 

 
 Mom, studio portrait, 1953

 

 
Now let's talk this over, 1953

 

 
 The owners of The Southern, Esther and Herb Kaiser, were the night managers, 1953

 

 
 Joey's blizzard, January 1954

 

 
Mom and me, 1956

 


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