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October 29, 1946. "Paul Mellon, residence in Upperville, Virginia. Tim's room." 5x7 acetate negative by Gottscho-Schleisner. View full size.
That looks very much like Eeyore leaning up against the chest of drawers.
This scene reminds me greatly of the opening credits scene from the old Wonderful World of Disney Winnie the Pooh movies, when the camera would pan thru Christopher Robin's room toward the Pooh on the window sill. I can hear the theme song now...
The poem on the rug appears to refer to the Transcontinental Railroad. Grenville Mellon Dodge supervised track-laying operations for the UP.
Maybe: "Hail to the plucky souls, who built the Iron Horse that rolls, swiftly and with sure intent, across the continent."
Or something...
My question is, what is the poem or saying in the partly hidden rug?
Tim grew up to become a trustee of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and a founder of the Heritage Foundation. He also runs a holding company that operates several railroads operating under the Pan Am name, the brand of which he bought the rights to after the airline went bankrupt.
Rachel "Bunny" Lambert was Tim's stepmother. In her will she bequeathed him a porcelain cabbage.
When I worked at the Post Office I sacked mail for Upperville; the residents get high quality mail.
Love all of the wooden toys little Tim has. Maybe they are still around in someone's collection today. Todays plastic junk toys will probably not make it too long. I see them out at the curb in the trash pile everyday.
Those knobs on the bedrails were not for ropes per se, but for rope to be used to attach a canvas sheet or sailcloth with eyelets to hold up the matress. It was called a sacking bottom, or something like that.
Note the deluxe crown molding; this is indeed a nicer sort of house.
The box-style door lock, the raised-panel door, and the flooring imply that the house is not new circa 1946.
[The crown moldings are probably plaster. The house, pictured below, was new at the time. Its owner was heir to the Mellon banking fortune; his wife-to-be, "Bunny" Lambert, was heir to the Lambert pharmaceuticals (Listerine) fortune. - Dave]
This is where the little rascal was.
Drapes, summer breezes, nice and tidy. Probably a mom who worked at home. Beautiful memory maker for us 60 + year olds.
[Mrs. Mellon probably didn't work, here or elsewhere, though. -tterrace]
Maybe it didn”t have so many nooks for Tim to hide in, but to me this room looks perfect! It must have been really nice to live there!
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