Bonus: 1972

I am so happy to see these pictures. Bill Gedney was one of my teachers at Pratt Institute in the late 1970s. He was a fine teacher with a compassionate eye for the human condition. I haven't seen these photos in quite some time.

Thanks,
Roy

The little plaque hanging over the freezer that says "Give Thanks for something or other", I remember making these in Vacation Bible School back in the 50s.

Haven't seen one of those in many years!

[Didn't No-Pest Strips come in a hanger-box? - Dave]

Yes, now that you mention in, I do remember when some brands of detergent had a towel or something else in them. I remember seeing TV ads for them. My mother only used Cheer, which didn't have that. I don't remember seeing a detergent box with a bonus in it for at least 30 years, though.

I have to tell Dave that posting all of these photos from 1972 is making me feel ancient! I graduated from high school that year!

Does anyone else remember the days when boxes of laundry detergent came with a "bonus" dishtowel, plate or drinking glass? Do any still do that?

What an appetizing product description!

I don't remember their lard, but I do remember their TV commercials featuring dancing cartoon cheerleader pigs singing the Valleydale theme song in a chipmunk-style voice:

"Hooray for Valleydale! Hooray for Valleydale! Hooray for Val-lee-dale! All HAIL, it's VALLEYDALE!"

As I recall, these mostly ran during college football and basketball games.

So what did these folks do for a living?

[When William Gedney first stayed with the family in 1964, Willie Cornett had been laid off from his job at a coal mine. In some of the 1972 photos he's seen in a McBroom Electric Inc. work shirt; one of the sons is shown wearing a hard hat. Maybe we'll hear from some Cornetts. - Dave]

Meat, eggs, lard and water. Svelte City, here we come.

There's a giant rat waiting to pounce from the top of the Hoosier!

I love this photo. Women do this every day, multiple times a day, and yet even in new candid photos, I can't recall having ever seen a photo of someone doing it. Excellent snap by the photographer.

What manner of beast is on top of the cabinet? My eyes are not so young and it could be a bag but it sure looks like a giant squirrel. Was it a prize dinner saved for posterity?

[I think it's a paper bag. - Dave]

Great juxtaposition of the sleek deep-freeze and the Hoosier cabinet (complete with tambour door and enamel worktop). What great shape the latter is in for being ~50 years old.

This photo and the one below it ("Chevy Men") remind me of the compositional style -- and subject matter -- of Van Gogh and Degas. Beautiful!

has just gone to the top of my list to study further. Powerful photography.

Great ashtray!

Crowded flypaper, a huge freezer, a huge bucket of lard and bottles of what look like distilled (although I doubt it) water. I am going to bet this was taken on a back porch.

[As noted in the caption, this room is the kitchen. - Dave]

The meat in that freezer is probably 80 percent pork and venison. I bet a very small portion of the pork is domesticated. Might be a lot of wild hogs in that area.

[Probably attracted by all those store-bought eggs. - Dave]

Thank you for posting these two jewels. And oh my wouldn't it be so fine if there were more. Again, thank you.