Quite handsome, and must have been quite a looker in her younger days. I love this site, thanks so much for devouring most of my recent spare time since I found it!

My grandmother was the schoolmarm at Dead Ox Flat at about that time. Most likely taught Mrs. Hull's children in a one-room schoolhouse.

They're called "gillies" and are styled to look like they're missing the tongue. The first time I came across the term was in Harriett the Spy - Ole Golly's mother wore them.

I like to watch the History Channel, but lately, it's all reruns.

[And what about these shoes. - Dave]

Just an aside ... This photo from 1939 is not really all that old; Mrs. Hull could still be very much alive and certainly if she had children they also might be alive. Now none of the comments below are what I'd call critical or rude, but they are, shall we say, poking more than a bit of fun at this subject. This raises for me some interesting questions about *old* photos and how we react to them and comment on them. This issue has occurred to me before when reading local news stories about people and events that on first glance feel so long ago, but really are not and concern people still very much alive and kickin' (who themselves read news stories and look at blogs). I love history, esp 'social history' and local history, and find it pertinent now and then to remind myself that what can feel like ancient history to some is just a handful of years ago to others...

[You might want to check your math. She looks to be around 50 years old. Even if you say she's 40 in this 1939 photo, that would mean she'd be 108 now. - Dave]

That's not the Philip Morris boy. It's a McCall's magazine cover.

And since she's a Quaker and I belong to the Church of Christ, we're practically cousins!

We could belt out every verse of "Nearer My God To Thee" and all the old hymns I used to sing with my grandparents as she played the trusty old piano behind her...

And afterward I'll bet she'd serve coffee and the best pie in three counties.

Handsome looking woman, did she smoke Philip Morris cigarettes? A couple of observations: If she is "Mrs" Hull, where is her wedding ring? And I found the lace pattern on her shoes to be quite interesting ... I don't believe I've ever seen shoes that lace like that.

[Mrs. Hull, a Quaker, had a husband and a daughter. Wedding bands generally are not part of the Quaker wedding ceremony. - Dave]

And I'm willing to bet she sat at that piano every Saturday night, turned that hymnal to p. 239 and played "Nearer My God To Thee" thrice, singing all three verses as she played.
Love that smile!
Denny Gill
Chugiak, Alaska