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June 1938. "Butter bean vines across the porch. Negro quarter in Memphis, Tennessee." Nitrate negative by Dorothea Lange for the FSA. View full size.
I'll take a slice of cornbread and a bottle of tabasco with those beans.
Graceland's most famous owner and occupant was just three years old and living in a very similar two-room shack with no idea he would one day be the king of Memphis. As a side note, we did the same "vine" thing on our front porch with blue morning glories for several years (when I could still bend and kneel) and it was a daily joy to go out the door every morning with a waterfall of summer flowers to greet us. I believe butterbeans also have blossoms which would have created a similar effect of a veil of flowers. Full front porches with rocking chairs, slamming screen doors, enamel basins, brings back lots of summer memories.
Shy? Jealous of the attention? Instructed to stand in the door? Between that and the slightly apparent discomfort of the main subject, this photo is pretty cool.
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