Making Ice Cream. Calhoun County, Texas, c. 1894

(Click the picture to see it larger)

A group of African American men make ice cream, watched by a young girl. When I first found this photo, I could not figure our what was happening. It was an observant cousin who said "they are making ice-cream."  For me, this is one of the most striking pictures in the set.  I like the way everyone is "noticing" and being "noticed".  And there are so many questions. What is the event?  Who is everyone? 

I've dated the photo is to circa 1894 because the young girl in the picture is likely the same girl pictured standing on the porch of the John Lind store in an earlier post. (Look on the very far right of the porch), and because of her dress which looks more like the ones worn in the 1890s rather than the early 1900s.  The skirt length on the dress would have been worn by a girl between about 10 and 13. At 14, a girl's skirt went down to the knees.   I think this may be Nellie Paulson.  The first of her family to be born in America (February 1882), Nellie would have been about 11 to 13 when her family was living in Olivia. (Nellie and her family are described here). 

One final note about the quality of this negative.  Like many of the negatives, this one experienced some damage through the years.  Some years ago, to prevent further scratching of the emulsion, a family member placed tissue paper between the negatives. Unfortunately - in some cases this bonded with the emulsion.  So a large "white spot" like the one above, is caused by something stuck to the negative. It's possible some later restorer will be able to clean this off. I've let them be, rather than further damage the negative.  So - light spots are something stuck to the negative; black spots are missing emulsion.

Identifier: 
Negative: Paulson186

People: Nellie Paulson (tentative); unidentified African American men;