Photography and my Father

My Father had a Photography Studio in Ft. Madison, Iowa.

He had joined the Marine Corp in 1930 (because of the Depression) and developed an interest in photography, especially home movies, in the next four years. He sent all his money home to his mother, and when he returned home, he bought a photography studio and got married.

I arrived in 1936. People were still having babies, even though they could not afford them. We could not afford a car, and Dad rode a bicycle to his Studio.

Then WWII happened, and we were rich, having the only photography studio in town. Everyone was rich then. We moved into a new house, with a garage for our new car!

Dad's studio moved to a better location, and he was in his prime! His favorite room was the Darkroom. and I got a box to stand on, while I worked the prints through the Hypo. Then the prints then went to the Washer, and Dad made little paddleboats I could use there.

Photography in those days was a complicated business, requiring lots of machinery and chemicals. But Dad could use all of them. He was a small businessman, and could not work for anyone else.

After the war, returning soldiers opened their own studios and charged lower prices.  Dad's studio went out of business.

In 1947 we moved across the Mississippi River to my Mother's home town of Nauvoo, Illinois. It was a beautiful, fruit-growing place that grew lots of table grapes (and grapes for wine also).

I liked living in a small town, and I live in one now - in Costa Rica.