My sister-in-law has been working on scanning slides given to her by my cousin's wife. This photo was from one of those slides. These slides were found at my Aunt Joan and Uncle Alan's home. Sadly, my Aunt Joan and Uncle Alan passed away several years ago.
I was thrilled to see this new-to-me photo (below) that my sister-in-law had scanned. It looks like Arthur loved to play his mandolin! I wonder who's car that was. Arthur was a mechanic, so it could have belonged to a client. Don't you love that hand crank in the front of the car? Awesome!
It appears that Arthur came from a musical family. This is what my dad, Jan Iverson, wrote in his personal history about his father Arthur. My dad actually wrote this as part of his mother's eulogy, and included it in his personal history.
"I can also remember that both mother and Arthur played the accordion and filled the home with music. Arthur must have been musically inclined, as I have found out since that his older brothers played guitars and violins and also made the instruments."
Oh, how I wish I knew if my Grandpa Arthur's mandolin and the guitars and violins his brothers made and played were still around somewhere. Could they be hiding in a relative's attic or basement? If so, I'd love to see them.
I wonder if this musical talent is in the genes and has been passed down to Arthur's great-grandchildren, because all of our children are musically talented. All five of them sing and learned to play at least one instrument. The instruments our kids learned to play include the piano, trumpet, guitar, and mandolin. Yep! That's right! One of our sons bought his own mandolin several years ago. And at the time he bought it, he was unaware that his Great-Grandfather Arthur also played the mandolin. How fun is that?!
Thanks for reading!
Jana
© 2013 Copyright by Jana Last
Jana: I learned recently that my paternal grandfather played the mandolin -- but I do not recall ever seeing or hearing him do so. And I have never seen a photo of him playing. It is a treasure for you to have two photos of your grandfather with his mandolin. You should photoshop your son into a scan of one of the photos of your grandfather showing them both with their mandolins. Might make a nice surprise gift to your son (it he doesn't read comments on your blog!). :-)
ReplyDeleteMy father told me just last weekend that he recalls his father playing mandolin with one or two of his friends maybe once a month or so for a few hours. I assume my grandfather knew how to read and write music since he composed the music and lyrics to the WWI song I featured on my blog September 17th. I have no idea if he wrote it for or on the mandolin.
Hi John,
DeleteYour photoshop idea is so awesome! Thank you!
How fun that your grandfather also played the mandolin. And he wrote a song too? How talented! I'll need to go check out your September 17th blog post.
Thanks for stopping by!
Love it! What great photos!
ReplyDeleteThank you Piper! I'm thrilled to see these photos. And I'm glad my dad wrote what he did about his father and uncles. Isn't family history awesome?
DeleteThanks for stopping by!
What a coincidence your son played the mandolin like your uncle
ReplyDeleteHi Bill,
DeleteIt really is a fun coincidence that my son plays the mandolin just like my grandfather did. Thank you so much for stopping by!
Aren't those wonderful photos! And yes, I love the old car with hand-crank - antique indeed! I smiled all through your post this afternoon, Jana.
ReplyDeleteHi Celia,
DeleteAww, thank you Celia! You're so very sweet! Thank you for stopping by!
What wonderful pictures!!
ReplyDeleteHi Beverly,
DeleteThank you! They really are family history treasures. Thanks for stopping by!
I just inherited all of my parents' slides from about the last 50ish years and we will be spending the winter scanning them. I hope mine come out as nice as yours have. And I also hope I find some sort of gem like this - maybe one of my dad playing his accordian!
ReplyDeleteHi Debi,
DeleteWow! 50 years of slides! There just has to be some awesome family history treasures in that collection waiting for you to discover. Have fun! =)
It's thrilling to learn that some talent of an ancestor passed to one of our descendants. I think it's amazing that your son chose to play a mandolin and so did his great-grandfather. They are wonderful photos to have and especially to have two. I agree with John about putting the two men together via Photoshop.
ReplyDeleteHi Nancy,
DeleteThank you! I think it's pretty cool too that our son plays a mandolin just like his great-grandfather. And John's idea is a good one. Thanks for stopping by!
It's one thing to notice the same chin or nose or hairline being passed down from generation to generation. But to see a talent or "quirk" repeated makes the hairs on my arm stand up. My mind goes spinning thinking about how amazing humans are with all those genes and DNA recycling themselves.
ReplyDeleteHi Wendy,
DeleteYep! Human beings are amazing! And it is so interesting regarding what we inherit from our ancestors. They really are a part of us, aren't they?
Thanks so much for stopping by!
(This is Jana's brother.) It's a sad thing that we never got to meet Arthur in this life but his traits are passed down, although I'm not a mechanic, I did like to disassemble old watches and small appliances when I was young... but I could never get them back together. Hmmm (pondering)
ReplyDeleteHi there Brent!
DeleteI agree with you. It is sad that we didn't get to know our Grandfather Arthur in this life. I wish we could have. I can just imagine how fun it would have been to hear him play his music. It sounds like you inherited his interest in mechanical items and how they work. =)
Thanks so much for stopping by!
Lovely story!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much!
Delete