The Automobile as a Background for the Family Photograph

Mildred Deason, my wife's mother, with a snazzy looking hardtop from the early 1950s. Maybe a Mercury?
James Golden ( my wife's father) with brother Ted
You can barely see a 1930s car behind the slew of folks, including Franklin E. Golden.

Franklin E. Golden with a VW, 1961. A tall man from Alabama with a 1961 VW? Taht tells you something about the appeal of the VW at that time!Franklin E. Golden with a VW, 1961. A tall man from Alabama with a 1961 VW? Taht tells you something about the appeal of the VW at that time!


Young Ted Golden. A mid-1930s Chevy?

hi folks -- all of these photos are a part of a fabulous collection that depict the complex relationships connecting together my wife's family. These folks were rooted in central Alabama (Prattville, Clanton). The number of photographs of cars in the background tell us much about values and status and ambitions of everyday Americans over the course of several generations.