Was this common in the '30s?

[pics860]

I found a picture of my late grandmother after she passed away that's the oldest picture I have of her. I posted it in my facebook profile. It's of her sitting on a horse when she was only about 12 years old. A friend commented that they also had a pic of their own mother taken around the same time sitting on a horse. Both pics were from around the 1930's.

We're both curious now about them and if pics like this were common back then. Could someone please shed some light on the subject? Thanks!

Here are the 2 pictures:

http://i616.photobucket.com/albums/tt244/picvids860/Theresasmom.jpg?t=1237054814

http://i616.photobucket.com/albums/tt244/picvids860/Gram.jpg?t=1237055299

 

[BlueEyes01]

I've seen a similar photo of my mother in law but it had to have been more circa 1947

 

[pics860]

I've seen a similar photo of my mother in law but it had to have been more circa 1947

Do you (or anyone else) know if pictures like these were commonly taken around that time? Was it a tradition of some kind?

 

[stsinner]

I think that many people still had horses, so, just like pets, they would take pictures of them.

 

[pics860]

I think that many people still had horses, so, just like pets, they would take pictures of them.

I don't think my Grandma had a horse. My Dad doesn't think so either because she lived in Chicago at the time.

 

[stsinner]

I don't think my Grandma had a horse. My Dad doesn't think so either because she lived in Chicago at the time.

Yeah, well, that changes things.. I was just thinking that cars hadn't been around all that long, and horses were still common.. But not in the inner city, I wouldn't imagine...

 

[dl4449]

It was common . There were photographers going around different neighborhoods with ponys
offering to photograph children on the pony for a fee.
I remember seeing them as late as the forties
Troy

 

[Dwig]

As dl4449 stated in his post, this type of picture is, in general, reasonably common, though most that I've seen were a bit earlier.

Itinerant photographers frequently had some gimick to entice parents to purchse a picture of their child. A small pony, or similar, was a common choice. You'll find these dating from the late 19th century onward. After the 1920's, they seem to have become increasingly rare in cities, surviving in more rural towns into the '40s and '50s. I do remember seeing such a photographer once in my neighborhood in Louisville, KY in the early '50s. There were a few that would set up at county fairs and such well into much more recent times.

 

[TwoRails]

It was common . There were photographers going around different neighborhoods with ponys offering to photograph children on the pony for a fee. I remember seeing them as late as the forties
Troy

Yep. They went around selling pictures-on-a-pony just like the Good Humor ice cream trucks sold ice cream

 

[pics860]

As dl4449 stated in his post, this type of picture is, in general, reasonably common, though most that I've seen were a bit earlier.

Itinerant photographers frequently had some gimick to entice parents to purchse a picture of their child. A small pony, or similar, was a common choice. You'll find these dating from the late 19th century onward. After the 1920's, they seem to have become increasingly rare in cities, surviving in more rural towns into the '40s and '50s. I do remember seeing such a photographer once in my neighborhood in Louisville, KY in the early '50s. There were a few that would set up at county fairs and such well into much more recent times.

That's very interesting--and probably the most likely way my grandmother got her picture taken that way. I'll let my Dad and my friend know. Thank you!

 

[Torus34]

An interesting thought is that an enterprising photog these days consider renting a Ferrari and driving around asking people if they would like to be photographed behind the wheel of the car. ;-))

 

[Dwig]

An interesting thought is that an enterprising photog these days consider renting a Ferrari and driving around asking people if they would like to be photographed behind the wheel of the car. ;-))

Judging from the tourists around here (Key West FL) during bike week, a really sexy custom bike may do as well.