Saturday, April 21, 2012

Trapper Dad: A Saturday Snapshot

I like when people in the Saturday Snapshot loop will post a real vintage picture of their parents or whatnot.
Those old sepia things.
Here is one of my own dad, long before I was ever born.
My dad was a trapper.
Which is to say he trapped innocent animals and then killed them [if they weren't already dead] and then skinned them and sold their pelts for money.
I love him dearly in every respect, except this one!
But here is a shot of him with a string of his sorry varmints... soon to be someone's stole or coat portion. And his faithful dog Rex at attention!
At my father's funeral, someone came forward and described how that even when working in the field, my dad would wear a shirt and tie. He liked to dress well. And for a while my father even designed and sold custom made suits, for men.
Here is a shot of him, overdressed, once again!

Thank you Alyce, for hosting this terrific Saturday Snapshot meme @ At Home With Books.
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20 comments:

  1. Vicki21/4/12 2:10 am

    Poor animals!! But, times where very different back then and someone had to make sure there were warm coats when it got cold!
    Here's My Aloha Question

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  2. Cathy21/4/12 4:51 am

    My grandfather went hunting and ran traplines-- but the animals he caught were eaten and not turned into couture. ;-) I loved him dearly and went hunting with him a lot, but I have to admit that I was happy when we came back empty-handed. I also never ate anything from those expeditions.

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  3. Margaret @ BooksPlease21/4/12 5:20 am

    I like old photos too. My dad used to wear a shirt and tie most of the time too - it was odd seeing him without a tie. Sorry for the animals though.

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  4. Margaret @ BooksPlease21/4/12 5:20 am

    I like old photos too. My dad used to wear a shirt and tie most of the time too - it was odd seeing him without a tie. Sorry for the animals though.

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  5. Trish21/4/12 7:13 am

    My dad taught me how to fish but I could never justify or get over the killing and grilling of the fish we caught. I loved my dad dearly, but . . .

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  6. (Diane) Bibliophile By the Sea21/4/12 7:33 am

    It was making a living back then, but still feel bad about the poor critters. My dad wore a white shirt and tie on weekends all the time.

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  7. Laurel-Rain Snow21/4/12 7:39 am

    Yes, the times required different pursuits...and your mention of the suit and tie reminds me that my dad used to wear a hat quite often...the casual ones and then the dressy ones.

    I do like vintage photos.

    Thanks for sharing, and here's MY SATURDAY SNAPSHOT

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  8. Eva @View from the Hillside21/4/12 7:40 am

    Great photo, even though I feel sorry for the animals.
    He really was a snappy dresser.

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  9. Paulita 21/4/12 7:53 am

    I think I would have liked to live in the days when people dressed fancy. Of course, I'm sitting here in shorts and a tshirt, so maybe I wouldn't have enjoyed that. Here's Mine

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  10. Anonymous21/4/12 8:09 am

    It was a different time indeed. I did and do still have hunters in my family - deer, birds (dove, turkey). However, I'm not much for wild game. Prefer my meat from the grocery store. LOL

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  11. Eugenia O'Neal21/4/12 8:24 am

    I love vintage photos too and that's a great one. The most I know of trappers is what I've read in books though people in the BVI also used to set traps - lobster traps and bird traps, mainly.

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  12. Susan Lindquist21/4/12 8:33 am

    Love the vintage look ... I purposely played with the sepia look in my photos today ... but back to your father. Trapping is such a lost skill really, as traps have fallen on public disdain, but back in the day, they provided valuable additions to the income of country folk. Even to this day, mu husband and I have given permissionto a couple trappers to lay traps on our land when the ermine, fox, fisher cats have gotten to well-established. The varmints go after the chickens, our cats, and any poor unfortunate little dog that is foolishly left outside unattended.

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  13. gautami tripathy21/4/12 8:38 am

    I love old photos. Evoke nostalgic memories...


    Here is my Saturday Snapshot post!

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  14. Irene21/4/12 10:39 am

    I love your photo. It's so taboo these days, but we use to have a friend that would be travelling the back roads and pick up road kill, skin them and viola, beautiful collars. I still have many(skins). As a child I must have shown such an interest in how this all came about, he brought me skins till his dying days. Now while I'm not encouraging hunting down these animals, but road kill certainly should have a use, so as not to waste a life. Shall I send you something? Great post. Wish I had a photo like this.

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  15. Cheryl @ Tales of the Marvelous21/4/12 11:24 am

    I love how formal people used to be. Wonderful story about how he always wore a tie!

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  16. Alyce21/4/12 12:19 pm

    I hadn't processed the fact that he had a suit on while carrying around the animals from trapping - so unusual, but classy looking.

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  17. Lisa21/4/12 12:35 pm

    It's funny how our perceptions change over time. Back in his day, people probably didn't think twice about working as a trapper; now, he'd face a lot of disapproval. Great picture, though!

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  18. sim@chapter1-take121/4/12 2:21 pm

    My dad, like yours, put on a suit and tie almost every day of his life...even when he wasn't going anywhere!
    My mum passed away last Friday; I posted a loverly vintage picture of her too.

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  19. Debbie Rodgers21/4/12 3:21 pm

    Wonderful vintage photo - and what a great idea!

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  20. Leslie (Under My Apple Tree)22/4/12 4:13 pm

    Your photo shows how quickly times change. Everyone used to dress up when they left the house.

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Thank you for your words!