COG 100th Edition – There Is One In Every Family

Sexagenary Celebration

It was In November of 1949 that these men were celebrating 60 years of statehood for Washington State.  Washington had become a state on November 11, 1889 and these three revelers were having a good time whooping it up, or so it looks.

In the photo to the far left is my dad, who was twenty-nine years old at the time.  I have no idea where these guys got the top hat and tails they all shared, but I doubt if any of them went to the governor’s ball.  The middle photo is of my paternal grandfather Will Knox Yates (sans morning coat) and his grandson and my brother, Dave Yates who was likely three years of age.  The far right photo takes a little more explanation…

The scruffy looking man in that photo is a man known only to me as Theo. My parents were renting from Theo’s ‘friend’ Minnie Dinsmore who had advertised for renters at some point. I hate to be vague about the details, but I wasn’t even born yet. I suspect that my parents were living there while my dad did seasonal carpentry work as an apprentice for the local union #1148.

Dad had gotten out of the Navy after serving in World War II when housing shortages were at their worst, and I think my dad probably helped Minnie with upkeep on her raspberry farm while Mom helped inside keeping house.  Mom had worked in Forks (yes, THAT Forks) at the hotel as a housekeeper. Looking at the WA state death records, Minnie was born in 1903, so she would have been only in her forties, but if she was co-habitating with Theo who might have been a drinker she likely was in dire need of their help as much as they were in need of hers.

I think these three pictures are hilarious and show the comical side of my Yates family in a special way.  Dad and Grandpa did their share of drinking and even though I doubt they were loaded in these photos, I couldn’t say that for sure.

This article was written in celebration of the 100th edition of Carnival of Genealogy hosted by Jasia at CreativeGene.  She is hoping to have 100 articles submitted before the deadline, so if you would like to help her reach her goal the total stood at 74 around 3:30 PM today.