GUSSIE & PICNICS

These pictures of a picnic are from 1919. There's no place identified as to where they were taken, but my thought is it could be the cabin that Percy and Jen owned. (Somewhere near the Menninger campus. Maybe Mary or Helen could tell me if that's anywhere close to correct.) Apparently Gussie loved picnics much to the joy or at least amusement of most of her close relatives. One niece who was raised on a farm wasn't that impressed with her desire to commune with nature.

Erma Burk Wilson wrote: In the summer they liked to have their evening meal in the park. My aunt would fix bologna sandwiches and bring canned beans. I was never very thrilled with these picnics. My aunt called it “Communing with nature.” Living on a farm I knew all about nature. Also I liked my beans hot. My uncle would have met us with ice cream and that made it all worthwhile. Erma is the daughter of Myrtle Burkhardt, EA's older sister.

Mary has another take on the picnic:

She loved picnics and if my dad didn’t come home for supper she was a great one to load the supper up in the car and we went off for a picnic. I remember eating a lot of macaroni that was kept hot in the double boiler. On holidays we generally had breakfast at the park. Generally fried bacon and eggs.

The standout memory I have from those picnics were the shoestring potatoes in a can. I also remember the beans. But back to these pictures. It looks like a jolly group although I wonder what exactly was Alan trying to shoot. Bruce in England helped me with these pictures and he liked the dog begging from Jenny Walker.


The top picture from the left back row: Frank Epps (Eula Walker's husband),Edna, Jenny Walker, Bill Smith, EA and Ethel. The front row from the left: Marguerite and Mildred Epps, Bud Walker, Alan and Margaret Walker.

The middle picture in the background; Frank Epps, EA, Ada Walker Smith, Edna, Betsy Sharpe Walker and Jenny Thayer Walker. In the foreground is Eula Walker Epps.

The bottom photo is Frank Epps, Percy Walker, Jenny Thayer Walker, Bill Smith, EA and Ethel. The front row is Marguerite and Mildred Epps, Bud Walker, Alan and Margaret Walker.

One last comment from me - I think EA pulls off the jaunty beret better than Percy.