Sepia Saturday April 3rd- The Bridesmaid and the Brat

A weekday afternoon in the San Fernando Valley (a suburb of Los Angeles) and my mother-in-law was cleaning her house. The doorbell rang; it was a door-to-door photo salesman. The year was 1940 and the streets were crawling with door-to-door salesmen peddling vacuum cleaners, Fuller brushes, encyclopedias, Avon products, cookware and household gadgets. The fruit man, ice man, milk man and dry cleaners had regular routes.  Most housewives didn't have cars so the stores travelled to the customers. People weren't afraid to open their doors to strangers and invite them in.

Patty changed into the dress she'd recently worn as bridesmaid at her sister's wedding and tried to pose glamorously for her portrait but my husband, a pesky toddler, wouldn't leave her alone. Frustrated, she plunked him on her lap and the photographer took this shot. The photographer didn't care about how goofy Richard looked - he was focused on Patty. That's how they became the bridesmaid and the brat.