Sepia Saturday 294: Traveling

I haven't posted for Sepia Saturdays in a long time, but I am so happy to be starting again. I found it so much fun to find that *perfect* photo for the theme and browse everyone else's  photos. So thanks for having me!


                     My photo for this Saturday comes from my husband's Iuzzolino family that I've been working on lately. It's a photo his great grandmother's brother, Louis. After a little more research I plan on doing a write up on him. He seems to have been quite the character!

                 This photo always makes me laugh. The hard Italian city boy with his suit, cigarette  and newsie cap driving an oxcart in Arkansas...
           
              The sign on the cart reads, "Travelin thru Arkansaw on a slow train. Be home soon"

    Researching Louis, I've found him linked directly to some unsavory characters in the Chicago Labor Union that were clearly part of the Mob at the time. Which to me, makes the image of him on the cart even more humorous. It has the makings to be right out of a scene from an old comedy! "My Cousin Vinny" comes to mind. lol!
    There are other funny photos of Louis, but I am not sure if those are also at Hot Springs. Looking through his pictures and postcards he really seemed like a little guy with a BIG personality.

  Doing a quick search on Happy Hollow in Hot Springs, I see it used to be a tourist attraction for posed photos/ amusement park in the earlier half of the 1900's. People used to come and get their pictures taken, playing up the "hillbilly" element to give their family and friends back home a laugh. Some quick history of Happy Hollow can be found here, and a rootsweb page linking up other past travelers' photos of their visit to Happy Hollow can be peeked at here


Thanks for visiting!