Another Sepia Saturday rolls on by! When I saw the prompt image this week, I was completely at a loss. I had no groups of “Merrymakers” as the photo featured, so as I sat down to go through my collection of photos, this one finally sprang to mind. This photo was in a set of photos taken while my husband’s grandmother, Hilje Dijkema, was at the Sanatorium Sonnevanck for Tuberculosis treatment in the late 1930s. I have to imagine this was taken at the Sanatorium since it shows many of the same unidentified faces that show up in other photos. Men and women, even when married, were housed separately, so that would explain why the individuals in the photo are all women. I’m not entirely sure what’s going on here. They’re holding up a sign in the back row, but it’s partially obscured and I can’t quite read what it says. The last line looks like “Os Paar” which would translate to “Ox Pair” but that makes me even more confused! I have to imagine this was some kind of play or show as entertainment during the long days in the Sanatorium since there appears to be a bride and groom at center with mothers opposite and attendants at the very back and front. I don’t think Hilje is in this photo – none of the women look like her, so they were probably friends she made during her stay. It’s an incredibly amusing photo, and one that I’m glad survived the passage of time, even if I don’t exactly know who the women are, it’s a wonderful little glimpse into her time spent at Sonnevanck.
A great picture. It rather stirs the imagination as to what was going on? I do hope everyone in the photo overcame their illness and went home to happily go on with their lives!
Fascinated with all the hats, especially the one that looks to be a top hat.
Don’t you just wish you knew the full back story but isn’t it wonderful that the image survived and the women are making the best of life.