(Photo courtesy of Marietta College Special Collections) Biscoe Family Picnic 1883.

Thomas Biscoe photographed hundreds of scenes around Marietta, often with family. He often recorded the exact date and time.

Scan the photo carefully; what do you see? I noticed the odd position of the hammocks, almost touching the ground. The left side of each hammock is anchored to the tree. The right sides are tied to branches of the same tree, pulling them – and the hammocks – down to ground level. The curtain of leaves is not from a bush but from the pulled down branches. The tree with the smooth bark is a beech tree; they could have carved their initials on it to mark the occasion.

We see two adults, likely Biscoe himself and his wife Ella, “asleep” in the hammocks. How did he take the photo if he’s in it? There are two boys on the right, one facing the camera, the other wearing a black hat in the rear carriage. An open book sits in the front carriage. Picnic food and supplies are to the left. The site appears to be a rural mowed grassy area; perhaps a park or someone’s yard.

And where are the horses? It looks like tethers or halters sitting on the grass at the front. There are two carriages in the picture. Maybe more than one family is picnicking. The carriages look like Stanhope Phaeton models made by Studebaker (they later built cars), described by one source as a “popular, sporty open carriage.” It was considered “fast” because of its light weight, despite having only one horsepower of propulsion, you could say.

This picture looks so idyllic. Maybe it was staged to create an artistic work, rather than to document a family gathering.

For a more detailed image, scan this code, then click on the picnic photo to enlarge it.

To me, the photo succeeds in doing both. It’s wonderful that we can view Biscoe’s work today at the Marietta College Legacy Library Special Collections digital website.