DAD 1939

Some shots of Dad in 1939. Dad and his brother John on a crisp day. I believe they are out at the farm.

Playing on the farm.

Probably taken aboard the Doris, Great Aunt Hannah supervises while dad looks off at something. Great Aunt Feenie is absorbed in her purse, while John contemplates jumping into the waters.

John Hartpence plays with a car while Boo the dog looks on. John and Jim hold new balls, while Hannah and Feenie supervise.

A stagecoach or carriage from a parade, the purpose of which or where exactly I cannot ascertain. But I find two things interesting. First, Dad is just too darn cute in his black coat and cap, standing out in front and dwarfed by those around him. And one of the guys (drivers?) with their campaign hats is African American. Buffalo soldier?

The boys observing a gaggle of ducks.

Feenie supervises the boys while swimming. John is standing, dad sitting in the water.

The boys at the Chief Wawamolet's gift shop teepee.

HANNAH

Great great Aunt Hannah Lydia Longmore Hartpence, in 1943, taken probably in front of her husband's law firm.

Hannah, with my dad, and her husband.

EASTER DUDE (1940)

Just look at these outfits. Methinks today they would be like $100 or even more. Dad looks a tad solemn, but. . .

he will soon be cheered up with swag. And also looking off for more booty. Johnny isn't letting go of his basket either. That's Dad's Great Uncle John and Great Aunt Hannah.

DAD: THE DUDE (1941)

Some Dude-ish shots of my Dad and family in 1941. With Boo.

With his brother John

With Aunt Hannah

With Aunt Feenie, Aunt Hannah, Uncle John, and brother John, and Boo

With mom and brother

Sans hat. Much more the Dude with the hat, though.

MORE ALEX

Some 1955 pictures that include my father's adopted brother Alexander Rybalkin. What's with this family and the Navy?

Alex and Great Uncle John

Alex, Dad, and John with their Uncle John; who knew he had a sense of humor? Nice ride, too.

SOME TIDD SHOTS (1948)

(left to right): Doris Ruth Tidd,Edith Woodhouse Knapp Tidd, Kenneth Struble Tidd,Lillian Morley Sigley Tidd, and unknown.

Top row (l to r): James F. Tidd Sr., Francis Lasher Tidd, John Armitage Tidd; (bottom) Hannah Lydia Longmore (Hartpence), John Armitage Hartpence, unkown

TIDDS 1950

Here are a few pictures from 1950 of the Tidds.

(l to r) John Armitage Tidd, Alexander Rybalkin Tidd, James F. Tidd, 9and their father Francis Lasher Tidd.

John & Jim with their great uncle, John Hartpence.

DAD AND GREAT UNCLE

A 1956 view of my father in Midshipman uniform and his great uncle Johm Armitage Hartpence. Looks like Xmas.

MONTREAL 1938

Herewith my dad Jim and his little brother sit atop a cannon in Montreal, 1938. The man with the hat is their great uncle John Hartpence.

Two pictures of the clan getting ready for a carriage ride. Jim and John on seat. John Hartpence in hat, Hannah Hartpence in white hat. Obviously the other women switched out to take the pics: light grey suit is Aunt Feenie; dark dress in my grandmother, Lillian. Don't know who the other man is; it does not look like my grandfather.

BAXTER MOUNTAIN 1947

A party of hikers, including John Armitage Tidd (l) and John Armitage Hartpence (r), climb Baxter Mountain. Great Uncle John seems to be hunting for something, perhaps mushrooms or berries. The two other individuals are identified as Mrs. Alwyn and Will Shaw.

UNCLE JOHN, SWABBIE

My dad was not the only Tidd to join the U.S. Navy in the late 1950s. Uncle John also enlisted, and although I may be wrong, spent at least some time aboard an aircraft carrier as a parachute folder. Not sure what other duties he had. I dimly remember him talking about his service abroad, and I think he visited the Philippines. Here are a few shots of him in uniform.

Don't know who the other sailor is, or where this shot was taken.

A good guess would be that this was a visit made by John's Dad, Francis Lasher Tidd, and Uncle John Armitage Hartpence, at his graduation from boot camp, but I can't be sure. It could just have easily been a visit back home as well.

THE DORIS

The "Doris" was a steamship that plied the waters of Lake Placid from 1938 to 1950, afterwhich she was replaced by the Doris II. She carried mail and passengers mostly to private landings all along the lake. Here are a couple postcards featuring the ship, followed by a couple of 1938 photos. In one my great uncle and aunt, John Armitage Hartpence and Hannah Lydia Longmore Hartpence sit on the upper deck fantail. My father is sitting on the lap of a man I can't identify to their right.

JIM & JOHN

My grandparents had two boys, James and John. After World War II they adopted a third boy, Alex.

In July of 1939 James and John were accompanied to the top of Baxter Mountain, in Keene Valley, New York (one of my Dad's favorite places) to pick blueberries. In this photograph (l-r) we have Hannah Lidia (Longmore) Hartpence, Lillian Morley (Sigley) Tidd, James Brook [later Francis] Tidd, John Armitage Hartpence, Esq, and in Hannah's lap is little John Armitage Tidd. Dad still has the somewhat cherubic look. Great Uncle John was a noted lawyer.

About a year later John and James posed with their mother, Lillian. Dad must have had one hell of a growth spurt, cause he has already the long gangly frame he was known for.

You can see even better Dad's well-known knobby knees in this one. World War II was on for America, and here we have the boys standing with Wilbur Shaw (who I do not know). Dad is holding a rifle, an early foreshadowing of his lifelong love for weapons, especially tinkering with them.