Back in the early fifties (or, in my case, the late forties), Jacksonville moms had a good thing going with Mr. Morley. Morley Photography came to you…you didn’t have to go to him. I remember him coming to the house. He brought a few props, a shaggy white rug, and a lot of camera equipment. Mr. Morley arrived promptly (I’m sure) and set up shop in our living room. He would rearrange the furniture to make room for his equipment while we sat and waited for the call to SAY CHEESE, PLEASE!! Mr. Morley didn’t lollygag around. He was in and out of our living room in no time to head for his next appointment. The pictures were a gorgeous sepia color and hand painted or tinted by someone employed by Mr. Morley. The portraits were probably developed at Mr. Morley’s home or studio in the Riverside area of Jacksonville and painted by color artists who worked from their homes.
One of the women who colored portraits for Mr. Morley was my niece’s grandmother. My niece, Cindy Maule, remembers her grandmother working for Mr. Morley and doing a lot of portrait tinting for him. After my husband and I married, his mother, Georgia King, gave me one of his baby pictures. Funny thing is that my husband’s portrait looked just like mine. We were wearing the same color yellow clothing and sitting on the same white shaggy rug. Mr. Morley and my niece took our portraits at home, and I believe her grandmother colored them. I wasn’t thinking much about my future husband at six months, but I fantasize that Mr. Morley left our house and drove his white shaggy rug over to Arlington to take my husband’s picture the same day. I wonder if Mr. Morley told my husband that he knew this really cute girl on the other side of town and to check her out in about thirty years. Probably, that’s what happened.
A Grandmother’s Flower Garden that I made by hand
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