Brownie Points

A Day in the Life: April 2nd


(Aged 14)
Wea. Windy                                 THU. APRIL 2, 1896                    Ther.  25

Went to school


(Aged 16)
Wea.  Stormy                               SAT. APRIL 2, 1898                      Ther.

It snowed about 1 inch last night + has been very cold all day.  Went to the factory.  In P.M. Hi Scott was here to pay some interest.  I stayed at home all afternoon.  In eve Chas Slater + I went down to the burg.


(Aged 17)
Wea.                                              SUN. APRIL 2, 1899                     Ther.

Stayed at home all day awful snowy and windy.  Rollie + I were playing when he fell + cut his lip a little but not much.


(Aged 18)
Wea.                                              MON. APRIL 2, 1900                   Ther.

Worked all day boiling sap till about three o’clock and then shelled corn.  Ma + Grandma went to the burg.  I got a camera by mail cost .40 cents.

Kodak Browning first on the market in February 1900


(Aged 19)
Wea.                                              TUE. APRIL 2, 1901                    Ther.

NO ENTRY AGAIN UNTIL MAY 22nd



(Aged 20)
Wea.                                               WED.  APRIL 2, 1902                 Ther.

Rollie came over.  Gail went to factory.  I started for town but it was awful muddy + snowy, so I sent a note of $40 up by Arnie Shaw to renew one I gave for cows I bot over on the river.  Sent for a new catalogue(sic) from Sears Roebuck + Co.


(Aged 21)
Wea.                                              THU.  APRIL 2, 1903                    Ther.

NO ENTRY MADE AGAIN UNTIL MAY 1st




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Editor's Note:  I have no idea if it was a Brownie that Allen bought.  I would say it was a cheaper version since information I found said original Brownie's retailed for $1which would have been $26.42 in 2010.  I'm curious to find out how this venture of Allen's develops (no pun intended) because as we know his younger brother Rollie was a superb photographer.

Photo Editor's Note: Diana here. I am visiting Jen and wanted to add my two cents to the photography legacy of the Cass family. I wouldn't be a photographer if it wasn't for Uncle Rollie. And perhaps it would seem that Rollie wouldn't have been a photographer if Allen hadn't taken up the art. Being ten years older than his brother, I imagine that Allen was an amazing influence on Rollie. Marriage and babies came to Allen sooner than Rollie and believe me, once you have kids and such, film can be hard to focus on.  So perhaps the camera became neglected and Rollie took an interest. However it happened I have noticed that there is a trend of what I call "inherited imagery" in my work. For many years most of our ancestral photos lay in boxes. After creating a body of work spanning about 20 years  I compared my photos to that of Rollie's and realized we loved photographing the same things in the same manner.  So thanks Uncle Rollie for the photo DNA you passed on down.

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