Three children, from left to right: Raymond, Joseph Albert and Marie Claire Rivet
Location: In the front of the Rivet home on 28 Summit Street, Cohoes, NY. circa 1923.
Claire , Al and Ray all lost their biological mother when she died shortly after Ray was born. By the time this photo was taken, they had a step mother, Malvina Hamel who, from all accounts, treated them as if they were her own. Malvina never had any biological children of her own but found her calling raising the children of Marie Louise Lacasse and Paul Emile Rivet.
In the photo, the children appear quite serious. Even Claire who gets to sit on the pony doesn't seem to be certain if she is enjoying the occasion. Al, as the responsible older boy, has a good hold on the pony. Ray, the youngest, looks content to go along with this experience of being photographed with a pony. This was a very common way to photograph children in this period. Itinerant photographers would travel from neighborhood to neighborhood setting up equipment creating a quick setting to take a photograph and sell to eager family.
I remember this photo well. It is one of very few photos that Dad had to show of his early years with his brother and sister. Mary Beth pretty much describes it as dad did: A man would come into town and offer to take a picture with the pony for a small fee. This is a picture with Dad (Joseph A.) in the middle, Aunt Claire on the horse and Uncle Raymond holding dad's hand. Seeing the three of them together at such an early age helped solidify in my mind the relationship they had with each other. This is the only time I had ever seen the three of them together. I had seen Dad and Aunt Claire together several times, but I only met Uncle Raymond once and I remember being surprised at how much Dad and Ray looked alike. It felt so good to see my dad with his brother. I never really understood why they communicated so little. James Rivet
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