THE STORY BEHIND "GRACE" PHOTOGRAPH

 

Growing up in the 50's and 60's, it was not unusual to see this image in the homes of my relatives out in the country especially if they were elderly. Usually, it was in the form of a painting and only until recently, I thought it was from some obscure 19th Century European artist. Nope. The original was a photograph. 

It was made by Eric Enstrom c.1918 who had a photography studio on Bovey, MN. The subject was Charles Wilden, a near-penniless peddler who lived in a sod house. Enstrom thought the man had an interesting face and paid him $5 to pose. The large book, many thought was the Bible was actually a dictionary. 

The image became quite popular thanks in part to the many devout folk in the country in the first half of the 20th Century. It provided Enstrom a modest sum of money for the rest of his life. 

I also had no idea of the title "Grace"-I had always figured it was "Our Daily Bread" which may have come from some ad campaign that used the image in conjunction with those words.