Dear List: Does any one know of the significance of 1900's portrait photographers posing their subjects with various objects and the significance of these objects? The reason I ask is that I have a portrait photograph of my father (about age 3), all dressed up in fancy clothes and hat, holding a hammer! I believe the family was living in northeast Georgia (White County) at the time. I have a oil painting of another ancestor as a child, painted about 1860, showing him holding what appears to be a spinning top. I assumed the child was given something to hold to keep him still during the sitting. Any ideas? -- Lorraine Kline Searching: CALDWELL - NJ>IN>OH>IL ELDER - OH>IN>IL>CA KINNEY - PA>MO LANGAN -IRELAND>Philadelphia, PA/New Orleans, LA>MO/ LAPRADE - GA>AZ>CA MANUEL - PA>IL>CA TOOLEN/TOOLAN/TOOLIN/TOULON/TOULAN - Co. Sligo,IRELAND>IL>MO>CA Proud to be a Rootsweb Donor