Fuchsiana. Martha Ford waters her fuchsias
Sunday, December 03, 2023
Fuchsia lore and fuchsiana is generally work on paper for me. Prints. Drawing. Photographs. Sometimes I get something new that turns out to be a miss. Or at least a slight miss like this new photograph I just acquired.
The piece is from the disbanded photo archives of The Oregonian, Portland’s newspaper founded in 1850. The paper still exists today but was eventually gobbled up by a mega news corporation. Which explains why the archives later went the way of the wind.
Anyway, the photo shows local centenarian Martha Ford of Washougal, Wash. supposedly watering her fuchsias. It was run in the newspaper on Aug 4, 1988.
If you look closely, though, Martha is actually watering a trailing pelargonium. There are probably fuchsias in the other baskets barely peeking out from behind it. Just not in the one she’s actively tending in the photo.
I was able to find out that Martha was a retired teacher and made to 105. For that wonderful achievement I will credit her fuchsias even if we can’t see the little guardian angels.
The piece is from the disbanded photo archives of The Oregonian, Portland’s newspaper founded in 1850. The paper still exists today but was eventually gobbled up by a mega news corporation. Which explains why the archives later went the way of the wind.
Anyway, the photo shows local centenarian Martha Ford of Washougal, Wash. supposedly watering her fuchsias. It was run in the newspaper on Aug 4, 1988.
If you look closely, though, Martha is actually watering a trailing pelargonium. There are probably fuchsias in the other baskets barely peeking out from behind it. Just not in the one she’s actively tending in the photo.
I was able to find out that Martha was a retired teacher and made to 105. For that wonderful achievement I will credit her fuchsias even if we can’t see the little guardian angels.
