So many stories within this single drawing of a group of siblings at the beach. The eldest girl sits lazily on the sand but the baby appears to be pulling her hair. One of the younger sisters is carrying a small shovel and looks made about something. Another sister carries a toy sailboat. The oldest child, a brother looks quite angry at all of his younger siblings or perhaps he’s just mad that he’s not found oysters or fish to fill his basket with. This isn’t one of those idealized Victorian images of children, it’s a great drawing of what a day at the beach must be like for any family with a number of children – some are happy, some are cranky, some are agreeable and others are just waiting to go home.
1890 Baby’s Annual Pictures and Stories for Little People supplied almost 100 wonderful images for Reusable Art. D. Lothrop Company filed the copyright in 1889 but since they did not identify an illustrator or author, the copyright held for 120 years. How lucky are we, that these vintage images are now in the public domain?
This image is copyright free and in the public domain anywhere that extends copyrights 70 years after death or at least 120 years after publication when the original illustrator is unknown.
