Donald DeVoe (Matt’s maternal grandfather) is pictured here, puffing off his pipe, while seated in a metal swing chair. This home looks like Gaylord St House, where the young DeVoe family lived before building their ultimate family home on Janice St in Lodi, Ohio. Can we assume the best? — that this was a typical smoke-spot for Don, and that he was sparing the young ones inside the smoke exposure? I understand that concern wasn’t in the culture of the time, but it’s nice to re-imagine the history in these photos a bit.

The pants/shoes appear dressy, as if he was home from work and relaxing for a bit. I’m getting a Normal Rockwell vibe from this, but there’s part of me that just thinks it’s mid-century style and life for you.

Low confidence (+/- 5 years), but I’m placing it around 1950 — if around there, Don would be 34 years old, which doesn’t visually seem farfetched.

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Questions

• Did Don smoke for a long time? When did he quit?