This is a photo of my Grandfather Bernard Thompson. I do a lot of my stories on the Thompson side of my family. They saved and documented so many things to be passed down from generation after generation. It is the Thompson side of my family where I believe I got my love for local history and antiques. Or as my family says, my “hoarding” derived from that side of the family. Ha!
This photo was taken in 1927 when he was a few months old at his homeplace in Talcott, WV. Granddad was so fidgety and knocked and thrashed around so much when he was a newborn, that he had to be laid on the floor to keep from hurting himself. This put his father O.D. Thompson, who was a famed mechanic(s), mind to work!
Now this would not be FDA or FTC approved today. If you look closely in the photo you see on either side of granddad two silver pieces with round balls on them. O.D. thought of the idea of taking commercial sink plumbing parts and using a wide leather strap to connect the two fixtures.
He would then place it over granddad’s belly while he laid on the floor. The weight of the two knobs laying across him was just enough to keep him from rolling around. He did this for several months or as OD said: “until it trained “Bernard” to lay still and not hurt himself. Ha!
