Those family pics depict a hard life; yet at one time that used to be the norm for most of the population. The second pic shows a father mending shoes - which according to my grandfather, was a basic needed skill for men at one time. Women learned how to cook and sew, while men where often tasked to become the cobblers in the family. A single pair of shoes was often the norm for each family member, and then only worn in colder months -- in summer it was "barefoot time" for the kids to save wear and tear on the shoes.
