Deer Lake, August, 1954

My father's family vacationed at Deer Lake, nearly Century, Wisconsin, for more than a century.   My Great Grandfather Joseph Stannard Baker was a land agent back into the 1870s and reportedly at one point owned three-quarters of the lake.   He gave choice parcels of lakeshore to his family, some of which remains in the family.   I ran around and had various adventures with all sorts of kids and adults, mostly relatives, back as far as I can remember.  I ran across negatives my dad took in August of 1954 - a time I only dimly remember, being five years old then.

We had picnics at this table for many years and still picnic in this spot now.  The dock still goes in every year but the large white pine tree in the middle of the picture was tipped into the lake by the heaving of the ice and removed many years ago.

This is a group of us ready to eat.  I'm on the far left and my mother is next to me, holding my sister.  Aunt Florence, a great person in our family, is scooping ice cream.

This is me before swimming lessons.

This is my sister Winifred and a totally retro flotation device.   A child would not be allowed on such a thing without a life preserver now, undoubtedly a sensible change.

This mighty sailboat plied the waters of our dear lake for many years, carrying most of us at one time or another.   The hayday of lake visits for me was in the 1960s.  We've all grown up, and although the lake was lovely, it was the experiences and people of that time that I prize the most.