Home movies and audio clips from Planada, 1940s and early 1950s, digitized and shared by Laurel Sharmer.
A few years after the letters, Joe and Ruby’s house in Planada was full of children. These short home movies show Joe with the three of them: Joe, the tall boy (Joseph III, father of the Joseph Sharmer who keeps this site); his younger brother Jay; and the little girl, Laurel, whose recollections appear throughout this site.
What’s in the film
Times are approximate.
- 0:20 — Joe, in the hat, with the two boys and a little one in his arms, in front of a building with cars parked along the street.
- 0:45 — the boys swimming.
- 1:30 — the boys in baseball caps and uniforms.
- 2:20–3:10 — darker scenes indoors and on a porch.
- 4:00–5:00 — Laurel as a little girl, walking toward the camera, and on the porch of a white clapboard house.
- 5:40 — a close-up of a toddler.
The film also includes short audio clips.
Notes & context
The family. Joe and Ruby were married in Kingman, Arizona, on July 5, 1938, six months after the last letters from New York. Their first child, a girl, was stillborn in 1939 (The Little Granddaughter); the children in this film came after. From New York in January 1938 Joe had written, “I would like to have a little boy” (Convict Catcher).
Planada. The family lived in Planada, Merced County, where Ruby had been postmaster. Joe became a fig grower and served as Merced County Supervisor from 1949 to 1952. He died in 1954, when the children were still young.
More about the children. The same three appear in Laurel’s recollections: Halloween in Planada (“We Treat, No Tricks!”) and the boys’ visit to their aunt in San Francisco (A Visit to Aunt Larry).
Can you help? If you know where or when any of these scenes were filmed, who held the camera, or who is speaking in the audio clips, please tell us below.
