Claiborne County, Tennessee, 1940's...

Caption
A family is shown in the living room of their home. Three hold instruments, and two of them are preparing to sing from a song book. Newspaper covers the walls of the room.

Photo: Joe Clark HBSS - Clark Family Photo Collection - Special Collections Library - University of North Texas

They can afford musical instruments and a shotgun but not wallpaper.

Priorities I guess.

Probably a hardscrabble life.
So, they NEED the shotgun

And music is good for the soul, especially when times are hard.
Wallpaper, not so.much...

Maybe they didn't own the home and it was that way when they moved in.

Shotguns were a necessity back then, food and protection. Could be instruments were from better economic times in the 20’s. Plus, once you owned them and the depression hit who could you sell them to?

I was wondering about the rounded corners in the wall/ceiling.

that paper is probably insulation, not wallpaper.

What I see is neat clean and tidy probably don't see that today

interesting to note that the wall covering does not appear to be newspaper but rather Sears/Montgomery Ward catalogs which were free.

The wallpaper looks like sears and Roebuck catalogs...

No fat on the bones.

Likes to me like they had their priorities right.

Looks like they all had shoes. Probably Sunday.
just

The instruments likely were handed down from G-Granpa and handed down for generations.

I'm certainly not gonna criticize them I didn't walk a mile in their shoes

I wholeheartedly agree.

Keith

If that's the first thought that comes to mind when you see that picture,,you must come from very privileged lineage.

LOL no that's certainly not the case in the way you are looking at it. I am not disagreeing with their priorities, not sure why you would interpret it that way.

I did come from a privileged lineage. Grew up in a family tree with stable families and parents that stayed together, divorce was never really a part of our family tree. My dad worked hard and my mom was always there for us 7 kids. We never had much money but we always managed to sit down to three good meals a day and go on vacations as a family each year. I never doubted that my parents loved me and I always got along with my brother and five sisters. I got disciplined when I deserved it and knew the boundaries. I wish people nowadays could understand what that kind of a family environment is like.

Privileged indeed.