1939-1940 Anna and Larry Marlin

My parents were married in Missouri in 1934 and they worked on a farm there until a few months later when they came to California because there was work to be had.  My father’s uncles, Scott and Orville Marlin, had been working in California for a couple of years, and when Orville visited Missouri in 1934, my parents decided to make the long car journey across the dust bowl on Orville’s return trip to the west coast.  It was the first time either of them had ever seen the ocean.  They both found work very quickly and after just a few weeks of staying with the relatives, they were able to go out on their own in a small rental house in Inglewood, California.  In 1937, my mother became pregnant with my oldest brother and on June 2, 1937, Larry Ray Marlin became part of their little family.  This photo was taken when Larry was about 6 or 7 months old in one of the photo booths that were so popular at the time.  This image is taken from a tiny photo that my father carried around in his wallet most of his life.  That’s my mother, Anna Shank Marlin, holding my brother, Larry.