P3D Mattie Sanford 1878-1968, part II

["Dr. George A. Themelis" <DrT-3d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On one occasion she used her camera for the most unusual purpose.  
Here children were accustomed to Mattie taking their pictures and they 
knew "when Mother was photographing she was relaxed and all was well." 
One day as she approached her home after teaching school all day, she 
was startled to see the kiddies had climbed on the roof of the house 
and couldn't get down.  They were crying for help.

Although in near panic herself, she said she called to them very 
calmly to "please sit still - right where you are - don't move and 
I will run in the house for my camera.  You will make such a cute 
picture sitting up there."  She said she was so near collapse from 
fear that she had difficulty finding her camera, and that this was one 
time she didn't think about an f-stop or meter reading - she just 
wanted to calm the children with the camera.

She laughed when telling the story as she said she was certain this 
day she broke the cardinal rule of stereo to keep the camera level.  
After the children heard the camera click, they stopped crying, 
relaxed and listened closely to her instructions on how to get down.  
She said by the time she had them safely on the ground again, se was 
so weak from the ordeal, she didn't have the strength to "tan their 
backsides" as she put it.  She added with a chuckle, "I was so 
thankful to have my darlings in my arms again, I didn't have the heart 
to spank them."

As Mattie loved her children, they loved her too, and to pay tribute 
to their mother while she lived, knowing her fondness of stereo 
photography, they decided to establish an award in the Stereo Division 
in her honor.  I had the privilege of making the first official
announcement of this lovely award during the 1965 PSA Convention and I 
will long remember it.  We were all so happy to have Mattie's family 
with us that day so they would share their Mother's joy of having been 
so honored by them.  As "the sweetheart of the Stereo Division" came 
to the podium to express her thanks to her children, emotional 
feelings were so strong and tears were trickling  down her cheek.  
Actually there were few dry eyes among her many friends present.  She 
hesitated a moment, brushed away the tears and said, "Oh dear me, my 
sinus condition really is very bad tonight."

This was typical Mattie - deep emotions, love of family and friends, 
full of humor and fun - just an "everlasting person."

This was written by Ruth Bauer, FPSA, Cincinnati, Ohio, another legend 
in stereo.

Many thanks to Ron Fredrickson for giving me many old "Stereoscopy"
issues where I found this information.  Actually, it just occured to
me that this year we have 120 years from Mattie's birth and 30
years from her death.

George Themelis


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