This might be my favorite photo on the entire internet.
The shot, which depicts a playful little Texas boy pretending to ride a dead catfish on someone’s front porch, was taken by photographer Neal Douglass in April of 1941.
The Portal to Texas History calls it “Mrs. Bill Wright; Boy Riding Catfish.” So I’m guessing that “Mrs. Bill Wright” was the boy’s mother. But there’s no other identifying information, so I don’t know the boy’s name, nor do I have any way of tracking it down.
So let’s turn this into a name game!
First, let’s suppose our little catfish-rider was not named “Bill” (or “William,” or “Willie,” etc.) after his father. With that rule in place, here are the questions:
- What do you think Mrs. Bill Wright named her son?
- What would you have named him?
Just for reference, popular names for Texas newborns in the late ’30s included:
| Albert Arthur Carl/Charles Clarence Daniel David Don/Donald Edward/Eddie Ernest Frank |
Fred Gary Gene/Eugene George Gerald Harold Henry Jack James Jerry |
Jesse Jesus Jimmie/Jimmy Joe/Joseph John/Johnny Jose Juan Kenneth Larry Louis |
Manuel Melvin Paul Raymond Richard Robert/Bobby Ronald Roy Thomas/Tommy Walter |
For extra credit, what do you think the boy named his catfish? And, what would you have named his catfish? ;)
(If you like this game, here’s a similar one from years ago: What Would You Name the Two Frenchmen?)
The boy is Stanley.
The fish … Merlin.
Tommy Earl Wright, born Thomas Earl. Catfish – Charlie, of course. ????
Oh, I world have named the boy James Albert Wright.
1- John Henry (after John Wayne – cowboy)
2-Jack Ronald (after Ronald Reagan-cowboy)
I had a goldfish I named Happy the Whale (my size proportions may have been off when I was 5)
Edward, nicknamed Eddie. I imagine him being born in the same year as my father, 1938
I would name him Travis George. Austin is located in Travis County.
I think he’d name the fish Tony after Tom Mix’s horse.
Rider: Robert William Wright, aka Bobby
Catfish: Stinky Pete
Nice choices, everyone!
“Stinky Pete,” hehe. :)
Daniel Henry Wright