Maybe I Lied

Or maybe I just wasn't thinking when I said I only had one picture of Nanticoke! Turns out, I have many! In fact, the three pictures below contain a mystery in my Hodick family history.

These pictures, I believe, were taken in Nanticoke, Luzerne County, PA. The stylish woman in the white is most likely my grandmother, Mary Hodick. The stylish one in the middle picture, I think, is her sister Sue. If these deductions are correct, then it goes to follow that the stylish woman in the third picture is my grandmother's other sister, Sylvestina (better known as Vesta). I believe the pictures would be from the early 1920’s, given the clothing styles and the fact that my grandmother looks to be a bit younger than she does in her wedding picture (taken in 1925).

The picture is obviously in front of a store. With the name "Hodick's" printed on the window, I'm led to believe that perhaps the family owned the store. But no one I’ve talked to seems to know anything about our ancestors being shopkeepers; we’ve always known most of the male Hodick’s to be coal miners. The store could have been a short-lived venture. Or it could be that they didn’t own the store but for some reason were prominent enough to the owners to have their name on it. Or it could even be the business of a relative that we don’t know about yet! Alas, it could also just be an unrelated coincidence and the girls thought it’d be a kick to have their pictures taken outside a store bearing their name.

If any readers familiar with Nanticoke can give me some ideas, I’d welcome them with open arms (and mind!).