So many interesting character types in this picture.
I love that the Christmas tree is plugged into the light socket.
The boss (the man with the stogie) has a bulge in his coat pocket. Wonder if it's a gun? The man to his left looks like he was once a boxer. I wonder if he's the foreman. Both men are holding their glasses. And in the whole picture, only one person is wearing glasses, one of the men in the upper left corner.
The man in front of the tree is holding up his horse. Many people have gifts in their hands, but only he is holding his up. He must have really liked his Secret Santa.
The Junior standing on the desk in the upper right has rumpled clothes. I bet his wife is a layabout and much too lazy to give his clothes a good ironing. His vest is undone at the bottom (button missing?) so that you can see the button on his trousers.
The woman in front by the oil can is what my grandmother used to call "flash." She spends her paycheck on her clothes (she has a fur collar on her coat) and you can tell her hair is done professionally because it doesn't have that "home perm" look like several of the other women. The woman to her left looks like she got her style from Grimm's Fairytales (or she was a reject from the Grand Ole Opry).
You know that the flapper peeking around the desk speaks in a high squeeky voice.
I wonder if the woman wearing the police hat is the office cut-up or if she was a bit tipsy on bathtub gin? The woman to her left is another that gets her hair done professionally rather than wear a home perm look. The woman to her left, Mia Farrow wearing a tie, shows the influence of Little Orphan Annie, white collar, red dress, short sleeves (in winter?). Is that her troll doll on the office scale? The woman standing just above those two is wearing the same necklace as the woman seated above Grim's Fairytale. I wonder if they were each other's Secret Santa? Poor Julia Stiles standing against the door, her home perm didn't turn out so well.
I wonder if the man smiling is standing on something or is he that tall?
As for the woman sitting against the desk. So many stories could be assigned to her. Did she lose a husband in WW1? Is she a recent immigrant? There seems to be some type of fur around her collar and her shoes look quality. Does she just distance herself from the younger, immature women in the office? Perhaps she's Jewish and tired of being forced into Christmas celebrations.
But so many questions left unanswered. Like why the words "Go Go" are pasted on the wall.
And of course, why are some people looking in all directions and some looking straight at the camera? Granted they didn't have instant photography in those days, but obviously some people were able to focus and hold still long enough to look into the camera.
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
