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Our Kind of People

One of the oldest traditions of the Lions Club is the "fine," which is collected in a chamber pot called a tail-twister kitty. Members are fined if they goof up by not wearing Lions pins, talking while the president is talking, interfering with the general meeting, advertising their place of business or by being late. We are a civic organization. Our motto is "We Serve." Service is the rent we pay for the space we occupy. Livermore, California

1969–1975
(American, b. 1938)
America, 20th century
gelatin silver print
Image: 16 x 21.5 cm (6 5/16 x 8 7/16 in.); Paper: 20.2 x 25.2 cm (7 15/16 x 9 15/16 in.)
Gift of George Stephanopoulos 2020.316
Location: not on view
This artwork is known to be under copyright.

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Did You Know?

Visiting the United States in the 1830s, French philosopher Alexis de Tocqueville observed that Americans “were forever forming associations.”

Description

Owens’ project Our Kind of People, shot mostly in the 1970s, explored American groups and rituals ranging from the Girl Scouts to Halloween parties in his native Northern California. With club membership declining today in America, the kind of formal and informal associations documented by Owens are now an endangered species.
One of the oldest traditions of the Lions Club is the "fine," which is collected in a chamber pot called a tail-twister kitty. Members are fined if they goof up by not wearing Lions pins, talking while the president is talking, interfering with the general meeting, advertising their place of business or by being late. We are a civic organization. Our motto is "We Serve." Service is the rent we pay for the space we occupy. Livermore, California

One of the oldest traditions of the Lions Club is the "fine," which is collected in a chamber pot called a tail-twister kitty. Members are fined if they goof up by not wearing Lions pins, talking while the president is talking, interfering with the general meeting, advertising their place of business or by being late. We are a civic organization. Our motto is "We Serve." Service is the rent we pay for the space we occupy. Livermore, California

1969–1975

Bill Owens

(American, b. 1938)
America, 20th century

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