I Get Grief

I sometimes get comments on my posts that the picture I am using for a story is deceptive.
 
All of my posts include a photo. Posts without a photo get about as much attention as a blank sheet of paper. Since I write about history, there isn’t always a photo that goes along with the historical event. This is particularly true for events that took place before the invention of photography. Technically, all of Idaho history has taken place since photography was invented (1863), but unlike today, people didn’t have smartphones to capture it from 40 different angles.
 
So, I illustrate many of my posts with a photo that is somehow related to the story but not of the story. If the story is about a stagecoach robbery, I might illustrate it with a stagecoach, pointing out in the caption that this is not the stagecoach.
 
People let those posts slide by without telling me how awful I am, but some are immediately incensed if I attempt a little humor to get their attention. Here are some examples.

I used the above illustration for a story about the ice fire of 1929. I didn't label it as an illustration rather than a photo of the fire. 

This photo illustration accompanied a story about Boxcar Willie burning records by the Beatles. No one was offended by this or, at least, they didn't say they were.

No one was offended, or fooled, by the photo illustration above that went with a story about an ore spill on Lake Coeur d'Alene. 

But, this one drove people crazy. It went with a story about a long-ago failed scheme to put a hotel on top of Table Rock. Silly me, I thought since this is obviously an over-sized photo of the Idanha plopped on top of the butte, that people would not be confused. People who actually read the story seemed okay with it, but several people who commented after seeing only the picture thought I was trying to fool them. 

This photo, captioned: "Artist's depiction of what this sign in Arco might look like if they'd kept that colorful name" is my all-time top offender. The story was about the first name of the town. I hope Arco residents aren't so thin-skinned that this gives them hives. I put this in the same category as the joke I've heard about my own hometown of Firth a few times. When I tell people that's where I'm from, they sometimes say, "Is that anywhere near Thecond?" 

I'll continue to use photo illustrations to go along with my stories from time to time. If you are offended, please let me know. I'll refund what you paid.