Family doing something mysterious around a cauldron

Okay, are you ready for a long reply? 😉

I don’t think it’s dyeing because even the most careful worker would occasionally get dye on their clothes and more than the few spots that the woman has on her apron (which might be blemishes on the photo but I think not as some are intersected by the folds of the fabric, and they don’t appear elsewhere in the photo) and they look like splashes from something hot that has spat out at the apron. Maybe oil… possibly fruit juice splatters.

The photo is posed, so was probably not taken while they were actually working. Her wasp-waist is indicative of a corset and I have never seen a photo of a working woman from this sort of period wearing them for work – the manual labour would need free movement of the body – something that wouldn’t happen in a corset that tight. The man on whose shoulder her hand is resting – probably her husband – is dressed in a waistcoat (what you call a vest, I think) which is far too shiny to be for work. And he’s wearing a cravat – not something a man would wear during manual labour. Oh – and that hat!

The fire in the oven or grate is unlit – another indication that the photo is posed outside of actual working hours. There is light – probably natural light – coming in from the left, probably from an open doorway or a window. The pole loks like it’s holding up the roof but is probably the chimney for the oven. The young man in black with pale braces (suspenders) is holding his pan without anything protective (ie, gloves) – another indication that the pan is cold.

The well-dressed man on the left is holding what appears to be a conical strainer. It has a handle which I’d guess is attached to something to press down the contents through the narrow spout – the other pan in his hand looks like a scoop, probably to drop contents into the cone’s opening. While these aren’t quite the same, and are unlikely to be as old, have a look: https://laurelleaffarm.com/item-pages/vintage-food-mill-strainer-sieve-cone-colander-basket-wood-masher-pestle-Laurel-Leaf-Farm-item-no-s82219.htm

The cone has a metal (shiny) rim to the top of it.

There are drips (streams of them, from over time) on the sides of the cauldren in front of them (which is sitting on top of a barrel). To me they look slightly shiny and ‘set’, like toffee or set sugar-syrup. The cauldron or vat to the far right (nearly out of the photo) also has runs on the outside of it, but but they are different – more like something watery and transparent.

Behind the right-hand vat is something metal with side handles, and what look like controls or long screws coming out of the top right of it. It looks like it either has opening plates with hinges at the top, or simply plates. I’d guess this is a pressure cooker, stove (with closing plates like Agas have, though of course nowhere near as sophisticated) or some kind of copper (boiler) but it does seem too small for that. It also has spills down it that look like they’ve slightly eaten into its metal at the bottom – so, probably something acidic, like fruit.

There’s what looks like sacking between the left leg of the young man in dark shirt, and the front cauldron. Open sacking, by the look of it. There’s wood – probably kindling – and what looks like some strips of metal on top of the oven behind him.

I think you’re right that the people might not be American. I wonder if the young men may have been in the military as those braces (suspenders) don’t look like ones civilians would have worn. The dark-shirted boy, particularly, has ones that look like they attach to both the trousers and a belt at the front. I think if you look for that design you’ll probably find the country eventually. He’s wearing work trousers – very dusty-looking with splash-stains above his knees. The pan he’s holding, by the way, is probably made of iron as it’s very dark in colour. It might be worth a look at what fruits or other substances can or can’t be processed in particular metals (they’ll have known this then if only by trial and error.)

Actually, it’s just occurred to me that the boy to the right – his braces (suspenders) seem to be holding up some under-trousers (pants) and the other, light-coloured ones have been pulled on, on top of those. So maybe it’s a pair of rubber or leather pants? Chances are the pale pants are just for the benefit of the photograph!

While it might not be connected to what’s happening (or appearing to be happening thanks to the photographer) there’s a tool of some sort hanging from or through a wooden bar in the wall, just above the young man on the right. It looks like stick with a cork or something wooden or rubber at the end. I wonder if it’ a small posser? Or for tamping something down.

It looks like they’re in an outbuilding whose interior walls have flaking paint or plaster (probably paper and plaster, but might be something else). Damp will do that, also insects, mould (mold), etc.

There are other barrels in the photo. I’d suggest looking for the style of them as the metal bars might give an idea of date or place.

My guess for the occupation is alcohol brewing or fruit processing. Might also – as suggested – be for maple syrup, but you should be able to find vintage photos of that online and be able to check.

Date-wise, I’d take a guess at between 1890 and 1910.

And they might be American (or Canadian) immigrants. My first thought was Swedish or otherwise Scandinavian.

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