A stroll down Memory Lane...

Hi! I just finished the photo project for English and I found something to upload. This picture taken from the Depression years features 5 middle aged black men in front of a General Store in rural Mississippi. It's daytime right where the men and the men are all wearing hats while some are smoking pipes. I wonder why they all look so upset? Were unsmiling pictures popular then? Or am I missing something? Is it possible that they were denied serviced at that store because of their color?