Jan 24, 2009

Bathers of All Ages and Places

If I was Dr, Seuss I could make this rhyme. Alas.


Under our clothes we are all naked, and sometimes it's nice to get back to basics. Though if I was that kid I'd watch out for that rooster in the background. They can get nasty. I was once chased into the outhouse by a rooster. I want to point out that outhouses were not normal part of my childhood, but then my father decided to buy a farm in the country and it was a bit rustic. Divorced parents, summer vacations with father, thus the outhouse and the rooster.

Steffi looks good. She must be around 80, if she is still around. Time flies.


Crimea, Ukraine, 1967. I wonder what route this photo took to arrive to Pasadena.


"Good job dad, with that camera. Nobody told you about the dangers of back lighting?"


The caption might be a little bit exaggerated, but it's not easy to be beautiful in those caps and grandma shoes.

Stripes are in.

Looking dorky, date unknown.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

You look pretty darned happy down on the farm. (Great captions) Have any bathing pictures of the suits with the little flaired skirts? That wins the ugly prize with me -- er, the Senett suits are in the running. Did they swim in those shoes?

Vanda said...

That's not me. :)

Mister Earl said...

Where do you get these photos?

Vanda said...

Flea markets, antique paper fairs, postcard shows. Apparently there is a whole breed of people who make their living selling other people's photos. I suspect they mostly pick them up at estate sales. I considered going to those myself, but I'm afraid they entail getting up early. Not my strength.

Mister Earl said...

Yeah. One time I was at an estate sale and they were selling photo albums of a family.

Mister Earl said...

Here's songwriter Cheryl Wheeler's take on estate sales:

Estate sale today, from 1 o'clock to 4
You go and get ready, I'll go start the car
Better to be early, then we'll be the first in line
And you know how I love this, it's amazing what you'll find

(Chorus)
Going through dead people's houses
Wonderful things they have collected
Open the drawers and trunks and closets
Don't leave a corner uninspected

I'll head for the kitchen you check out upstairs
Old post cards and pens and blue Fiesta Ware
Shaving mugs and winged eyeglasses, giant plastic pins
Linen suits and flowered dresses, I'm so glad we got in

(Repeat Chorus)

They just don't make 'em like this
It's an incredible prize
We can hang it in the kitchen
She was just your size
It's a beautiful frame
And the picture's all right
Salt and pepper airplanes
And that deco light

(Repeat Chorus)

Tonight we'll go home and sort through our array
We'll find the best spots to put things on display
You can't get this great stuff anymore, I don't know why
But I bet we'll make some young strangers happy when we die

Vanda said...

Lol that's awesome. It's a form of recycling really.

Anonymous said...

Family photos can be so funny. Back then you didn't look through the lens so you were always chopping off heads, dividing bodies, shooting into the sun etc. I mean this is a non-violent way. Speaking of violence, I've had some run-ins with a Rhode Island Red rooster. They scare me.

Anonymous said...

Poultry intimidates me.