A RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE

For some, selling real estate is apparently a religious experience.

Somewhere in Arizona a long time ago.

HAIR TODAY...

and back tomorrow. It's always nice to see odd hairdos from long ago. Now it's possible when this young lady was doing her daily business this hair did not look as puffy. This was perhaps special for her sitting.

I have no idea who she is nor where she came from, but if I were guessing these days I'd say big hair Texas.

GONE FISHIN'...

with gasoline.

Sometimes IT'S JUST A MOMENT IN HISTORY, part 3

And now the final piece of the puzzle.

Even when seen as a whole this photo still seems disjointed.

Three groups of people and yet the only ones interacting are the woman with the camera and the young man in what appears to be a uniform and a man in street clothes. But what brought about this grouping? There are no written clues on the back. Perhaps someone will see this and provide me with some guesses.

Sometimes IT'S JUST A MOMENT IN HISTORY, part 2

The second part of the snapshot. The first part, yesterday, showed a woman with a Brownie taking a photo. But the photo I have was taken by someone viewing a group of people all appearing to be looking at someone or something. It's an odd photo.

Sometimes IT'S JUST A MOMENT IN HISTORY

When perusing a box full of photos at the antique store I’m often fascinated by the people who stop to see what I’m doing. Some make jokes about buying photos of people they don’t know; others take a few moments to silently sort through a handful, unable to understand the fascination. I of course am sorting like a crazed black jack dealer. One pile of a definite NO. A pile of YES. And then there’s the pile of CAN’T MAKE UP MY MIND. By the time I’ve finished I have narrowed it down to a pile of MUST HAVE. A lot of times that final pile is determined by how much money I have. Indeed, yesterday I left a few that I wish I’d bought; perhaps they’ll still be there the next time I go back.

Sorting has a lot of variables. What am I looking for? Oh sure, of course there are my categories and I’m happy to say I found another cake cutting shot. But what else causes me to pause and decide if something is worthy of a new home? I found yesterday that most of what I bought just made me laugh. There was something a little off about the shots. And then there was a shot bought for simply historical purposes. There’s a story to it, but I have no idea what it is. I’ll break it down into a few posts or as I like to call it, deconstructing a photo.

In the first part we have a woman with a Kodak Brownie camera. You'll eventually see what she was looking at. I so wish I had a copy of the shot she took.

I can happily say that I also found some more Ernie photos. They were bought simply because they were Ernie or showed more about Ernie’s life.

The UGLY WATCH* continued

As if finding one photo with an ugly watch wasn't enough, the other day I was scanning some photos that belonged to my grandmother and found this. More ugly watch.

These women were either friends of my grandmother in Scotland or maybe relatives; I have no idea, but I know this ugly watch did not get passed down through the family.

Still hoping someday someone steps forward and says, "Oh you naive fool! That's a Fabergé watch! It's worth millions! You obviously know nothing about the finer things in life!"

And I'm hoping they use a lot of exclamation marks.

* It's a category.

The PRETTY YOUNG GIRL with the UGLY WATCH

I purchased this photo a few months ago. A pretty girl, but nothing exceptional. I bought it because of the watch. Such an ugly watch on such a graceful arm. It seemed to be a watch, dare I say it...out of time. When I say time I mean time period. It looks like it's made of rubber and would be something a skin diver would wear. I don't imagine this young thing doing much snorkeling. I could be wrong. And I imagine it's actually leather.

Perhaps someone out there will recognize this watch and provide me with some information.

I will tell you that this is not the last time you will see such a watch, much to my surprise.

IT'S RAINING, IT'S POURING...oh wait...

I've said it before and I'm saying it again...the Kodak Brownie changed women's lives. They were free to be themselves if even for just a moment.

Gentlemen...START YOUR HORSES!

For this weeks Sepia Saturday theme I've got a bit of horse racing.

My best friend gave these to me several years ago. They possibly belonged to her grandparents.

I have no idea where the first three shots were taken, but I'm guessing a time period of the 1930s.

This last shot has a photo finishers stamp on the back from Meridian, Mississippi with the date Feb. 27, 1950.

This year I finally saw a horse race in person. I had mixed reactions. It was beautiful when it was happening, the horses running as a pack, but then I think of how so many of them are drugged and end life in horrible circumstances. I know I prefer the memory of the wild mustangs running across the desert in Nevada, running full tilt right across the road in front of the car then disappearing into the scrub up a hillside. That was a stunning and breathtaking sight. A memory I'll cherish forever.

I'm afraid that due to bandwidth usage I will not be able to get around to many sites this weekend, so please forgive me. It's the world of satellite net access.