SUMMERTIME: Part 12

Summertime is sitting on the porch reading a book with grandma.

This post actually has multiple levels, none of which really have anything to do with the other.

Sitting as a child in someone's lap as they read to you is one of the great simple pleasures. Turning the pages, feeling the paper between your fingers; all of your senses are at play. Sitting with an iPad or a Kindle is not the same. A book is not a shiny object. You have to invest yourself into a book. Years later you may again find the same book and have the memories come flooding back. Taking it from a shelf and again holding it will for a few moments bring back that flurry of sensations you remember from so long ago.

The book this grandma is reading to her granddaughter is "Kiddie Land" by Margaret G. Hays.

Margaret G. Hays was the sister of Grace G. Wiederseim who became Grace Dayton, creator of Dolly Dingle and the Campbell's Kids.

Margaret is the author of "Kiddie Land" and her sister was the illustrator. You can see the title page to this book here.

Margaret G. Hays, sister of Grace Drayton, was a comic artist in the first decade of the twentieth century. She created 'Jennie and Jack, also the Little Dog Jap', and was also known for making paper dolls for postcards. She sometimes teamed up with her sister, for instance on the strip 'The Turr'ble Tales of Kaptin Kiddo'. (SOURCE: LAMBIEK.NET)

The next part of this post has to do with grandma herself. Does she look familiar? Is this a face that bears some resemblance to...oh I don't know...maybe Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States? Maybe it's just me. I see what I call Time Traveling Celebrities once in a while in old photos. In this case both grandma and Roosevelt are dead so grandma is not exactly time traveling as the two examples below are.

This photo was taken on April 28, 1939 when Roosevelt was in office. And mind you, this is not the first cross-dressing celebrity I've found.

I give you Will Ferrel in drag. Actually, I have no idea who this woman is. She was in my grandmother's album so she might actually be a relative of mine. This photo was originally posted April 30, 2009.

And then there's Matt Damon, originally posted November 21, 2008. I have no idea who this fellow actually is, but I do remember seeing him staring out of a pile of photos and being dumbfounded by the resemblance to Damon.

Really, you just never know who you might see in photos of people you don't know.

And to tie everything up with a piece of broken wire I'll admit that this hodgepodge is my contribution to this weeks Sepia Saturday. The theme was trees. As you can see I'm not even in a broken branch. More like low hanging fruit.

TIME-TRAVELING-celebrities

One of the stranger aspects of collecting vernacular photos is when you stumble across one with a face you recognize. You know the person is not who you think they are. No, instead they're "time-traveling- celebrities." The people look so much like someone who is famous that you have to hit yourself upside your head to convince yourself they're not. 

I've seen some wonderful ones online at other sites that boggled my mind. A picture of Bing Crosby holding up a pair of tiddy whities perhaps dreaming of a White Christmas? Jerry Mathers, "The Beaver", as a little boy sitting between two little girls somewhere around 1910? Of course I don't have permission to post these, but I have a few of my own.

My best friend and I are convinced we've tapped into an aspect of the universe unknown by all but celebrities. Yes, it's just as you imagined, they are different than us. We lowly mortals are stuck in our day-to-day lives while celebrities are not only jetting around the world to fabulous locations, they're also going back in time. I don't think they do it to mess with our minds. They might even be shocked to find out that evidence exists. My proof? Well...

MY THESIS Bourne Out

Imagine yourself in a college dorm, maybe an Ivy League school, back in the 1950s. You've got a new friend from your literature class dropping by later in the evening who wants to go out to a coffee house to listen to a little bit of finger snapping poetry. You've got a Miles Davis album playing while you fiddle with the new camera your folks sent you for your birthday. There's a knock on your door and you decide to surprise your friend by taking his picture. You my friend have just stepped through the "time-traveling- celebrity black hole." Now you might not see it, but I have to wonder what Matt Damon was doing in the 1950s before he was even born (Bourne?).

NOT convinced?

Okay, I can see you're going to be a tough nut to crack.

It's the 1940s and you got a nice Kodak Brownie camera for Christmas. You've convinced the new girl in the neighborhood to let you take her picture. She's the sweetest most graceful 12 year old girl you've ever met, but she's told you she'll only be living there for a little while. Now all you've got left is this little snapshot until you turn on your tv in the 1990s and see the new show Will and Grace. Hmm...could it be? Debra, is that you? Are you just messing with my mind? I submit as evidence...Debra Messing, "time- traveling celebrity."

THE RING-A-DING Dinger

I'll make this one easy. Too easy. I won't even give you a scenario other than it's the 1970s and you're probably in Palm Springs at a golf course. Luck be a lady tonight because you just hit the jackpot. Old Blue Eyes is walking right towards you dressed head to toe in purple. Yup, this one is real. Frank Sinatra in 1972.