RELATIVELY speaking...

This real photo postcard comes from a collection of family photos from Scotland. Not one face looks familiar, so I'm left wondering who these ladies were and why did my grandmother have this photo.


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The influence of Japan on Western culture and art for the masses began, I believe, in the 1850s. Of course, this photo is not that old. I'm guessing this was taken sometime during the first couple of decades of the 20th century. It was never posted so it had to be before the late teens when my grandparents moved from Scotland to California.

A group of Scottish friends having this photo taken for fun? Sort of like photos taken today where you dress up like a character from the old West? Possible.

I'm more inclined to believe that these ladies were from a performance of The Mikado by Gilbert and Sullivan. Now who wouldn't want to hear it performed by a group of Scots with a thick brogue?

So this card might have been for a theater troupe. We'll never know unless someday someone else comes across a copy of one and has a better explanation.

Whenever I look at this photo I think of the kimono I had that was stolen. Many years ago my home was broken into and many items were stolen. Damn alarm system wasn't working. Over the years I would suddenly remember things that I hadn't seen in a long time, adding items to the mental list of what the burglar took. My kimono from my childhood was one of them. They left the yellow obi, probably not knowing what it was. It was a beautiful red kimono with flowers and butterflies.

When I lived in Hawaii as a child my best friend and I would play samurai and geisha instead of the cowboy and indians we'd played when living on the Mainland. It still makes me very sad to think my kimono was taken. It was mine, it was infused with my memories, and I cherished it. Now? Who knows where it is or if it still even exists. It might have ended up as a rag and now be covered in refuse at the dump. Okay, now I'm just making myself really sad.

Let's go back to thinking that this was a group of ladies who were friends of my Scottish grandmother. They went out for the day to Edinburgh, had their photo taken, then went somewhere pleasant for tea and scones. Girdle (griddle) scones, please.

This is my submission for Sepia Saturday this week.

And kids today think BACKPACKS ARE HEAVY

This photo is in an album from the George Kallman collection. I have no information as to who the people are or where it was shot.


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Imagine carrying your sibling around all day while wearing getas? A backpack might not sound so bad.

LITTLE GIRLS with PARASOLS

A lot of little girls like parasols. They make them feel special. I think they also help to define their physical space. Beneath the parasol is their world and you may only enter if invited.




(SOURCE: Mother Goose, illustrated by Kate Greenaway)

To see more parasols visit Lost Gallery.

PARASOLS, like I said...THEY'RE A CATEGORY

There's just something about a parasol that makes the person holding it smile when their photo is taken. The lovely paper parasols decorated with delicate images are something to smile about. The perfect accessory on a warm day.


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So why haven't parasols been made with collapsable handles like umbrellas? There are times each year when I go to some event and take along an umbrella because I just can't stand the sun; we don't get along at all. Too often umbrellas draw heat instead of dissipating it. A parasol would be so much nicer. And in my case I want a paper parasol, not fabric. I want something a Geisha would be happy to carry. I won't go into it, part of my childhood.

I declare today BBP day! BRING BACK PARASOLS!

Oh sure, watching some idiot walking and texting while trying to control a parasol is just courting disaster so perhaps people should be licensed to carry a parasol. Just something to think about.

PARASOLS, they're a category

At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th, parasols were common in photos. They were the fashion accessory of the time and for good reason; women's complexions were to be pale, not tanned. Pale skin showed you were upperclass, tanned scan was for the working class.

I'd love to be able to collect antique parasols, but rarely see them. They often look to be Asian, but perhaps there were companies in the US manufacturing them to look Asian. I haven't a clue. I do know that they are a category, a vernacular photography category.


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Visit this site to see some lovely impressionist paintings of women with parasols by American artist Frederick Frieseke.