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.

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.

UMBRELLAS on the steps, Part 3-the end

You know, it's a boring photo. Individually the people are interesting, the hats are interesting, the number of umbrellas are...not so interesting. Let's just get it over with.

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And remember, there's one person not wearing a hat. Only one.

UMBRELLAS on the steps, Part 2

78 people in this photo, 77 hats. Only one person isn't wearing a hat. Imagine that. Everyone showed up wearing a hat.

Other than baseball hats, what sort of hat do you see on a regular basis at any gathering? The baseball hat is a functional hat, but mostly rather ugly. Too often they're walking bumper stickers for products, sexual references, bad humor, politics...and so on and so forth. We express ourselves with our baseball hats; most assuredly the promotion of a specific sports team.

Imagine these folks. They wore hats just because. They did not feel the need to advertise a product or a point of view other than to maybe hear, "Nice hat!"

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UMBRELLAS on the steps, Part 1

This portion of an image, an RPPC, is actually better in pieces than the whole. The whole image is interesting, but the people become so small as to be insignificant. That's why I've chosen to take it apart and let you put it back together. I will eventually post the entire image.

For now, sit on the steps and take a look at these faces across time. All the lovely ladies in their hats; all the gentlemen with their umbrellas. I'm not kidding. There are a lot of umbrellas in this shot. There is no information on the back indicating what this group was about.

This photo comes from the fun box my best friend sent me a couple summers ago.

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