All of these images come from a large collection of photos I purchased last week. All relate to one woman and her family. Some are friends in cars, others are ancestors. I only know the names of a few of them thanks to captions written on the cardboard holder of a few slides.
As to what the cars are, I'll leave that to those who need a challenge. I only recognize one.
In the U. S. we were known for our large cars. My folks had an Oldsmobile that was so big I felt it needed an anchor. It steered like a ship on mild seas. Parallel parking it, even with the power steering, was a nightmare. I felt like I needed a tug to get me into some spots.
This is Fred in Oakland, California in 1955.
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This is Eddie in Oakland, California in 1955.
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This is Dave in Glendale, California in 1955
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This is Betty and Joe. I love how her "accessory" is color coordinated with the car.
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In 1975 my father sponsored a fellow from the UK to come and work for him. He was very excited to be in the U. S. and wanted a big ol' American car. So in the evenings we'd go used car shopping. He found an old white Ford convertible that he loved. To him it was new and exotic. To me it was a beached whale, but I loaned him the money to make the purchase. When he drove it back to my folk's house they both had to bite their tongues. He'd bought a piece of junk, but he loved it. That car never did run right, but he never admitted to my dad it was a lemon. In the meantime I had to wait a few years before I even got the first loan payment.
All of the cars above were on the roads during my lifetime. The next two...not so much.
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And my favorite with the woman who reminds me of a Japanese bride in her full kimono.
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I could go on for pages with more images of cars. Cars play a very big part in vernacular photography. A purchase of a car is always a big event and we often have to take photos of them. There could be an entire category of collecting just purchasing photos of cars with people in them. But I'll save that for another time.
And so this is my contribution this week to Sepia Saturday.
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