Vintage photos are intriguing

Do you have a fascination with photos from times long gone by, before everything was instant gratification when it comes to a camera? I do. I study old photographs with the intensity of a chemist who seeks the answer to an elusive formula, like a botanist who located the rare flora surrounding him that no one knew grew where he now stood. You get the picture, yep, pun intended!!

 I have marveled over the faces of people never met. Often hundreds of years separate their life from my own. I wish their images could speak to me and tell the story of their name, what they did for happiness, where they lived and worked, their talents and interests, things they survived when they felt fearful, and all their successes. What is unknown to us today behind their moment in time that the camera shutter captured their life so that it could be a time-stand-still-for-eternity treasure.
Old photos are artifacts of society. Proof of existing. Endless fascination for me.

 I have been a seamstress since a young age, thanks to my grandma on my mom's side of the family tree teaching me and inspiring the fabric bug to spread its wings inside of my curiosity. She was the queen of mend and make do and save everything that can upcycle into new greater items. She was a creative homemaker before her time and would have been a social media sensation with her reinventing one ready to toss thing into another far better keeper, had she not lived in an orphanage as a child and on a farm as an adult and learned her ways and skills from the trenches of the depression era.

My other grandmother was from more privilege and opportunity and was busy from college age thru retirement birthing babies as a nurse, hundreds of them. She had two of her very own, one of them turned out to be my dad. She did some sewing in her busy life. In fact, I own a childhood photo of my dad and his older brother wearing corduroy fabric suits with knicker pants or knee britches (like what the mystery boy in the pictures below is wearing) and matching jackets. It must have been expensive fabric for the era and I am sure they were not allowed to play and be rough and tumble in the outfits. I am also sure by looking at the photo that the fabric was not easy to sew upon.

 When I look at these photos on this post I study the clothing and the people. I know what it took to make the design details on the dresses. Many of today's fashions have retained the same elements and we incorporate them into our modern day attire. Some sewing techniques are ageless. I find the patches on the girl's dress skirt to be interesting since they look to be not of the mended type patches, but instead a true accent which is unusual for the time period. The footwear, especially high button style shoes, are a source of interest to me as well but I would not want to be struggling in a hurry to get them on to be out the door for an appointment time deadline or other schedule necessity...yes, modern day friends, flip-flops are a person's salvation when in a hurry to 'hit the road'. I doubt people were in such a rush a hundred years ago to join the hamster wheel non-stop days' schedule like we have. Though, life of factory working before child labor laws and working a family farm for your livelihood came with its own pressures and deadlines.

 I'll bet this family was well to do as their clothing seems to give clue. Don't you often think about body language as well, with studying old photos? I do. This woman and young man seem to hold themselves with an air of confidence. The studio photographer was skilled at posing people but the people in front of the camera lens still give us clues as to how they felt being put into poses. Some people seem at ease and others seem out of their element and extremely uncomfortable. That comes through with body language and expressions on faces, whether photo developing was done in black and white, sepia, or color, regardless of the time period from which we observe the people.

 This vintage photo below is very tiny (as the wooden ruler shows for a comparison) and has foreign writing stamped on the backside. I believe it is German, though the writing is cut off a bit. I am not sure what their clothing indicates. Is it a religious order, a regional or cultural standard of dress, teachers, nurses? I am sure the standard uniform type repetition means something, without any doubt.

I continue to find photos that peak my curiosity and make me ponder many aspects of my own life and of theirs in comparing so much about the world and how each of us make a mark upon those around us. I wonder how this digital, password protected era will affect generations ahead of us when it comes to moments of ordinary days in pictures kept and pictures lost.

All of these photos are listed in my Etsy shop and you can visit them by clicking the photo Etsy area in the right margin of this blog.

double exposures

I have a fascination with double exposure photos. 

I have had a curious nature in the area of photography throughout my whole life, probably because my mom was an avid amateur shutterbug. I was her most frequent subject.

I have a lot to learn about cameras, photo-taking, and such. A lot I want to learn, a lot I should learn, a lot I may never learn or master, and a lot I do not care to worry about.

I just love capturing moments in everyday life and I love old photographers who did the same.

But still, I have to say that double exposure photos hold the most interest for me. I can study them for hours and revisit them over and over and still have the same thrill each time.

I need a real life, you say? Probably so.

You can find a double exposure of me in the photos in my right side margin. I am playing the child-sized piano, and it seems, rollerskating at the same time, like a clone. Pretty neat-o, since I often need to clone myself to get enough done or be in 2 places at once, as a mom.

Here is one in my collection. I don't know these people.
You may click on the photos to enlarge them for a better look.

What's fun about this one is that the double exposures are each at different placements- one at vertical or portrait, the other at horizontal or landscape. This makes the images easier to study as they are not doubled on top of one another. It makes it easier to find which arm goes with which person and so on.

So, here we go... a well dressed, pleasant enough family unit, I think you'll agree.

Of note is the  interesting toy boat in the son's hand that I have outlined on the scanner to bring into focus. As some boys did, he is wearing a sailor-type shirt. Imagine his weary mother trying to keep that bright white and crisply ironed !

Flipped the other direction... and now you see a photo which includes additional family members or friends in an area of extensive brick. It begs the question: Is the floor bricked also? Take another look at the first photo and see if the floor in the 2nd photo is an optical illusion in that it is actually the wall in the first photo? What do you think?

Of note: I have outlined on the scanner, the boy in front is holding a string in his hand that is being pulled by something outside the view of this photo; a dog, maybe? Also outlined is the fact that an adult woman is sitting in a rather un-lady-like manner with her knees spread wide, like mother always said not to sit. Maybe they should have considered that Aunt Mable couldn't join in the proposed pose due to her arthritis, huh?

Have you stopped to think that double exposures are a thing of past photographic eras with the digital camera age? I don't think it is a possibility to have this accident of the photographer happen. Then there is the topic of the delete button and how many everyday snapshots are deemed not worthy of being keepers... like those that we treasure from long ago society.

 I have other great antique and retro era double exposure photos I should share later. In the meantime, check out my photo Etsy and also Studio blog, links located in right side margin.

Back....finally!

[ love this photo I took of my daughter and a surprising gourd from our garden ]

My computer, it seems, is somewhat of a senior citizen in the technology world. I could no longer blog as I once did. I could not install the needed updates that Blogger required to play on my own blog. Sad, really.

I had a lot to say. I wasn't sure what to do. When in doubt, and you are of a certain middle age, what should you do?....Ask the advice of a teenage offspring, that's what!!

Now it is all fixed and well, and now I am back. With a lot to say.

[ my stack of antiques travel cases filled with special keepsakes, I have since this photo ditched the one in the middle with no handle. ]

Things I have Been Up To:

* I lost 50 lbs in 5 months, my first goal, and so far a total of 54lbs

* loving my new job of about 7 months!!

* not getting much of anything done around the house

* learning to say "no" to things and people

* severing the umbilical cords to my children so they can become more independent

* surviving somehow on less than 5 hours of sleep every 24

* enjoying my new car

* trying to enjoy every minute of every day, as life seems to be racing past

* reading an interesting book

* celebrating another birthday

* feeding a bit of shoe lust with some purchases, I was very long overdue for a turn (life of a mom)...usually the kids get all the new shoes!

Things I want To Do:

* work in my gardens

* rearrange the furniture in my bedroom

* paint in watercolors

* draw my favorite birds in colored pencils

* achieve my next weight loss goal by August

* get rid of "material things" around the house with emotional guilt attachments

Things I Need To Do:

* sort through stuff around the house

* redo my filing cabinet

* detail the inside of my cars

* clean out my closet, lots of things are WAY too big to fit anymore!

* take stuff to the Goodwill

* take donations of books and videos to school

Happy Halloween

(both images above are from a 1800s antique primer)

click for crow source


click for source for all the following antique images

ooh, scary

a distant relative of ol' Drac?

spirit fog?

the hatters, mad?

just back from the scary attic

spooked

lonely hollow music played

Happy Halloween!

Myrtle Must Dream

I have launched, after lots of thought and many nights of staring at the ceiling in the dark (which is where I do some of my best thinking), a new adventure which I hope will bring joy to collectors and artists alike. A place to showcase all my old, vintage, retro and antique photos.

Myrtle Must Dream is a place to search for images that speak to you.

A place to find just the right image to fill the thrifty frame you found last week with a sweet baby's first photograph done in a gorgeous pin-tucked long christening gown.

A place to discover a relative you wish was in your family tree like the man with the spectacular pocket watch and watch fob.

A place to fill that ephemera crafting supply need with maybe a portrait featuring a marvelous milliner's fashion. Or maybe you need a virtual uncle who traveled to the tombs of the Pharaohs to complete your altered art travel journal.

You always dreamed of filling your long hallway with mismatched frames showing off vintage bridal fashions?

This is the place to look, and bring a cup of tea along, you may be there awhile once I get going with listing all my photos I wish to share!!
I am just getting started, with the first 2 photos being found by clicking here. They are
Gertrude Amelia = along the path to Grandmother's house
and
Elmer Dean = frog in my pocket

Many treasured moments found in ordinary daily lives were preserved by many types of cameras over the years, and none of them had a delete button.
Think of the stuff we delete because it is not "perfect".
A shame. Especially for those that come after us 100 years from now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

rough diamond

Finally got N's hair cut yesterday at one of those discount hair cutting places. I had been cutting it at home for several years, since he stopped going with my friend's dad, Mr. S., to the old style barber shop.

I used to help my friend's parents with transportation. Then Mr. S. passed away and Mrs. S. moved 3 hours north into Mi. to live nearer to her daughter, my school friend. I miss them both, I miss them all.

N. has fond memories of sitting with mostly senior men at the barber shop which was like a time capsule, frozen in time. N. had history there as well, being that his very first "real hair cut" as a toddler was done there by Mr. Larry, with Mr. S. looking on. N. was concerned that this new experience would be too girly. After all, there was no smell of that tonic stuff they put on your hair or the "tickle brush" the barber whisked your neck off with. Thankfully I saw his look of relief when another gentleman walked in to wait for his cut.

N. wanted his hair to be "cool". My definition of his current look- "homeless long"- so it was time for a compromise; I would not cut it at home this time since he swears I cut it too short. I was all for "cool" but not when I could not see his blue eyes. Not when he was constantly flinging his head to get it out of his eyes. Not when he was "parting the curtains" of his bangs...that was really not a cool look, I commented incessantly. Not when I truly wondered what the teacher must think of me and my obvious neglect. That's the one that escapes a 10 year old, but not the mother.

I am happy to report the young lady did a bang-up job (haha, bang...bangs!) and my boy looks "way cool"! Maybe it is alright after all to have a young lady cut your hair instead of a stodgy old barber... or your mom.

You can borrow the photo above for your crafting pleasure. Please play nice and don't sell as is. Click to enlarge then right click and save. I love these diamond shaped cards. This one has a slight irregularity in the photo cut on one side. Adds to the charm, I think. I also like the aged grunge on the border. 

very vintage

Digital scans for your crafting enjoyment-

You'll find them when you click here

candy ribbons

Image is found here.

I am still here. Just busy with life's things that happen

.. you know "the things"...

Lately, just trying to keep up has been like when you're a kid and you run beside the spinning merry go round and try to desperately jump solidly on. If you just kind of jump on you have to hold on for dear life so you won't fall off. Sometimes you get dragged along for the ride until you finally get a good hold

and succeeded to climb on for the ride.

Here's to not getting dragged along for the holiday hubbub ride!!

PS= I had some holiday cheer the day I found ribbon candy in the store again this year. Actually my eagle eye boy N. spied it.

vintage fashion

If you like vintage fashions then these are right up your alley! A woman dressed in her best attire from a day of long ago. Check out the hat!

Newly listed here. Take a peek if you care to. (Update: These did not last more than a day. Some lucky person is the new caretaker of this lovely batch of photos. Thanks!)

Flashback- board game and vintage play!

Remember this game? If you are of a certain age you will.

I never had this, always wanted to own it, always wanted to play it at my friend's house. She was bored with it because she did own it and the novelty of wanting to own it had worn off for her. Isn't it like that with a lot of toys/games?!

I liked the commercial and thought it would have been like being a movie star to be picked to be in a commercial like that. You can watch the commercial when you click here.

Do you ever think of how modern (I use that term "modern" loosely, as the 1960's are now retro, aren't they?)day toys or other items would translate into life 100 years ago or more? I do, but maybe I am just strange that way.

So here we go with this experiment...

Maybe these pictures would be

behind the door on Mystery Date... interesting mustache, too mustachy for me

a dapper young fellow

a proud man in uniform

a little too old- and a little too whiskery- for me, and what does he do with that stick?

another fine dapper young fellow

a man about town sort of fellow

a sensible, kind-looking sort of fellow, maybe he is a romantic

What do you think? Would you open the door on the vintage board game to your date being

a dream or a dud?

All vintage photo images where found here.

featured photos

Cemetery art is very unappreciated. I love to drive through the cemeteries and look for the art that may be seen by others but quickly dismissed and viewed as gloomy.

It's in my blood, shall I say, since my great grandfather was a sexton (grave digger) in a Catholic cemetery in the dawn of the 20th century. Remember that those were the days of a shovel and sweat and blisters- before heavy equipment like a backhoe or Bobcat!!

You can read his amazing story here

My son, N., is named for him.

Also, a cemetery employee had the advantage of job security and they were usually very appreciated, as most people were glad to have them do a very essential job that they themselves knew they were not born for.

Iron workers (blacksmiths) and stone carvers were essential employees of the old cemeteries as well- all done with sweat and blisters- no modern technology and machines.

The Visit

(Living creatures explore an ancient headstone. There were many different symbolic images carved into cemetery markers. This one meant "heaven bound".)

" They're coming to get you Barbara"

( Now for any of you who have seen the movie this may strike a shiver in your soul.

"They're coming to get you Barbara." But this photo would be fun to use as a background for an altered art project about ghosts...

they could be friendly ghosts, right!!?As I stood in this spot I was reminded of the beginning of the movie ...and that quote, although being in a cemetery does not scare me.

I actually do not think that cemeteries are that spooky. I know that's weird. I have two cousins that have worked in one for lots of years. I have a very distant relative that owned some funeral homes until they sold to someone else. My late father in law used to drive an ambulance for a funeral home when he was a young man. My favorite link to the whole cemetery scene is my great grandfather.)

Weeping

(Wonderful craftsmanship and countless hours of work withstanding the test of time and hundreds of years of moss and such clinging to the stone. This statue is fascinating and surreal and thought provoking. It must have cost a lot all those ages ago. It stands out because the other monuments are more plain and traditional. Someone must have been loved very much and missed an awful lot! Many of the markers are so old that you can no longer read the info (even if you do a rubbing with paper and crayon over top of the engravings). Many of the ones you can slightly read are in German. Some are whole families and a great number are infants. Imagine the harsh Michigan winters and other seasonal elements weathering these markers for a hundred years and more! It is high on a hill and the wind whistles through the trees and across the old weathered tombstones. In between the wind's sounds there is nothing but "dead silence", sorry couldn't resist.)

The Iron Gate
( A proud man crafted this ornate gate and fence.)
Gobbled Up
( Time and nature do not stand still. The tree needed room to flourish and grow. This is one of our absolute favorites- the tree has been slowly eating up the tombstone while life goes on as usual outside the gates of the cemetery, year after year after year.)

Life Goes On

(A busy modern day farm is a neighbor of a graveyard now home to many past centuries' farmers- a profound silent reminder of the circle of life.)


All photos are found here .

genealogy rant-blame the caveman

Maybe it is because I am not very techno savvy. I try to fake it but I possess no real modern gadget talent. Enough to make it through a day {barely} in 2010- yet not up to the standards of, say a Harvard or Yale student born way way after the 1960's!!!!
Maybe it is that I just need more to worry about. Who knows what the reason is for today's rant...
This is what is on my mind. I am a genealogist- a family tree maker, preserver of family facts- for the non-genealogist types out there.
What will future genealogists face when they try to piece together a family's history of important and not so important, yet no less interesting, pool of info and supporting documents? I say they will face a lot of deader than dead ends. I could save all my concerns and worrying and just assume that in the future no one will even care about family facts and history. Yeah, that's probably it. Too busy riding around in their flying cars. Shopping on the moon.

(Pictured at far left is my mom's sister, second from left is my mom, others are cousins. 1930's original photo that you can hold in your hand and touch in real life.)

Modern picture storage has become to some or most people, putting their new and even vintage snapshots on either a USB flash drive, CD, memory card or on an internet archive site.

Here is the impending potential problem for that...Flash drives, CD and memory card files can become corrupt and then are simply lost information. Gone into the nowhere zone. Forever. They can also become broken. Just broken. A memory card can even be vacuumed up [after all we do like our modern, super, suck-up-almost-anything, vacuum sweepers. "What was that noise I just heard? Humph, probably just a stray Lego again!"]

or lost inside the deep recesses under sofa cushions never to be found again.
Don't laugh! I once read an article about someone who did an experiment over a period of months. While doing his normal driving around he kept watch for sofas and chairs out at the curb. He stopped and, bravely without embarrassment, sliced open the upholstery with a utility knife. He found hundreds of dollars in both coins and paper money along with many other valuables such as jewelry and even flash drives and memory cards. Lots of the items found where simply under cushions or in the side deep recesses where most dare not reach into. I assure you he also wore gloves to protect himself and his health while doing these hunts. Amazing to consider overall.
Do you ever stop to think about the fact that it is super ultra cool to be able to hold thousands of photos on such a tiny piece of technology yet all those thousands of images can be lost just as easily?
Here's the other problem with photo technology and its future fate. What about the technology that reads these things becoming obsolete? I don't need to draw a picture of that implication to you , do I?

And the photo storage web sites? Well, they all have names and passwords and sign in info to help keep them protected yet that is the same thing that will keep your great grand-daughter/or son or great-great niece from seeing it. Understand? It will be of no use to the future members of your family after you are gone. Heck I can't even keep up with all my own ID #s, passwords, user names, etc, etc. - let alone make sure they are all left for future generations to find and use. And you are always supposed to keep changing them too, for security.
Security. Now there is still another problem. Long ago you did not have to worry about identity theft like these days. Info was readily available to genealogists. Nowadays we have to be so careful about every little detail and the safety of those details. I can say with much certainty that the generations to come will not be able to piece together a fully detailed family tree due to the plague, which is today, identity theft.

All info will be so well hidden and tucked away. Maybe only criminals and hackers will be the true genealogists of the future??!!!


Modern document storage. That subject will sound like the same rant here today on my blog...
We are encouraged to scan and keep digital files of documents instead of keeping actual papers, new and vintage. Purge the paper, we are told. The same problems occur as with photo saving technology.
Also, you can't display great-great grandma and grandpa's marriage certificate from 1896 on the wall in its original gold leaf frame or touch the linen paper of great- great aunt Pearl's nursing school diploma from 1902 when it is on a flash drive or CD. Yes I know, you will say, "You can just print them out on your handy dandy modern printer."
Sorry. Not the same!!!!! Just not the same. And if you think it is then you are a wannabe genealogist. Sorry.

Here is my conclusion. I am willing to admit I am probably in the small minority here with my crazy opinions. I am just saying that printed photos-modern and vintage- have their purpose and value in this world.
Paper (ephemera. see my side bar for definition!) has its purpose and value.

No modern convenience technology can ever replace that.

The worst roadblock I have ever had to overcome in researching genealogy facts is that of fire destroying records from back in the 1700's in a church in Germany. I can't blame that on technology...unless I blame the cavemen for discovering the the modern technology of fire.

team spirit and ratty old views of unknown lives

Wonderful stories are inside the heads and hearts of all these girls. Can you begin to imagine how much fun they had together and the laughs they had? Secrets and dreams shared?
I really like this photo and I can't bare to part with the original so I have made copies to offer in the shop. You can get an actual reprint photo or you can get it as a digital down load by email.

Maybe you fancy old images with a little tattered, ratty personality? These original photos below are just the ticket! This one is nicely faded around the edges and her fur is pretty interesting and how 'bout that hat? She looks like she may have been the boss of the union between man and wife. What do you think?
Or, maybe they ate breakfast in silence each morning while holding hands across the table for 58 years, she sipping her tea with toast and he eating a poached egg with bacon as he reads the paper, folded and creased, next to his plate...the radio playing jazz, softly in the background from its perch on the shelf above the stove.

This original photo is charming and will fit just about any story you dream up to attach to it. Maybe they worked their fingers to the bone only to lose their farm in the dust bowl in old age. Maybe they had 6 kids and all 3 that survived to adulthood became college professors in the next big town over the mountains after leaving the small one room cabin that Daddy built from trees cut near the river.

You can click on any of these photos- you will be taken to them in the shop.