Wednesday, June 21, 2023

Cacti and Short Pants



Now for a look at some of the old photos I bought at Covent Garden.

I love this first one -- the poses, the smoking, the shovel. It looks like they might be working on some kind of garden project, or thinking about it, anyway. The women are wearing identical shoes.


This must be someone's birthday party. I bet that kid in the middle grew up to be a Tory member of Parliament.


Cacti and short pants -- a bad combination!


"I could have been Christopher Robin, if only my father had more talent!"


These two remind me of The Avengers, minus John Steed's bowler hat. But Emma Peel wouldn't be caught dead in that shapeless sweater. Probably just a father and daughter out at the pub!


I'm always a sucker for pictures of people with their animals.


This shot is blurry, but aren't those shadows a great effect?


Finally, this says on the back, "Mum." She doesn't look very comfortable, does she?

25 comments:

  1. Whan an intriguing set of images!
    How fashion has changed. Not in fancy stuff, just everyday wear

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  2. The man in the first photo looks like he has an internal self combustion fire. The lady sitting looks exhausted.
    I agree about the Tory boy in the second photo.
    One chap with five girls? Gotta be gay.
    Mum looks very uncomfortable on the hard ground and perhaps thinking, I am going to have to wash this dress now.

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  3. These are gems. If I had to choose a favorite, it would be the first one. So much to talk about. Still, there were a number of close seconds.

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  4. A fascinating and varied collection. Each one is mysterious in its own right. I wonder why the woman on the right in the top picture is looking away as the photographer is about to press the button.

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  5. I did notice before I read your caption that the ladies in the first picture had the same shoes on, must have been a job lot, lol
    Any more photo's like this, I love them.
    Briony
    x

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  6. Well as I really enjoyed all of the photos I am not sure I could choose a favorite but I did like the one with the effects of the shadows and the top one was a close second.
    The shoes are probably ones chosen as best friends who just had to have the same thing that a best friend had. They could have been a promotion but my bet is that they were friends who went shopping together and chose the same bargain sandals lol.

    Have a great day/evening!

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  7. Great pictures! I think those dresses in the top one are homemade, probably from Simplicity patterns. they look familiar.

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  8. Forgot to say I think the party is probably a school Christmas party. Right hats.

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  9. You're right about Mrs. Peel.

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  10. I wonder who had the idea to get Mum to lay down on the ground with her white dress? She has a look of fun about her. Maybe it was her idea?

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  11. I love the people moving in the background in the photo with the folks sitting on the wall - slice of life! And I LOVED the Avengers. I wanted to be Emma Peel. :)

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  12. Wow! These are great!
    That first picture just says so much. Now WHAT it's saying is a bit of a mystery. Those shoes- so good, so bad. What were they doing? Planting something, perhaps. Shovel, hose.
    The second one reminds me of some of the shots Mr. P. posts of he and his brothers when they were little guys. What saucy fellows they were.
    The little boy in the short shorts has had a hard life, I imagine. At first I was thinking that his mother probably picked out those shorts for him but now I'm thinking that he wanted them despite her pleadings not to get them or wear them. But you're so right- the contrast of that vulnerable white skin with those prickly cacti is so painful.
    Mum has lovely legs.

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  13. Oh! And in the party picture I swear it looks like they're eating off of the same Corelle dishes that my mom had. Ha!

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  14. It's so fun to see these and study each one for hidden clues or make up stories to explain them. I am so glad we do not have to wear dresses all of the time as they did back then! Ugh!

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  15. Great collection of new old photos. If I had to pick a favorite it would be the one with the shadows.

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  16. The first one: Dad with the cigarette; Mom sitting, and their daughter in her paisley print skirt and short jacket! I imagine someone called her name and that's why she is looking towards them.
    All interesting in their own right!!

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  17. Oh my gosh, these are great. I think the first one is my favorite. That guy smoking is perfect and how about those clothes for working in the garden. When I was a little kid, I remember that my mother wore dresses all the time.
    I love your mention of The Avengers. That was one of my favorite TV shows when I was a teenager. My dad and I used to stay up late to watch it. That little boy does have that "politician" look. He has better hair than Boris so we know it's not him.
    These are all great!

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  18. Oh lordie! Seductress Mum. Thank you for these, they are wonderful- they would be inspiring to paint one's own version. I hope the little boys grew up well- worry about the children, you know.
    Agree with Sharon- the guy smoking is fabulous.

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  19. There are some great photos in this batch! I wanna be with those folks in the first photo. They look like they're have a fun time!

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  20. I have nothing more to add to all the comments. fun selection.

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  21. Love the photo choices and your musings on them. There are many pictures of me looking uncomfortable for one reason or another. Perhaps it's just a standard for us mums.

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  22. The photo identified by you as perhaps a child's birthday party does not look like that to me. It looks like an organised event, seeing the neat way children are sitting, and it is more like the kind of school end of year Christmas party, or special occasion, meal we would have in British schools in the 1950s. The child identified as the Tory boy looks more like a budding jobsworth to me who would have a fairly insignificant posting and throw his weight around way above his own importance. I like the photos. The woman, mum, on the grass looks like 1970s photos that I have.

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  23. Love this batch of photos; all so different. Truly moments captured like beetles in amber. The short pants may have been swimming trunks or just the style in what looks like the early 50s. And wearing dresses to garden! Maybe they were just watching the man work :) What a perfect little bunny on that lady's knee.

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  24. "Mum" may have known the kid who grew up to be a Tory.

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  25. GZ: Absolutely. People were much dressier back then, every for everyday.

    Andrew: Ha! I laughed about the gay guy. Didn't even think of that!

    Mitchell: The first one is unusually intriguing, I agree.

    YP: She probably doesn't want to be in the shot and was about to high-tail it out of there.

    Briony: Check out the Flickr album that I linked to in my subsequent post. That has all of them in it!

    Beth: Yeah, I wonder if they went shopping together and bought them at the same time?

    Boud: Could be! They both look well-made, though. Somebody knew how to sew! You're probably right about the party.

    Bob: She'd be horrified!

    Colette: I'm betting the photographer put her up to it!

    Bug: I'm guessing the party picture was way before Corelle! I do like the pedestrians in the background of the shadow shot.

    Ms Moon: It's interesting you detect a sad note in the photo of the boy with the cacti. He does look sort of melancholy. I think that might be a bathing costume he's wearing -- at least the shorts.

    Ellen D: It does seem like wearing dresses to dig in the garden would be a drag!

    Robin: That shadow shot is great. I only wish the camera hadn't moved.

    Marcia: I thought the same thing -- father, mother, daughter! But maybe father, mother, younger sister.

    Sharon: I still watch The Avengers now and then when I catch it in reruns!

    Linda Sue: I hope they grew up well, too. You can't help but wonder what people's lives were ultimately like.

    Kelly: But it looks like the job's not going well. I think if I were there they'd make ME do it!

    Ellen: Glad you liked it!

    Margaret: Ha! I think it's because mums get coerced into posing for the sake of the camera.

    Rachel: You're probably right about the party. I notice that there's evidently a boys' table and a girls' table.

    Jenny-O: Yeah, I wonder if the short pants are in fact swim trunks. They have that look, especially with the striped top. (But who tucks their shirt into their swim trunks?!)

    Catalyst: Indeed, she may have been responsible for his existence! (Actually, she's probably not that old. Maybe he was her brother.)

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