Saturday, March 26, 2011

Old Photographs and Fashion


I've been going through the huge pile of photographs in my den. To my horror some had bonded with the plastic film on those old "magnetic film" pages in a couple of albums. Fortunately the ones lost were mostly sightseeing pics. But 25-year-old pics of my children were starting to brown around the edges and the colors were fading and the deep darks were lightening. This is ironic because I worked for Kodak in the 1980's. So, my big project for this long and snowy winter has been to scan and fix photos that will soon be useless and nothing more than bits of paper.

Oddly enough, the old black and white baby pics of my grandmother (1898) and other family members were in better condition. The images were fairly clear, although they still required a bit of adjusting, mostly the shadows. Well, while looking through 115 years of photos, including tintypes (yes, those photos were actually on tin), I came across some very stylish ladies. Some I knew and some I didn't. Then I wondered what they might have worn as jewelry? (Or not, depending on the situation.)

The photo at the start of this post has a date of 1919. I have no idea of who she is (please, please mark names on the back of your photos, people!). This was probably a school graduation photo since she's all dressed in white. The only thing she's wearing is a flower corsage and a really big bow in her hair.

Fast forward to the 1920's. This lady appears to be wearing another corsage or maybe a fabric flower. (Fabric flowers are seen often in today's fashions.)



Now to the 1930's. Here's my grandmother wearing in a typical streamlined suit. Notice the the hat has a brooch or pin in it:

I got to thinking what she might have worn, so here's a typical pin (from "Vintagecostumejewelry"):

This reminds me of the color forcasts in previous posts.

This photo has absolutely nothing to do with jewelry but it's simply too cute not to post here (my mother, late 1920's, she's about 4 yrs. old):



Last but not least, for all the men reading this: be glad your baby photo didn't look like this: my grandfather is the baby, his brother is in...the dress. This was common among middle class families at the turn of the century.

(At least the older brother didn't have long curls like my other grandfather had to wear! He was still embarassed by that photo until the day he died. But he had really nice hair...)

12 comments:

Islandgirl said...

I'm going through my photo albums which only go back 50 years looking for pictures to include in a slide show for my parents 65th wedding anniversary in May. I know there should be boxes of photos of that age somewhere... I wonder where they ended up after the move last OCT.... 60 years in one house!

mcstoneworks said...

Sue, thank you for sharing these amazing old family photos. What great keepsakes.

Jeanne/J3Jewelry said...

I just love old photos! I have some of my grandparents as well, but alas, not from when they were children. Thank you for sharing, what a treat!

Anonymous said...

Yes, thank you very much for sharing. Very nice pictures.

AMDesignsbyAngela said...

I love looking at really old photos...I really which I had more of my family...thanks for sharing yours Sue.

Ava said...

What wonderful photos, thank you for sharing.

Caron Michelle said...

Fabulous post Sue, there is nothing like family history whether it be in the form of jewellery, photos or other memorabilia. Thank you for sharing a bit of yours.

EleganceandSparkles said...

Thank you for sharing those pics and the story behind them.

Cat said...

This is so, so cool. I wish we had more old family photos.
I really need to get that scanner working and go on with my own project.

Thank you so much for sharing. This is priceless.

Happileerving said...

Those are some great photos. Your family members should be very greatful to you for preserving them. What a great piece of history for you all.

DawninCal said...

What a wonderful family history in pictures.

I really enjoyed seeing how fashion has changed over the years. Very interesting that it used to be common for boys to wear dresses.

Stacie @ azoho.com said...

I just LOVE old photos. They have such a history. I don't have many family photos but I scour antique shops for them. Mostly I don't know the history so I just make it up- LOL. Once I've made up a story I like to use them in jewelry or art pieces. I'm very amused by photos of little boys in dresses. I think their Father's must have been mortified- but usually it was all they could afford. It didn't seem to phase them as they grew up because that whole generation is filled with macho men. ;-) Thanks for the smiles.