Tag Archives: dress styles early 20th Century

One Of My Luncheons

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Old photo, circa 1900.

Price:  $5.00          Size:  About 4 and /14 x 3 and 1/4″

“One of my luncheons. I am not in it.”

…..or Twelve Ladies and the Floating Tea Cups…..

A beautiful moment in time, of twelve lovely women gathered round the hostess’ dining table for lunch and conversation. Wonder what the topics of the day were? Men and children, politics and fashion, books and art, friends and family….Don’t you love the varied expressions, some looking at the camera, one in profile, all with the hair swept up, and then the ruffles, the polka dots and the high-necked collars…..But the icing on the cake, so to speak, is the floating teapot-teacup effect:  the big teapot just left of top-center and the teacups to our right (hanging from hooks in the tall cupboard) and directly above them….some kind of reflection between the cupboard glass and the mirror above the buffet?…..And note the beautiful pitchers resting on the buffet with their reflection behind them, not to forget to mention the wallpaper, most easily noticed behind the set of four cups and saucers displayed on the small wall shelf.

Love and gratitude

Like the image two posts ago, this one was scanned with a background we grabbed that was handy. In this case the photo rests on the back of a coupon we got yesterday from Second Chance Thrift Store in Monterey, where the most wonderful book was found:  The True Power of Water by Masaru Emoto. I feel compelled to mention this book here, check it out if you haven’t yet, highly (ever so) recommended (!).

That Summertime Smile

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Smiling Woman With Parasol pc1Smiling Woman With Parasol pc2

Per Playle’s guide for dating stamp boxes on Real Photo Postcards, this NOKO design ranged from about 1907 – 1929; a broad range to be sure! My feeling is it might have been taken in the 1910s or early ’20s. But in any case, it shows a beautiful woman with an absolutely radiant smile (you can enlarge the photo twice for best view.) From afar one might get the impression that she’s in her late 30s or early 40s, but I think this is more of an effect of where the sun highlights her hair, making it appear gray on top, thus aging her appearance a little. With a closer look she appears to be maybe in her 20s. Anyway, our subject sits cross-legged, holding a parasol, and smiling at the person taking the photo. She wears a dress with white sailor collar with dark bow; white cuffs and wide decorative white band near the hemline. The dress material is possibly seersucker; a up-close view shows pale stripes; and pinned to the collar is a round locket or watch. The location, like the woman’s name, is unknown; she sits just inside a length of grass and wildflowers (why call them weeds?) and the photo appears to have been taken in a courtyard of some type. Is that a set of apartments showing in the back with pillars supporting a trellis canopy? Did she live there or work there? We may never know but aren’t we lucky to be graced with such beauty around us, in the past, present and yes, future? To quote Janis Joplin on the subject of time,  “It’s all the same fucking day, man!”  and Mother Teresa on the power of the smile,  “Peace begins with a smile.”

Divided back, unused Real Photo Postcard. NOKO stamp box. Circa 1910s – early 1920s.

Price:  $6.00

Sources:  “Ball & Chain” (W.M. Thornton) Recorded live by the Full Tilt Boogie Band on July 4, 1970 at the Canadian Festival Express in Calgary, Alberta.

Quotes About Smile. Goodreads. Web accessed March 8, 2015. [http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/smile]