The Diary of Queen Mothy |
Antique Photos written @ 1:16 PM on August 19, 2004 I've had a lot of raised eyebrows over my antique photo collection. Mostly, people just don't get it, so I'm going to share some pieces of my collection with you fine people today. My mom's side of the family is really into the antique scene. My uncle Alan is something of an uncertified expert, my grandfather has an eye for it, my other uncle is keen on his history, my grandmother runs her own antique booth at a warehouse, and my mom has fine taste for the old, the pretty, and the downright expensive. So that gene was almost instantly passed along to me, and I have an eye for the... shall we say... subtle. For the past couple of months my latest collection has been pre-1920 portraits-- simply because they are fascinating windows into people. For example: I have no idea who these people are, but already the viewer knows a lot about them. They're clearly a married couple who have been together for many many years. I've estimated this photo is circa 1870s. They're an old aristocratic couple who have donned their Sunday best for the photographer. Remember that saying that you become the person you've married? I assure you, if it weren't for their clothes, I would not have been able to tell who's the woman and who's the man. This is a postcard posted in Covington, KY on September 19th, 1917 at 6:30pm. "Hello Edna put this where the rats can see it and I am sure they will leave and soon with love from your Friend Lula." Lula had a wonderful sense of humor and probably knew Miss Edna Nagel from her schoolgirl days. Miss Edna, by the way, was from Butler, Kentucky, right off of Route 4. And stamps were 1 cent in 1917. These two were sisters from Hamilton, Ohio. Don't you wish people still wore hats as awesome as those? I estimate this photo is roughly from 1910. They were probably married, but throughout the course of their lives they never missed an opportunity to join one another for lemonade in July on a porch swing. I'm sure they fought like cats when they were kids, too, but generally they had strong family ties. They loved their mama. I love this one because she's smiling! In an era where you sat formally and seemingly without emotion for the camera, we have definitely found a charmed spirit. Did she love the carnival? Probably. Was she in love? Most definitely. This was also mounted on a postcard format but there is nothing written on the back. I estimate this one is from 1915 or thereabouts. It's definitely late Victorian/Edwardian dress. This one instantly caught my eye at the antique store. It's either a large family of sisters or it's a group of girls from an orphanage or some other institution. But what is the woman in the dark dress center looking at? This photo is probably my favorite in my collection. Just look at the family dynamics at play! The oldest son sitting on the left clearly doesn't want to be there, much less sitting next to his sister, who thinks she's a princess. The younger sister competed with the elder one for favor in the family but couldn't seem to stop getting into scuffles and ruining her clothes with her brothers in the front yard, but she did have a favorite aunt or grandmother who gave her that nice watch on her left wrist because "all young ladies should have a nice watch." The youngest boy probably grew up to be the most successful sibling in the family (I'm thinking mortage broker or business owner or something." When I saw this photo, it made me laugh. It's fantastic. I have a lot of simple portraits of people, some in military dress, some playing instruments, others in their finest clothes, one in her first communion outfit. Some of them have names and dates on the back but most are without any information-- because people expect these photos to be in their family for generations and how can you forget Aunt So-and-so? Even so thousands of these pictures end up in antique stores and flea markets for one reason or another. *** Mom is putting the house on the market on September 1st. She admitted to me the other day that since Dad is not really around anymore to be the breadwinner, she won't be able to afford the house within a span of five years. Therefore she has wanted to sell it and downgrade to something smaller. I believe this is called downward mobility among some social scientists. Every generation since the turn of century, if you're white, middle class, and come from skilled working stock, you're supposed to move higher into socio-economic standings. Upward mobility, it's called. I think we're going in the opposite direction, though, and it makes me laugh. Don't get me wrong, I am truly annoyed by this situation. I've never lived in any single house longer than six years in my entire life. I have no roots. I have no family beyond my immediate, and even then we've joined the mainstream American bandwagon by becoming a broken one to boot. The realtor Mom hired to sell our house was actually the one who sold it to us when we first moved to Cincinnati from Philly six years ago. She's a nice lady, but she gave me strict instructions: "Sam, box up the unicorns. This house gets listed September 1st." I would be lying if I said my feathers weren't ruffled slightly. Granted, my room is the epitome of clutter, owing to the fact that I've collected over 1000 unicorn figurines since 1990 and managed to put them all on display somehow. But this is why I hate moving; I have to change my lifestyle and reinvent myself all over again. Sometimes that can be fun, but more often than not it's a royal pain in the ass. At 20 years old, this will be my fourth or fifth move, not counting the odyssey it is to move into the dorms every year for college. On the bright side, I don't have a lot of emotional stock in this house. I think I learned. It won't be too hard to leave it. I will miss the pool and the peace in the backyard, but this house was part of the six hardest years of my life. Another good note: I'll be in college. I won't be affected too terribly like last time. With the exception of boxing up my unicorns, I'll have all my stuff with me at school. Who knows? I might have a new place by Christmas. God, that's surreal. I was hoping the next move I would make would be from home to my own apartment, unfortunately I can't afford that yet. Downward mobility, you know. Welp, it's time to get packing.
A Bit of History ~ And Onward! L'Amour Toujours! - August 08, 2005 |
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