Once a month, the church that DH and I attend has an informal morning tea; a very relaxed affair with parishioners sitting around talking, sipping tea or coffee. DH is always at golf so it's just me who heads off. We are usually asked to bring an item along for a 'share' session. This month it was 'baby photos'.
I took along 2...this first one isn't a very clear image but it shows my father and I sitting somewhere in the Brisbane City Botanical Gardens...
So I took another photo which wasn't blurry but I'm not a baby...rather I'm a toddler...
My friends 'picked' me straight away in the second photo but didn't recognise me in the first photo.
This photo was taken at our home when a 'door to door' photographer came around the suburb. My father always wanted photos to send to his brother back in Sicily...this uncle was my godfather. Below is a scan of 4 of the 6 proofs that the photographer left with my parents. They apparently had the 'proof' in the top left hand corner printed and sent overseas. I preferred another one of the proofs and as an adult I had prints made of it.(which is the one I took to the morning tea)
Well you know how 'every picture tells a story', so let me tell the story of these photos.
As I said it was a 'travelling photographer' which was common in those 'earlier times'. (Years later,with my own children we went to Pixie Photos which travelled around to shopping centres/malls and I also had their photos done at Photography Studios.)
Then there is the dress that I'm wearing which was made by my Nanna (mum's mum) who had been a tailoress. Nan made identical dresses for her then 4 granddaughters, made out of light floral cotton with eyelet lace. I know that somewhere there is a photo of 2 of my cousins wearing the 'same' dresses.
And that big bow in the hair! A few years ago, some of my friends and I posted photos on Facebook of our 1950s hairstyles...all very similar and with a BIG bow! lol
Next I draw your attention to the jewellry that my little 3 year old self was wearing. I believe that it was a special privilege to wear all those pieces; they usually were put away in my mum's dressing table. When I started school she let me wear the bangle all the time but there was a reason. I couldn't remember my right from my left as a 6 year old so the bangle went on my left arm to remind me! lol. It had been a Christening gift to me from dad's niece and her husband.
The chain and pendant was a gift from my uncle in Sicily...it was a beautiful chain with a 'holy medal'...very delicate and typically Italian. When I was in Grade 7 I sneaked this piece out and wore it at school without telling my mother...and lost it. I lived in fear that she would find out but I seemed to have 'got away with' that bit of naughtiness! lol
And then there was the tiny ring which was a Christening gift from my godfather.
And look what I still have tucked away in a dressing table drawer...
I took along 2...this first one isn't a very clear image but it shows my father and I sitting somewhere in the Brisbane City Botanical Gardens...
This photo was taken at our home when a 'door to door' photographer came around the suburb. My father always wanted photos to send to his brother back in Sicily...this uncle was my godfather. Below is a scan of 4 of the 6 proofs that the photographer left with my parents. They apparently had the 'proof' in the top left hand corner printed and sent overseas. I preferred another one of the proofs and as an adult I had prints made of it.(which is the one I took to the morning tea)
As I said it was a 'travelling photographer' which was common in those 'earlier times'. (Years later,with my own children we went to Pixie Photos which travelled around to shopping centres/malls and I also had their photos done at Photography Studios.)
Then there is the dress that I'm wearing which was made by my Nanna (mum's mum) who had been a tailoress. Nan made identical dresses for her then 4 granddaughters, made out of light floral cotton with eyelet lace. I know that somewhere there is a photo of 2 of my cousins wearing the 'same' dresses.
And that big bow in the hair! A few years ago, some of my friends and I posted photos on Facebook of our 1950s hairstyles...all very similar and with a BIG bow! lol
Next I draw your attention to the jewellry that my little 3 year old self was wearing. I believe that it was a special privilege to wear all those pieces; they usually were put away in my mum's dressing table. When I started school she let me wear the bangle all the time but there was a reason. I couldn't remember my right from my left as a 6 year old so the bangle went on my left arm to remind me! lol. It had been a Christening gift to me from dad's niece and her husband.
The chain and pendant was a gift from my uncle in Sicily...it was a beautiful chain with a 'holy medal'...very delicate and typically Italian. When I was in Grade 7 I sneaked this piece out and wore it at school without telling my mother...and lost it. I lived in fear that she would find out but I seemed to have 'got away with' that bit of naughtiness! lol
And then there was the tiny ring which was a Christening gift from my godfather.
And look what I still have tucked away in a dressing table drawer...
What lovely stories connected to these great photos. This is the sort of family history I really love. I think I would recognise the toddler picture too ! Jx
ReplyDeleteHow lovely that you still have the jewelry. I have nothing apart from a few photos.
ReplyDeleteVery special to still have the bangle and ring.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't thought about it, but there must have been plenty of customers at that time for a photographer taking photos to send back to relatives. Something we forget about when every mobile phone is a camera that can send photos around the world in the blink of an eye.
What a great post Maria....I love seeing photo's from my yesteryear...my brother gave me one a couple of years ago that he had taken of me and I had no idea it existed. It has been enlarged and on display...for all the world to see my toothy grin!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed seeing your photos and have similar memories -- from a whole different continent! I had the same huge bow in my hair at 3 and my photos were also taken by a traveling photographer who came to oir house out in the country and knocked on the door. Today you would neve let a stranger like that into your house to photograph your children!
ReplyDeleteAnd another giant hair bow girl lol....except sometimes I had the "honour" of wearing one on each side, after suffering having my hair in rags to make ringlets. Great memories Maria, you were a serious baby and a cute toddler. I'm envious of your bangle, I always wanted one, but did have a bluebird brooch, which I also lost!
ReplyDelete